long story short it was 3am and I pulled in to a junction to do a U-turn , the back kicked out a little an I got pulled for " Driving Vehicle whilst not in proper control " the officers were convinced I was doing donuts and pointed out some marks on the road, they also claim they were trying to chase me for some time. do I have a leg to stand on ? the offense is part of the mobile phone law CU80 6 Points seems a bit steep and the officers say I will receive something in the post. what exactly I'm not sure. they have no video evidence but I'm sure the magistrate would take 2 coppers words against mine. anyone had a similar situation ? absolutely dreading this !
Leg to stand on: Not really. One officers word is better than yours alone, Two no chance: Don't lie in court. Wait for the letter to come through and get your self a lawyer if you can afford one / if the cost of a lawyer is less then the rise in insurance costs due to 6 points... Letter normally takes up to about 2 weeks to arrive. Good luck.
Did the back 'kick out a little' because it was wet and you made the turn slightly too tight/too fast. or did the back kick out because you stabbed the throttle and made it kick out?? If you've done nothing wrong then fight the case, claim it was wet, claim diesel was on the road or whatever, make the point that it was 3am, no-one else was around and that the car was not 'out of control'. I doubt the officer bothered to photograph the marks on the road, given it was 3am there'd be nothing to see. If it comes down to his word vs yours, with little or no supporting evidence it's 50/50 the CPS will even bother to prosecute, if you weren't on video driving like a twat they've got nothing to put in front of a judge to backup their claim. but if you pulled into a turning to do a quick donut then maybe you need to take this one on the chin.
Thanks for the reply's , I'm sure one or two of you had possibly been in the same situation before! I was a bit guilty, seems like they followed me or something, they were eager to pounce. I did kick the back out as I turned round and the car looks fairly boy racerish / drifty which they don't take too kindly too. The road is next to a quarry and its always dusty on that part of the road, I'm sure a half decent lawyer would get me off, but I have no experience at all with fighting a case. I find it daunting to say the least. Should I take it too a lawyer right away or wait for the summons to come through? I'm praying for the awareness course they do now instead of and kind of points! points last 4 years so I should take that into account with the price of lawyer too, It also looked like he was a rookie struggling to find the right charge, then he settled on " Drive Vehicle - Not in proper control "
Worth doing some research and calling firms to see what they recommend, but I don't know if they will be able to give much help when you don't know what you have defo been charged with / what the police have sent through. I am not a lawyer, or even a keyboard internet lawyer, can only give help from experience! (Always be 100% honest with your lawyer otherwise they wont be able to do their job properly) I have had a fine (speeding), awareness course (rode in a cycle lane and someone gave police dash cam footage) (which was great fun, informative and i would 100% recommend to anyone, even if you have not been forced to take it), and court (CD10 Driving without due care and attention... ). Court is not fun... But get a good lawyer and they will make it much easier. They are expensive though, in my case the cost of the lawyer ended up costing more then the fine I would have got without one, and still got 3 points and a £200 fine, plus court fees of about £50 :/. Whatever happens good luck. If you are defo being charged with a CU80 (Breach of requirements as to control of the vehicle, such as using a mobile phone) then you have a minimum charge of 3 points, and a maximum charge of 6 points. Which either way is not the end of the world, just means higher insurance costs.
thank for the heads up , I much like to know what I'll end up with. just hope they cock the paperwork up or offer me some kind of awareness course. you live and learn I guess, I think it was just pure bad luck and I'll try not to let it get me down.
Something similar happened to me and my mates out doing some streeto in an industrial/dock area. Had been to the location and stupidy returned a while later. Mate done a donut over a wide junction as the police were coming up from the other end of the road(they had been notified of cars doing 'the drifts'). He ended up loosing the books for a year, was done for dangerous driving iirc, or not being in control of a vehicle as he crossed over both lanes. Similar to you this was done around 1/2 oclock in the morning in a quiet area. Only damming factor was they had CCTV of the incident, also didn't help that another fella we were with basically 'judasd' him in court to wiggle out of his case. They didn't have any CCTV of me doing anything so luckily I got off with a warning on the night. So if they have no proof you actually did anything I would possibly fight it man depending on what they are hitting you with
