What's the alternative, Nially? Are you saying there should only be prosecutions if a Garda witnesses it? If you saw a really bad piece of dangerous driving, would you not feel that the Gardai should follow up. Remember that he hasn't been convicted (yet). Any conviction would only follow when a judge hears both sides and makes his decision on who is telling the truth.Niallymac said:How can he be proecuted on the evidence of another driver alone ? What qualifies this other driver to determine whether in fact his driving was dangerous. If it is as easy as this I could spend all day long reporting guys who cut me up and get them all prosecuted. Its one persons word versus another, unless of course there are witnesses involved.
Hi Vanilla - To an outsider, this seems absolutely ludicrous! Is there any good reason why engaging a solicitor should result in a reduction in the seriousness of the charge?Vanilla said:At the very least, where a solicitor represents you on a dangerous driving charge, the guards will routinely let you plead to a lesser charge of careless or driving without due care and attention, therefore less risk of being put off the road, endorsements, and fine.
Rainday said:Hi Vanilla - To an outsider, this seems absolutely ludicrous! Is there any good reason why engaging a solicitor should result in a reduction in the seriousness of the charge?
Well, yes of course! First of all, if you defend yourself, you will not have the same experience or indeed knowledge as a solicitor. You will invariably not know the simplest procedures in the district court, you will not know the best way to present your case, you will not know how to effectively cross-examine a witness, you will not know the case law, you may not even know the penalties etc Your solicitor will know all of this, and the guards know they know it. So if the guards are prosecuting you for dangerous driving, but on the facts it seems that if the offence is challenged in court then it may very well be more akin to careless driving than dangerous, they may well accept a plea to careless, rather than risk an acquittal entirely. Note that of course, the judge has to agree to apply the lesser charge. Of course, this will also only occur where on the facts it seems that it may be difficult to make the charge of dangerous driving stick. But this happens very frequently.Is there any good reason why engaging a solicitor should result in a reduction in the seriousness of the charge?
So there is collusion between the Guards & The legal profession? They trump up the charges, the law is made complicated so Joe Soap does not understand it and in comes the Solicitor on their shiny charger (BMW M5 these days), untrumps (?) the charge back to what it should be in the first place and the winners are the courts and solicitors. Hmmm?
How about the two drivers, any witnesses going to see the Judge, the Judge listens to the complaint and the defense and then hands out a penalty (as he should know the law and what crime has been committed.
What's the alternative, Nially? Are you saying there should only be prosecutions if a Garda witnesses it?
IMHO, what qualifies the other driver to determine whether or not the driving was dangerous is that they have felt in risk of their life. Or, that they felt the behaviour of the other driver would likely result in an accident/injury to them or someone else.
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