Road Traffic Offences for the Prosecution & Defence - A Guide Live at Your Desk

Introduction

Road traffic law is a specialised area with an array of offences and legislation in relation to them. You may be a person prosecuting road traffic offences in the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court or a defence solicitor representing private clients or acting as the Court Duty Solicitor.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive course will cover the following:

Driving Offences and Definitions

• What amounts to ‘driving,’ ‘attempting to drive’ and being ‘in charge’
• Consideration of available defences - automatism, mechanical defect, duress
• Updates on driving offences involving death - including abuse of process, chain of causation, and determination of ‘dangerous’
• Latest case updates - such as usage of phones whilst driving - Olins and DPP v Bareto

Admissibility and Exclusion Arguments

• Key updates and information on admissibility and exclusion arguments - including challenging specimen evidence, causation, role of expert witnesses, and disclosure of material in road traffic cases and s.78 PACE

Sentencing Principles in Road Traffic Cases

• Sentencing Guidelines - a clear and comprehensive run through of the latest Sentencing Guidelines in relation to motoring offences, including the 12 guidelines on motoring offences (1 July 2023), careless driving guidelines (July 2025), and aggravated vehicle taking guidelines (1 April 2025)
• Latest case updates on application of Sentencing Guidelines
• Updates on imposition of disqualifications (obligatory and discretionary) and impact of custodial sentences on disqualification orders in practice

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.