Calderwood House, Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham GL50 1UA
Our criminal defence solicitors provide clear legal advice and representation for people facing driving-related offences. We can advise you on the allegations against you, court proceedings, potential penalties and the legal options available to help you understand your position and prepare your case.
Criminal Defence Advice
The prospect of losing your licence can affect much more than your journey to work, particularly if other people depend on you for care or transport. Our driving offence solicitors help you understand the allegation, the evidence and the realistic options for protecting your position. We look at your driving record and circumstances together, so advice on a summons, charge or potential ban reflects the consequences you actually face.
Motoring law involves different tests for disputing an offence, challenging evidence and asking a court to take particular circumstances into account at sentence. Our legal team explains which arguments are available and what documents are needed to support them. We can prepare for a single hearing or a contested case, addressing issues such as identification, police procedure, medical evidence and the effect of existing penalty points without promising that an essential licence can always be saved.
Road traffic offences range from speeding and failing to provide driver details to drink driving, drug driving and dangerous driving. Each has its own elements and potential penalties. Accumulating 12 or more relevant points within three years can lead to a totting-up ban, while a new driver's licence can be revoked for reaching six points within two years of passing the first test. Revocation and disqualification are different procedures, and exceptional hardship is not a general answer to every mandatory ban.
Driving cases can arise after a roadside stop, collision, speed allegation, breath or blood procedure, police interview or postal requisition. The evidence may include officer statements, camera records, dashcam footage, CCTV, collision material or laboratory results depending on the charge.
We look at the allegation together with your driving history and personal circumstances. If the case is contested, the preparation will focus on the evidence in issue. If the offence is admitted, the work may instead centre on sentence, points, disqualification and the information the court needs about your circumstances.
For offences dealt with in the Magistrates' Court, we explain the plea, trial or sentencing decisions likely to arise at the hearing.
Needing a car for work is not, by itself, proof of exceptional hardship. The court will examine the actual consequences and available alternatives, including the effect on others. A challenge to speed, identification or testing also needs a sound evidential basis. Missed notices, contradictory driver information and unsupported claims about equipment can make matters worse. We separate a legal defence from mitigation and check the evidence needed for the particular application.
Where penalty points could lead to a totting-up disqualification, the effect of losing your licence may need to be considered carefully. In appropriate cases the court can consider an exceptional hardship argument, but ordinary inconvenience is not enough and supporting evidence is usually important.
Our police interview advice can cover a motoring investigation before any court proceedings begin.
The impact of a driving case is different for every client. We look at the charge and the evidence, but also at what a conviction, points or disqualification would mean for your work and family responsibilities so the preparation reflects the real consequences for you.
We can advise before plea, prepare a contested case where appropriate and deal with mitigation or a licence-related application where the law allows it. You will know what evidence is needed and what the court is being asked to decide before the hearing takes place.
The cost depends on whether you need advice on a notice, representation at a guilty plea hearing, a hardship application or a contested trial. We explain preparation and attendance fees, VAT where applicable and any separate expert or barrister costs. Fines, prosecution costs, the surcharge and increased insurance premiums may add to the overall financial impact, even where a case involves only one hearing.
We do not accept legal aid instructions. If you choose our firm, we will agree our fees with you before substantive work begins.
Driving Offence FAQs
Common questions about driving bans, points, drink driving, court hearings and costs.
Yes. We can review the offence, your driving record and the circumstances of the case and advise on the issues the court will need to consider.
A totting-up disqualification can arise when the relevant number of points is reached. The exact position depends on your record and the offences involved, so your driving history should be checked before the hearing.
Exceptional hardship can be relevant in some totting-up cases. The court must be satisfied that the consequences go beyond ordinary hardship or inconvenience, and evidence is usually needed to support the application.
You can instruct a solicitor to review the evidence, advise on plea and represent you at court. The work required depends on the circumstances and whether any aspect of the evidence is disputed.
Yes. We can advise where a speeding allegation is being dealt with by the court, including cases where further points may place your licence at risk.
Police may obtain witness statements, CCTV, dashcam footage, vehicle or collision evidence and medical material. More serious allegations can involve a longer investigation before a charging decision is made.
Yes. We can discuss taking over after charge or after an earlier hearing and review the papers available before the next court date. Send the hearing notice, driving record and any plea already entered so we can identify urgent deadlines and avoid duplicating work unnecessarily.
Fees depend on whether the matter involves a single hearing, a contested trial, expert evidence or a more serious driving allegation. We can explain the likely work and costs before you decide to instruct us.
Exceptional hardship is associated with totting-up disqualification and is not a general way to avoid a mandatory drink driving ban. Different rules can apply to legally recognised special reasons, which concern the circumstances of the offence. We assess the correct procedure rather than treating personal hardship as a defence.
No. A requirement to identify the driver can create a separate legal obligation even if you dispute the underlying offence. Check the notice and its deadline, retain the records available and seek advice about an accurate response. Do not name someone without a truthful basis or assume that silence ends the case.
If you have received a summons, postal requisition or court date, speak to us about the allegation and your licence position. We can review the evidence, explain the next hearing and discuss the likely costs before you decide how to proceed.
Arrange a telephone call or visit our Cheltenham office by appointment. We assist clients in Cheltenham and the surrounding Gloucestershire area.
Call 0330 900 0377, email info@pembridgesolicitors.co.uk or request a consultation.
Pembridge Solicitors
Calderwood House, Montpellier Parade
Cheltenham GL50 1UA
Office visits by appointment.