Having a major stress over a notice of intended prosecution

[ThePerkyCoralPoet]

Last week my dad was in hospital and had an endoscopy for suspected cancer. I was lost and in an area I didn’t know and slowed down to exit the junction I nearly missed. No accidents happened hwpbwr it wasn’t safe I know this and also I have no idea if it was that or even something else.

I’ve sent the form back and tried to get some legal advice. They’re stressing me out even more at this point saying well at the moment the hospital is irrelevant it depends on the severity and it’s in the hands of the police.

help?

They’re also known as mumsnetters.
“Did you get him on your dash cam?
Log it with 101 now!”

Don’t listen to those who are just perfect and do no wrong. It will all be fine. Hope your dad is ok xx

That made me laugh, it’s so true 🤣.

Your dad being in hospital is irrelevant.
You endangered other road users and must now deal with the consequences.

snore

I’m really panicked I must admit

Here are the guidelines. I don't think anyone was hurt?

It looks like it would a lesser crime.

I would admit guilt and see what happens.

www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/careless-driving-drive-without-due-care-and-attention-revised-2017/

Sent in error!

Thank you for the kind wishes. It was really worrying. It was a bleed that was persistent and suddenly they suspected cancer and my mind wasn’t in the right space. But I know I was wrong and will admit to that entirely. My head was just wrought with worry that he was under sedation and then the cancer thing. I was a mess. I will admit. I know it won’t wash in terms of evidence but I’m just saying I messed up and I was caught on a shit day.

It sounds like it was cutting across somebody that has brought this about, if you brake quickly it is the person behind's fault if they go into you. You could try your luck in court but if you are offered a course and the cost of the course, do that, and nobody will know or care. You get a big choice of days and times for the course.

Good advice OP. i also had a minor accident when my DM was in hospital.. reversing, no one else involved but it was a wake up call.

Try not to panic.

Your solicitor was being very dramatic unless you were just focusing on the worst case scenario.
Just fill in the forms honestly. You might be able to ask to see footage ( I think you can google how to do this) and make your mind up.

A driving awareness course is simple and might help you. A few points on your licence just means telling your insurance company - DH had this and when I informed the insurance people, they didn't change the premium but charged me an alteration fee of £50... the points go away after a certain time. If its your first awareness course, I think you are allowed one more.

Nowadays I keep the Sat Nav on with the speaker on full blast as it reminds you about speed restrictions and warns you where to turn. It's one extra helper. If you will be going regularly to the hospital look up the route on Google Maps and try to learn it too.. Then you can be more confident of where you are going, even if its a strange area too.

Hope you are OK and that your Dad is comfortable atm.

It's easy done (I demolished the wing of the car on the brick gate post at my Dad's when he was in hospital just before he died), so sympathies. You may geta fine and points or you may get an option to do a course.

At the end of the day what happened happened - you did get behind the wheel, you did drive dangerously, you know it was wrong.

And it's all OK.

Honestly OP, you are going to make yourself unwell stressing like this.

No one got hurt. Just learn from it and next time you are in this headspace, do not drive.

Comply with whatever they want - it will probably be a motorway driving awareness course, which costs £100, takes 3 hours online and doesn't get you any points on your license. The people who run them are friendly and not critical. It's not a big deal. I've done one and so have quite a few people I know (mine was also the result of driving without due care and attention whilst stressing about a relative).

People saying that the circumstances about your dad aren't relevant are correct - it's not likely this will be taken into consideration as it's not an excuse for dangerous driving - you shouldn't have got behind the wheel - but next time you will know.

Sorry to hear about your dad- no wonder you were stressed.

Dont worry about the notice- plead guilty, fill the form in and accept the points, pay the fine. Almost everyone has points on their license- unless you caused an accident or someone was hurt, it’s not a criminal offense and no one will be bothered.

Its extra stress you don’t need, but do as suggested and move on. If you find motorway driving difficult, for your own peace of mind, you might want to book a couple of refresher lessons with a driving instructor.

I was caught speeding on camera once. I explained that my dad was in hospital. He'd been badly treated and had a heart attack so ended up in HDU - the docs words were he 'fought hard for him'. I gave the police a copy of the letter I sent to the nhs trust complaining about how they had mismanaged him and of tge nhs trust response. The lack of care caused the heart attack. The police were golden. I was 3mph over the limit so not dangerously out of control - they quashed it.

Please stop panicking - you're already understandably stressed due to worry over your dad. Obtain some evidence about his condition - when he went into hospital etc and write to the police.

S long as you dodnt force a chain of energency stops/an accident, you should be OK.

Dash cams are a curse in the wrong hands.

@averylongtimeago thats a good idea... I took extra lessons when I had to drive in an inner city area having not really driven that much for some years after passing my test. It was sneered at by a few people but really got my confidence back and also, learning the routes in that unfamiliar area ( pre sat nav)

It's not that anyone is without sympathy for your shit day. I have a relative who is unwell too, it's horrible. I do hope your dad is OK.

But the truth of it is, we all have shit days. And when we have shit days, we need to be aware of our frame of mind and not get behind the wheel.

Because your day will get 100x more shit if you get into a car accident.

This is why you're unlikely to get much sympathy if you appeal it, and there isn't really much point in bringing it up. Just take the fine/ do the course or whatever option offered to you, and move on.

I’m sorry but your dad having a planned procedure for something suspected is absolutely zero defence. As is driving somewhere unfamiliar. It wasn’t an emergency in any sense.

People are charged for such offences because they can and do cause accidents for driving in an unsafe manner. It was your choice to get behind the wheel
and if you don’t feel safe to do so for whatever reason then you should not drive.

Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely have every sympathy for your dad being unwell and it was the reason for your error…but you should not use it as a defence. The majority of people have serious worries going on in their lives.

What‘s done is done and panicking about it will not change anything. The likelihood is it will be a minor penalty and you can put it behind you and focus on your dad etc/

This 100%

I know love and it will all be ok re the nip. Honestly people have done soooo much worse xxx

I can assure you that driving through village roads I meet dangerous drivers daily, almost all of them do it intentionally - mostly speeding to 60 on a 40 or 80/90 on a 60, or tailgating.

In 90k miles driven in this country, I have never witnessed an accidental accident (excuse me the pun), rather all of them caused by (drunken) morons.

Official stats seem to support my anecdotal statement - 64.9% of accidents are apparently caused by intentional (mis)behaviours, and mostly by young males.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-fatal-4-factsheet-2023/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-fatal-4-factsheet-2023--2