The A737 through Kilwinning and up the Garnock Valley is the main road link between North Ayrshire and Glasgow, and it carries a great deal more traffic than its layout comfortably allows. Overtaking on it produces careless and dangerous driving charges with some regularity, and the coast road and the local network add speeding cases on top. For people living in Dalry, Kilbirnie or Glengarnock, where the alternatives to driving are limited, a disqualification is a serious matter. Charles Ferguson Solicitors defend motoring charges throughout Ayrshire from our Glasgow office at 20-23 Woodside Place, G3 7QL. Call 0141 345 5735.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court — Road Traffic Cases
Motoring prosecutions arising in Kilwinning are heard at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, Sheriff Court House, St Marnock Street, Kilmarnock KA1 1ED, in the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde. 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. We appear across all of these courts.
Motoring Offences We Defend in Kilwinning
Drink Driving and Drug Driving — Scotland's limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is the lowest in the United Kingdom, and it catches drivers who would be nowhere near the limit south of the border. We examine Intoximeter calibration and maintenance records, the procedure followed at the police station, and whether the hip flask defence is open on the facts. Dangerous Driving — conviction brings disqualification for at least 12 months and a compulsory extended retest; on the A737 in particular, overtaking allegations turn on whether the manoeuvre was genuinely dangerous or merely careless, and that argument is worth having. Careless Driving — a question of degree, and frequently the correct charge. Speeding — the A737 through the Garnock Valley, the A78 coast road, the A760 towards Largs, the A736 and the B779 are all 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.
Getting to Work From the Garnock Valley
The Garnock Valley towns have lost most of their own industry, and the work their residents do is now largely somewhere else — in Irvine and Stevenston, at the coast, in Paisley and Glasgow, or on sites reached by van across the whole west of Scotland. The rail line helps some journeys but not the shift patterns, and from Beith or Glengarnock it barely helps at all. Ardrossan harbour and the ferry service to Arran add another group of workers on tidal and seasonal hours. Where a disqualification would take away the ability to reach work, the court needs the specifics — journey, rota, contract and figures — rather than a general statement of inconvenience. Call 0141 345 5735 and ask about Legal Aid.
Areas Served Across North Ayrshire
We act for drivers charged anywhere in North Ayrshire, including Kilwinning, Dalry, Kilbirnie, Glengarnock, Beith, Stevenston, Saltcoats, Ardrossan, West Kilbride, Irvine, Dreghorn, Springside and Largs. Charges commonly arise on the A737, the A78, the A736, the A760 and the B779. Call 0141 345 5735.