More people drive for a living in Grangemouth than in almost any comparable town in Scotland. The container port and the petrochemical complex generate constant HGV and tanker movement, and the M9 and M876 carry that traffic across the central belt all day and night. For a driver holding a vocational entitlement, a motoring charge is not simply a court matter — it puts the licence the job depends on at risk, and brings the Traffic Commissioner into the picture alongside the sheriff. Charles Ferguson Solicitors defend motoring charges throughout the Falkirk district from our Glasgow office at 20-23 Woodside Place, G3 7QL. Call 0141 345 5735.
Falkirk Sheriff Court — Road Traffic Cases
Motoring prosecutions arising in Grangemouth are heard at Falkirk Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, Sheriff Court House, Main Street, Camelon, Falkirk FK1 4AR, in the Sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife — note that the court is in Camelon rather than central Falkirk. 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 collision has caused a death, the charge of causing death by dangerous driving is prosecuted in the High Court of Justiciary.
Motoring Offences We Defend in Grangemouth
Drink Driving and Drug Driving — Scotland's limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is the lowest in the United Kingdom, and shift patterns at the complex and the port mean a great many drivers are on the road at hours when the previous night's alcohol has not cleared. We examine Intoximeter calibration and maintenance records, the procedure followed at the police station, and whether the hip flask defence is open. Dangerous Driving — conviction brings disqualification for at least 12 months and a compulsory extended retest; where an HGV is involved the consequences run further still. Careless Driving — a question of degree, and one that matters in a district full of heavy vehicles and tight industrial access roads. Speeding — the M9, the M876, the A904, the A905 and the A801 are all routinely 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 — at 12 penalty points the court must disqualify for at least 6 months unless exceptional hardship is proved on evidence. Driving Without Insurance — 6 to 8 penalty points or discretionary disqualification. Mobile Phone Offences — 6 penalty points. Driving While Disqualified — a charge carrying a real risk of custody.
Vocational Licences and the Traffic Commissioner
A professional driver charged with a motoring offence faces two processes rather than one. The court deals with the criminal charge; the Traffic Commissioner deals separately with vocational entitlement and, for operators, with the operator's licence. Drivers carrying dangerous goods under ADR rules out of the Grangemouth complex, tanker drivers and container haulage crews working the port all fall into that category, as do the bus and coach drivers operating across the district. What is said and conceded in the criminal case will be read across into the regulatory one, so the two need to be thought about together from the very start. Where a disqualification would end your employment, that has to reach the court in evidence — licence category, contract terms, operator requirements and figures. Call 0141 345 5735 and ask about Legal Aid.
Areas Served Across the Falkirk District
We act for drivers charged anywhere in the Falkirk district, including Grangemouth, Falkirk, Camelon, Polmont, Laurieston, Redding, Brightons, Maddiston, Carronshore, Larbert, Stenhousemuir, Denny, Bonnybridge, Airth and Bo'ness. Charges commonly arise on the M9, the M876, the A904, the A905, the A801 and the Kincardine and Clackmannanshire bridges. Call 0141 345 5735.