Careless Driving - Research Paper Example

Number] Careless Driving When a driver is given a licence to drive, he does not only have the right to drive but also the responsibility to operate the vehicle. A driver has the legal duty of care towards every other driver, vehicle or person on the road and so driving carelessly can result in a severe legal action (Hess 148). The rate of accidents caused by reckless driving is increasing day by day in America and in other parts of the world. Thus, this paper is structured to analyse the possible ways to reduce the rate of accidents caused by careless driving. The best way to control the problem of careless driving is to impose more strict laws and regulations and these regulations must be carried out legally by legal institutions as soon as possible to control the number of accidents and deaths taking place (Cunningham 111). However, what careless drivers do not realise is the high risk in being involved in a charge for careless driving. It can cause severe injuries and damages to people or property; ‘because he was carelessly using her vehicle and injured another person as a result’ (Buckley 76). ‘Careless driving is generally regarded as poor quality driving or headless and imprudent driving’ (Butler 174). Drivers in Texas and San Antonio don’t realise the trouble that they can get into if they are caught driving carelessly. The current laws allow traffic tickets for driving carelessly to be issued to drivers regularly, and a heavy fine to be imposed on them. However, the risk is not limited. There can be serious consequences for those drivers who have been caught more than once for careless driving. Moreover, even for those who have been the reason for a severe accident, there can be serious legal proceedings and issues arising. The law in Texas for careless driving has the authority to impose heavy fines, sentence to jail for 6 months or suspend the driving licence for about two years. These laws should be strict enough so that drivers are cautious while driving, but despite these laws the control can be invisibly seen. ‘Further, until he or she has produced to the appropriate licensing authority a certificate of competency or both a certificate of competency and a certificate of fitness, he or she shall not be entitled to a licence’ (Butler 177). It is true that the best way to reduce the life taking accidents is to impose strict laws for those drivers who violate their duty of care. The common reasons why drivers drive carelessly are over speeding, disobeying traffic rules or drunk driving. If the drivers would understand the legal consequences of getting involved in such a conviction, they would drive safely for the rest of their lives. Because of the high number of cases coming to courts involving motor vehicle collisions or accidents of people, there is more awareness about the likely punishments to the driver. These cases are usually shown on news channels or newspapers and thus can act as awareness for many others. The law has enough power to control these actions and reduce the life taking accidents. Despite these laws being regulated in Texas and a number of traffic police officers catching careless drivers and imposing fines on them, there are many accidents taking place every year as a result of careless driving, why? This is simply because the drivers are not taking the laws seriously or they are not obeying them because they think their lawyers and insurance companies can help them. The insurance companies promise to pay the damages in case of any accidents thus drivers are carefree about their speeding. On the other hand, the lawyers and advocates are so easily available in Texas that drivers may not find it very difficult to get out of a conviction with the least intensity of punishments. The best way to get free from a careless driving trial is to plead guilty and reduce as much as fines as possible. In order to make sure that the accidents are reduced, there should be strict laws. The fines imposed should be heavy, and the punishments should be more effective. If the punishment is more severe and strict rather than minor slaps on the drivers’ wrists, the accidents would definitely reduce in number. ‘Imprisonment and disqualification seem ineffective in deterring the worst dangerous drivers, though early results from Driver Improvement Schemes for careless drivers are more encouraging’ (Corbett 154). The driver’s licence should also be confiscated until he doesn’t sign an undertaking that he will take care next time. If this is time taking and a lengthy process, then the driver shall be warned. If the driver repeats his carelessness within the next month, he shall be convicted under serious offences and shall be sentenced. In Texas, there is some traffic controlling departments who are looking into matters to reduce the number of accidents being caused. ‘Police also must deal with criminals who use vehicles in committing their crimes. This often involves high-speed chases. At the opposite end of the spectrum is law enforcement’s responsibility to educate the driving public about their responsibilities and the rules and regulations they must obey’ (Hess 149). One of the ways to control it is to reduce the speed limits for the busy roads where, according to the statistics, accidents are more likely to occur. Reducing speed limits would actually lower the risk of damage caused to the person or property because a collision with a high speed will cause more damage than a collision with low speed. According to some, reducing the speed limit is not a good way to control the speeders because they are going to over speed anyways. Moreover, reducing speed limits will also cause trouble to the honest drivers. The least arguments regarding