Few towns of Renfrew's size have as much traffic passing through them. The M8 runs along one edge, Glasgow Airport sits next door, and the A8 and A726 carry freight to the business parks and the waterfront all day. The volume of enforcement reflects it, and so does the number of local people whose employment depends on the entitlement they are about to lose. A motoring charge here is worth taking seriously well before the diet. Charles Ferguson Solicitors defend road traffic charges throughout Renfrewshire from our Glasgow office at 20-23 Woodside Place, G3 7QL. Call 0141 345 5735.
Paisley Sheriff Court — Road Traffic Cases
Motoring prosecutions arising in Renfrew are heard at Paisley Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, St James Street, Paisley PA3 2HW, 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. Paisley is a busy court and motoring cases there reward proper preparation.
Motoring Offences We Defend in Renfrew
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 workers heading in early are caught by it as often as anyone leaving a pub. 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, so the boundary with careless driving is very often the whole case. Careless Driving — a question of degree, and one worth testing. Speeding — the M8 through Renfrewshire, the A8, the A726 and the A741 and the airport approach roads are all heavily 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.
Airport, Freight and Vocational Entitlement
Renfrew's working population leans heavily towards jobs that require driving. Glasgow Airport and its supply chain employ airside drivers, ground handlers, freight operators and a large taxi and private hire trade, and for those drivers a motoring conviction can put a licence or a pass at risk quite separately from the court outcome. The warehousing and distribution operations along the A8 and around Inchinnan run on HGV entitlement, where a disqualification also brings a Traffic Commissioner referral. Shift patterns at the airport and the waterfront start long before the first bus. Where losing your licence would end your employment, the court needs that put to it with evidence — contracts, rotas, shift times and figures. Call 0141 345 5735 and ask about Legal Aid.
Areas Served Across Renfrewshire
We act for drivers charged anywhere in Renfrewshire, including Renfrew, Braehead, Moorpark, Blythswood, Inchinnan, Erskine, Bishopton, Linwood, Paisley, Johnstone and Elderslie. Charges commonly arise on the M8, the A8, the A726, the A741 and the roads serving Glasgow Airport. Call 0141 345 5735.