vonhosen wrote:...Many appear to think about careless driving as a question of whether the person committing to the act took care when considering whether to execute & in the execution of the manoeuvre itself. The actual test in legislation though goes further, asking whether the driving fell below the standard expected of a 'competent & careful' driver. Believing you carefully considered & executed the manoeuvre doesn't mean you aren't guilty of the offence. Even if those judging believe to you took care you could still fail the competent part of that test where they judge you fell short of the level of competence expected.
It is wholly irrelevant whether or not the driver believes he carefully considered and executed the manoeuvre. The test is objective. It isn't necessary to accept the defendant's belief and then label the driving as incompetent in order to find him guilty. You can simply disagree with his assessment that the driving was sufficiently careful.
The term 'competent and careful' has its roots in both civil and criminal cases. 'Competence' has been used where the defendant, a learner driver, has sought and failed, to be tested against a lower standard of ability. The law is clear that the standard of competence is that of an experienced driver, not a novice.
I don't see any reason why the introduction of 'competent and careful' into the Road Traffic Act should mean we ignore the case law prior to 2007. It reflects the case law, I think.
Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:However much you want to twist the wording of the law, in your heart of hearts,
you know what it means, really.
Where is the wording of the law you speak of, other than in your heart of hearts? The difficulty is that the law doesn't give clear facts that need to be proved for the offence to be made.
I agree with von's interpretation of the HC in his examples but we should bear in mind that a breach of the HC is not,necessarily careless driving any more than complying with the HC precludes liability for the offence.
The only practical advice you can hope for is to get an idea of the sort of driving Police Officers are likely to report you for and drive accordingly or choose to take the risk in doing otherwise.