NIP Driving without due care and attention

[Vitalijus]

Hello
I just received letter Notice of intended prosecution from Devon & Cornwall Police. For alleged offence Driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road/ in public place without due care and attention. With photo evidence attached. While I was delivering parcels I approached bin lorry loading, due to no space for us to pass each other, i decided to mount kerb and pass it at walking speed. There was two pedestrians on pavement heading same direction so i was driving behind them at safe distance and passed bin man, waved everybody and that's it. But bin lorry had video of me doing it and reported to police and now i got this NIP letter for driving without due care and attention. I haven't send letter yet
First does anyone knows, how many points this ticket can give me .
Second should i plea guilty. And if i plea guilty, what best mitigating circumstances i can write down.
Third, can i get awareness course for this offence.
Any advice or suggestions, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

[HandyAndy]

First does anyone knows, how many points this ticket can give me .

If you are offered a course it will be no points. If you are offered a fixed penalty it will be three points. If it goes to court, anything from 3 to 9.

Second should i plea guilty.

You won't be asked to enter a plea unless it goes to court. If it does come to that, what do you reckon? The definition of careless driving is that "which falls below the standard of a competent and careful driver." Do competent and careful drivers drive on the pavement? If you believe they do then plead not guilty and give it a run.

And if i plea guilty, what best mitigating circumstances i can write down.

What mitigating circumstances do you have in mind? The thing for you to have done in the situation you describe was to have waited for the bin lorry to get out of the way. There isn't much to mitigate what you did.

Third, can i get awareness course for this offence.

At present you must complete and return the "request for driver's details" within the 28 days allowed. Fail to do so and you will commit a more serious offence which carries six points on conviction. Once you have done that the police may offer you a course or a fixed penalty - you'll have to wait and see. My advice would be to grab such an offer with both hands.

[islandgirl]

Guidelines are here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk...-revised-2017/ On the info given probably a cat 3 but the mention of pedestrians may lift to a cat 2

[Vitalijus]

Hi, I'm really grateful for the replays. The exact wording from NIP letter is "For the alleged offense of: Drive a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road/ in a public place without due care and attention." After that, they wrote " Despite the presence of pedestrians and refuse collectors working in the space around the 'bin lorry' the driver mounted the kerb and drove along the pavement to pass the bin lorry"
For this offense, I'm planning to complete a request for driver details and write my mitigating circumstances on the back, I compiled a short letter.
"I want to apologize for mounting the kerb and driving on it. I’m a delivery driver for 5 years with no penalty points. Delivering thru the Christmas period can be a stressful time, with 1200 parcels each week to deliver, it got the better of me, and I prioritized time over safety which was my mistake I should have waited for the bin lorry to get out of the way. I realized the danger I may cause and have modified how I drive.
Anything i should add or remove? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[HandyAndy]

I would neither add anything nor take anything away. I doubt it will make any difference to what action the police take. From the tone of the letter ("Despite the presence of pedestrians and refuse collectors working in the space around the 'bin lorry' ") I would guess that the police are unlikely to offer you a course. It is highly probably that they consider the offence too serious for a fixed penalty and may prosecute you in court. But you never know.

[Vitalijus]

I just received a reply from the police. They reflected on my mitigation letter and decided to give me a warning. Thank you islandgirl and HandyAndy for your advice.

[islandgirl]

Thank you for coming back to us and letting us know. I am pleased things worked out for you.

[Ak7654]

Hi, my partner has just received the same letter from devon and cornwall police, he is also a delivery driver at the Christmas period the time the 'offence' happened. The first image one of the bin men was on the curb , partners van not in shot, he obviously waited for him to move safely out the way then slowly mounted one wheel on the curb (which was right next to a same level speed bump) and went past safely at walking speed when no pedestrians were around, which you can see in the pictures there is just the one picture with a pedestrian no van then 3 pictures of just van no pedestrians. Could you advice on your letter please?

[islandgirl]

Hi AK7654 to get more advice it is better to start a new thread as most people will not see your question on this thread. The details of sentencing etc are above as is the OPs mitigation which, in their case, led to a good outcome.