Careless Driving: Commercial Drivers Need to Drive More Carefully

Since July 2025, there have been changes in how the Court may deal with careless driving cases. This affects all drivers but may impact commercial drivers of lorries, vans, buses and coaches, in particular. Drivers may receive a greater penalty than they did before July.

For some time, it has been an aggravating feature that a road traffic offence is permitted whilst driving a goods vehicle or PSV. However, the new careless driving sentencing guidelines specifically set out aggravating factors that may come into play if a commercial driver commits a careless driving offence whilst driving for commercial purposes:

• driving a goods vehicle, PSV, etc. (of itself aggravating)
• committing the offence in the vicinity of vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, motorcyclists (close proximity cases)
• an offence committed in a poorly maintained vehicle

There are other aggravating features that are not unique to commercial drivers but would aggravate the offence, e.g. failing to stop and/or obstructing or hindering attempts to assist at the scene, and other driving offences committed at the same time as the careless driving.

Whether a commercial driver or not, some factors reduce the seriousness:

• No previous convictions or no relevant/recent convictions.
• A good driving record.
• Remorse (lack of remorse cannot be an aggravating feature as such).
• Third party contributing significantly to any collision.
• A genuine emergency.
• Efforts made to assist or seek assistance for victims.

How does the Court decide on the correct penalty?

Following a Guilty plea or a driver being found Guilty (after a Trial), the Court has to work out the offence category. This is done by looking at “culpability” and separately, harm.

Culpability is Category A, B or C.

Category A is just below the dangerous driving threshold, and Category C is for momentary lapses of concentration or driving just over the careless driving threshold.

In between, there is a range of behaviour of drivers with many different types of unacceptable behaviour:

• Unsafe manoeuvre or positioning.
• Engaging in a brief but avoidable distraction.
• Driving at a speed that is inappropriate for the prevailing road or weather conditions.
• Driving impaired by the consumption of alcohol and/or drugs.
• Driving a vehicle which is unsafe or where the driver’s visibility or controls are obstructed.
• Driving impaired as a result of a known medical condition and/or in disregard of advice relating to the effects of the medical condition or medication.
• Driving when deprived of adequate sleep or rest.
• The offender’s culpability falls between the factors in Culpability A and C.

The Court then looks at harm, which is either Category 1 (where the offence results in injury to others and/or damage is caused to vehicles or property) or Category 2, which covers all other cases.

Sentence starting points

So, any offence will be Culpability A, B or C and either Harm 1 or Harm 2. The greater the culpability/harm, the higher the starting point fine (and vice versa).

The offence of careless driving carries an unlimited fine.

Penalty points/disqualification:

• Culpability level A means the Court must consider disqualification or impose 7 to 9 penalty points.
• Culpability level B means 5 to 6 penalty points or the consideration of disqualification of up to 56 days.
• Culpability level C (where there is a momentary lapse or the driving is just over the careless driving threshold) has a starting point of 3 to 4 points.

This means that in the very wide Culpability level, B, 5 to 6 points would be imposed, or a driving ban of up to 56 days would be imposed. This is a broadening of the guideline power available to the Court.

The Court then considers seriousness and factors reducing seriousness/personal mitigation.

The Court has to take into account any guilty plea, a reduction of one-third of any penalty (not points) for a guilty plea indicated at the first stage of proceedings. After this, the reduction may be one quarter, reduced to a tenth or no credit if the matter goes to Trial.

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