Dangerous driving: What counts as a driving conviction?

There is a lot of confusion about what dangerous driving is, what counts as a driving conviction and the impact it can have on your car insurance.

Here we will explain what constitutes a driving conviction, and how you can avoid a hike in your insurance costs because of one.

What constitutes as dangerous driving?

All motoring offences determined by magistrates or at a crown court will lead to a criminal conviction — that can be anything from causing death by dangerous driving or driving under the influence of alcohol, to speeding or failing to wear a seatbelt.

All these offences can lead to a fine, penalty points on your licence, disqualification and, in extreme cases, imprisonment.

But it’s not just the manner of your driving that can lead to convictions. You may be committing an offence if you are driving a defective vehicle, perhaps driving at night with no rear lights, or driving without insurance or a valid licence or MOT. These offences can also lead to a driving conviction.

The rules are the same, whether the person pleads guilty, or is found guilty by the court.

However, offences that are committed but dealt with by way of a fixed penalty notice, do not lead to criminal convictions. The fixed penalty notice is served because the authorities believe the offence is serious, but not serious enough to be considered by a court of law.

Here are some of the examples listed by the Metropolitan police as to what constitutes as dangerous driving, but not limited to:

Speeding, racing, or driving aggressively
Ignoring traffic lights, road signs or warnings from passengers
Overtaking dangerously
Driving under the influence of drink or drugs, including prescription drugs
Driving when unfit, including having an injury, being unable to see clearly, not taking prescribed drugs, or being sleepy
Knowing the vehicle has a dangerous fault or an unsafe load

Distractions are also causes of dangerous driving, for example:

Using a hand-held phone or other equipment
Reading, or looking at a map
Talking to and looking at a passenger
Lighting a cigarette, selecting music, tuning the radio

Do I have to declare my driving convictions?

You will need to declare your convictions, both motoring and criminal when getting a quote for an insurance policy. If you fail to do so your insurance may be invalid and your insurer may cancel the policy. 

In the event of a claim you may not be paid, and if you have already been paid for a claim and a previous conviction becomes apparent, your insurer can ask for its money back.

How long does a driving conviction last?

Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, after a period of time your driving conviction will become ”‘spent” and it is no longer allowed to count against you. You don’t have to declare spent convictions.

How long it takes for your conviction to become spent depends on the length and severity of the penalty. Penalty points are usually removed after four years but can stay on your record for up to 11 years for more serious offences.

When your penalty points expire you will have a clean driving licence once again but the DVLA will not notify you that your points are spent. You will have to keep your own record and apply for a replacement licence when the time is right.

Do I have to declare the convictions of a named driver on my policy?

You will be asked about everyone named on the policy’s driving convictions. So if you have friends or family on your policy who have a driving conviction that is unspent, you will have to declare them.

How can I check if my named driver has driving convictions?

You should check the driving licence of anyone you intend to allow to drive your vehicle. You can check your licence, and theirs with their cooperation, by visiting the Government website.

How can I avoid getting points on my licence?

You worked hard to get a driving licence so it makes sense to look after it. The best way to avoid driving convictions and getting points on your licence is to drive with care and obey the laws of the road. Sometimes the laws may seem a little restrictive, perhaps a speed limit will seem too low, but the laws are administered and enforced to keep you and other road users safe, so stick to them.

If you commit a minor speeding offence, instead of paying your fine and accepting points on your licence, you might be given an alternative option of attending a speed awareness course.

Courses are run throughout the country and are administered by the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme. The cost varies from region to region but it is about £100 and lasts for four hours.

How many points can I have before being disqualified?

If you pick up 12 or more points within a three-year period, you’ll usually be disqualified from driving. If you’re banned from driving for more than 56 days, you’ll have to reapply for a new licence when the ban ends.

If you’re a new driver, you can be disqualified from driving if you get six or more penalty points within two years of passing your driving test.

How long does drink driving stay on your record?

In some cases, a driving conviction could result in you getting a criminal record. Convictions for offences that could result in you being imprisoned will go on your criminal record, whether you actually lose your liberty or not.

Drink driving, for example, is a prisonable offence which can result in a six-month prison sentence. Most people get a ban and fine for drink driving, but the conviction will still go on their criminal record.

As well as drink driving, drug driving, failing to provide a breath/blood/urine specimen, failing to stop or report an accident and dangerous driving will all go on a criminal record.

In the UK, a drink driving conviction will stay on your criminal record for five years, or until the end of the ban if it lasts longer than five years.

How long does dangerous driving stay on record?

The DVLA keeps a record of all motoring convictions but the length of time they keep them for varies. Records are kept for:

Four years from the date of the offence if penalty points are imposed
Four years from the date of conviction if a court imposes a disqualification
Four years from the date of conviction for dangerous driving-related offences
11 years for drink driving, drug driving and failing to provide a specimen

When looking for driving convictions on your record, look for the codes DD40, DD60, and DD80.

How do I know if my conviction is spent?

A driving conviction will become spent after the specific amount of time given to you when you are first convicted of the offence. This is also known as the disclosure period. As previously stated the length of time will depend on what you have been charged with.

A spent conviction will then be removed from your basic criminal record, but may still appear on more detailed checks such as a DBS check. You can also check your driving licence record to see how many penalty points you currently have, and when they’ll be removed, by contacting the DVLA. 

Can you report someone for dangerous driving?

You are able to report someone for dangerous driving by contacting the police or submitting a witness report online after seeing an incident.

If you believe the driver to be an immediate threat to not only themselves but others too, you can dial 999. However, you should only do this when you are parked in a safe place, if you are the driver at the time of witnessing the dangerous driving.

When you deem it not to be an emergency then you can always call 101, or once again submit a report online.

For both instances you will need the number plate of the vehicle, and preferably video footage taken either by a dashcam, or from a passenger in your vehicle. You should not be filming the incident yourself, as in turn you will be breaking the law. 

The police will then investigate the report, even if you don’t have footage to provide them with, and if they deem the driver to be driving dangerously, you may be required to attend a court date as a witness.

Where can I get insurance with driving convictions?

Adrian Flux specialises in a variety of niche motoring markets, including insurance for drivers with motoring convictions. Unlike many of our competitors, we can offer competitive quotes despite a poor driving record.

We realise your past is not necessarily a guide to the future and in many cases if you have picked up a few points for driving convictions you will drive even more carefully to protect your licence.

As experts in finding cover for all types of specialist and unusual situations, our quotes department can arrange value for money, high quality insurance cover whatever your driving history.

Our best insurance deals are usually over the phone so call 0800 141 2794 for a sensible quote. Alternatively, book a call back at a time that suits you.