the body that can control the careless drivers are against the legal institutions. Many agree to the fact that imposing strict legal rules on the drivers will control their actions and reduce the number of accidents caused. Law holds the strength to regulate rules that are for the benefit of the people. Even though there are many lawyers that are being hired for careless driving cases, the law shall conduct an impartial and fair trial where the driver is held liable for the losses that he causes. There should be warnings, compensations, and suspensions for these drivers. In some countries, the law says that careless driving can also take away the driver’s licence and job for a certain time period. Such strict rules would create a sense of responsibility and care in the minds of the drivers while driving as it is said ‘to include careless driving as a penalty points offence’ (Butler 175). A San Antonio Traffic Lawyer can be appointed if a driver is involved in the careless driving case. Careless driving is one of those violations of rules that are criminal. It is a criminal case which can result to criminal penalties in accordance to the nature and seriousness. ‘Intentional torts, as the name indicates, require the tortfeasor to intend to commit the wrongful act. What makes misconduct negligence is that the behaviour was not reasonably careful and someone was injured as a result of this unreasonable carelessness; for example, failing to watch the road ahead when driving a car’ (Buckley 3). Aggressive driving and negligence can be the two types of cases that may be filed. The aggressive driving cases include those drivers who over speed, make faces while driving or change lanes without giving signals. Negligence can be when a driver does not intend to harm any person or property but does know the possibility of the harm and still takes the risk. ‘If the defendant violates a negligent statute, he or she automatically is presumed negligent’ (Buckley 86). However, a lawyer would help the driver to fight the case to keep the driving record clean. The lawyer would either predict the potential outcome of the case and the amount of compensation likely to be given so that the driver can prepare his case before presenting in the court. In San Antonio, the issues regarding the careless driving have increased to a great extent. Traffic tickets are issued by traffic police agents on a regular basis, usually daily. There are tickets for every kind of violation of rules whether it is for over speeding, being aggressive, being drunk, carelessly driving etc. ‘Besides simply keeping traffic flowing, officers involved in this important aspect of police work are also charged with helping at and investigating crashes involving vehicles’ (Hess 148). Gradually these traffic tickets have become a huge business now through which the police officers and lawyers earn. It has also become a huge source of revenue for the city. Some attorneys in San Antonio fight the traffic tickets so that the driver does not have to appear in the court. This method is inexpensive and more feasible for the drivers. Thus, such flexible rules may give the drivers a leverage to take the law for granted. Recently, in Texas the charge for careless driving has become immensely common. This is because the looseness of the law. ‘The police may require a preliminary test to be taken’ (Cunningham 60), and then proceed the charge and as the police officers say that it is the easiest charge to imply because it is an umbrella charge which includes various aspects of behaviour and situations. ‘Although the government has given some consideration to changing the terminology to replace careless driving with an offence of ‘negligent driving’, the option was rejected on the basis that it would create ‘too much uncertainty in interpretation, for too little potential gain’ (Cunningham 111). Although ‘written enforcement action can be taken for careless driving’ (Hess 157), the records also suggest that a vast majority of these cases do not go for the trials and rather are solved through the traffic ticket advocates etc. With this attitude for the tickets the drivers do not tend to take the policies and rules seriously enough to control it. With stricter policies, the drivers will surely control their road behaviour. Evidence truly shows that the legislation has the supreme power to exercise control over the careless drivers and the accidents caused by their negligence. The legislation in Texas and San Antonio has the authority to punish those drivers and sentence them to jail. Most of the cases that are taken to court are decided strictly and serious actions are taken for these convictions as they hold criminal liability. A driver can also face lifelong suspension from a driving licence for serious and life taking accidents. However, the only thing that hinders the law to act strictly against such offenders are the police officers and traffic tickets advocates who tend to solve the matter loosely and do not take the case to the court. Many police officers have begun to take strict actions against these offenders such as suspension of driving licence or heavy fines. Undoubtedly enforcing the legislative regulations is the best way to reduce the number of accidents taking place due to careless driving. Work Cited Buckley William. Torts and Personal Injury Law. NY: Cengage Learning, 2004. Print. Butler Maura. Criminal Litigation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. Hess Karen. Police Operations: Theory and Practise. NY: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Corbett Claire. Car Crime. USA: Routledge, 2013. Print. Cunningham Sally. Driving Offences: Law, Policy and Practise. Texas: Ashgate Publishing ltd, 2008. Print. Read More