A motoring charge in Dundee tends to cost far more than the penalty printed on the complaint. Penalty points stay on a licence for years, insurers price accordingly, and a disqualification can remove a job outright. Dundee is a compact city, but the work its residents do is not: taxi and private hire driving, delivery and courier work, care rounds across the city and Angus, and commuting over the Tay Road Bridge or out along the A90. Charles Ferguson Solicitors defend motoring charges throughout Dundee and Tayside from our Glasgow office at 20-23 Woodside Place, G3 7QL. Before you plead to anything, it is worth knowing what the Crown can actually prove.
Dundee Sheriff Court — Road Traffic Cases
Motoring prosecutions arising in Dundee are heard at Dundee Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, Sheriff Court House, 6 West Bell Street, Dundee DD1 9AD, in the Sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife. Routine summary motoring business — speeding, careless driving, insurance and licence offences — is generally taken in the Justice of the Peace Court, while drink driving, dangerous driving and cases prosecuted on indictment call before a sheriff. Where a road collision has caused a death, the charge of causing death by dangerous driving is prosecuted in the High Court of Justiciary. We appear across all of these courts and treat motoring cases as the serious criminal matters they are.
Motoring Offences We Defend in Dundee
Drink Driving and Drug Driving — Scotland's limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is the lowest in the United Kingdom, and morning-after charges are routine. We examine Intoximeter calibration and maintenance records, the procedure followed at the police station, and whether the hip flask defence is available on the facts. Dangerous Driving — conviction means disqualification for a minimum of 12 months and a compulsory extended retest, so whether the driving is properly dangerous or merely careless is often the entire case. Careless Driving — a question of degree, and one we test rather than concede. Speeding — the Kingsway, the A90 north and west of the city, the A92 and the A85 Riverside approach are all regularly enforced; we check device type approval and calibration, and whether a Notice of Intended Prosecution was served within 14 days. Totting Up and Exceptional Hardship — reaching 12 penalty points means a mandatory disqualification of at least 6 months unless exceptional hardship is proved. Driving Without Insurance — 6 to 8 penalty points or discretionary disqualification. Mobile Phone Offences — 6 penalty points. Driving While Disqualified — a charge that frequently attracts custody.
Who Loses Most From a Ban in Dundee
Dundee has one of the highest proportions of households without a car in Scotland, which means the people who do drive here very often drive for a living. The city runs a large taxi and private hire trade, and a licensing conviction can cost a driver their operator's badge as well as their entitlement. Courier and delivery work out of the industrial estates depends on a clean licence. NHS Tayside staff at Ninewells work rotas no bus route serves, and care workers covering rounds across the city and out into Angus cannot do the job otherwise. Where a disqualification would cost you your employment, that has to be evidenced properly for the court — rotas, wage slips, employer letters. Call 0141 345 5735 at any hour and ask us about Legal Aid.
Areas Served Across Dundee and Angus
We act for drivers charged anywhere in Dundee and the surrounding district, including the city centre, the West End, Lochee, Downfield, Menzieshill, Charleston, Fintry, Whitfield, Douglas, Kirkton, Ardler, Broughty Ferry, Barnhill, Monifieth and Invergowrie. Charges commonly arise on the Kingsway, the A90, the A92, the A85 and the Tay Road Bridge. Call 0141 345 5735.