Reeds Solicitors represents drivers in Coventry and the surrounding parts of Warwickshire facing the full range of motoring allegations. These include drink and drug driving, speeding, careless or dangerous driving, failure to provide a specimen and cases involving the risk of disqualification through penalty points.
Our motoring solicitors regularly advise clients during investigations and interviews conducted by West Midlands Police and Warwickshire Police, and represent drivers appearing before Coventry Magistrates’ Court.
We will explain the evidence against you, whether you have a realistic defence and the likely consequences for your licence. If you plead guilty, we can prepare your mitigation and represent you at court. You will have direct contact with an experienced motoring solicitor, and fixed fees are available, giving you complete clarity on cost.
Driving offences we cover in Coventry
- Drink Driving and Drunk in Charge
- Drug Driving
- Failure to Provide a Specimen
- Dangerous Driving or Careless Driving
- Causing Serious Injury or Death by Careless or Dangerous Driving
- Exceptional Hardship and Totting-Up Applications
- Speeding
- Failure to Provide Driver Details (Section 172)
- Driving Whilst Disqualified
- Failing to Stop or Report an Accident
Voluntary interviews
West Midlands Police will often invite drivers to attend a voluntary interview at Coventry Central Police Station, Foleshill Police Station or another police station in the surrounding area when investigating driving offences. This may be because an arrest is unnecessary, the incident has been captured on dashcam or CCTV, or a driver needed hospital treatment before they could be interviewed.
When instructed, we handle all communication with the investigating officer and seek as much disclosure as possible before the interview. This allows us to advise you on the evidence, prepare your account and develop a clear interview strategy. Careful preparation at this stage can make a decisive difference to the outcome of the investigation.
Coventry Magistrates’ Court address
Coventry Magistrates’ Court
60 Little Park St
Coventry
CV1 2SQ
Motoring cases arising in Coventry are generally listed at Coventry Magistrates’ Court, including matters investigated by West Midlands Police in Coventry and the surrounding area.
We regularly represent drivers from Coventry and across Warwickshire, including Bedworth, Nuneaton, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Rugby, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and the surrounding towns and villages.
Our Coventry Office
Our head office is based at Office 1.01, Friars House, Manor House Drive, Coventry, CV1 2TE. We can offer appointments either in person or virtually, depending on your preference.
For immediate motoring offence advice and representation, contact our team on 02475 105 530 or email [email protected]
How We Defend Motoring Cases in Coventry
West Midlands Police carry out roadside enforcement across Coventry, including the city centre and major routes such as the A45 and A46. A driver may also be investigated following a collision, a report from another road user or concerns raised about the manner of their driving.
Drink driving carries a mandatory minimum 12-month disqualification for a first offence, rising to three years for a second offence within ten years.
There are two potential routes to avoiding a ban. The first is successfully defending the allegation itself, for example where there is a dispute about who was driving or post-driving consumption of alcohol. The second is advancing a special reasons argument. This may arise from a spiked drink, an emergency or other unusual circumstances connected to the offence.
It is important to establish whether the allegation includes aggravating features. Does the officer describe slurred speech, glazed eyes or erratic driving? Where does the case fall within the sentencing guidelines? Once instructed, we can obtain the court papers, advise on the likely sentencing range and help you decide whether to challenge the allegation or focus on mitigation.
Drug driving prosecutions are increasingly common across Coventry and Warwickshire, with West Midlands Police routinely using roadside drug tests following collisions and traffic stops. The legal limits are extremely low, and prescribed medication can also lead to investigation.
We obtain the court papers early to assess the evidence, any alleged aggravating features and whether a defence or special reasons argument is available. If a conviction cannot be avoided, we present focused mitigation aimed at reducing the sentence.
Failing to provide a specimen when lawfully required by West Midlands Police carries the same mandatory minimum 12-month disqualification as drink driving. Many drivers do not realise this until they are charged.
The allegation is not limited to an outright refusal. It can arise from an inadequate breath sample, conduct interpreted as non-compliance, or a genuine medical inability to provide. Where you were only “in charge” of a vehicle, rather than driving, the court may impose 10 points or a discretionary ban instead.
There are two routes to avoiding a ban: establishing a reasonable excuse, including a medical condition supported by evidence, or advancing special reasons. These cases often turn on key details. What did the officer say at the time? Were the correct procedures followed? Was any medical condition or other issue made known?
When instructed, we obtain the court papers promptly and advise clearly on whether either route applies. If a ban cannot be avoided, we focus on securing the shortest possible disqualification.
Coventry’s roads, from the Ring Road, A45 and A46 to busy junctions and residential routes through areas such as Foleshill and Earlsdon, generate serious driving allegations every week. We defend clients facing dangerous driving, causing serious injury or death by dangerous driving, and careless driving allegations arising from incidents across Coventry and Warwickshire.
The line between careless and dangerous driving is often far narrower than people realise. Cases are frequently built on incomplete evidence, unreliable witness accounts, or a picture that changes as further information emerges. Dashcam footage, vehicle damage, road layout and mobile phone data can all become important.
It is crucial to take the right approach in any police interview. Early legal advice can shape the course of the investigation, and we can make representations that the evidence supports a lesser charge or that no charge should be brought at all.
Fixed and average-speed cameras on major routes such as the A45 and A46, mobile enforcement units operating across Coventry and Warwickshire, and smart motorway monitoring on the M6 mean speeding allegations can arise in circumstances drivers do not always anticipate.
The consequences depend on the speed alleged and the points already on your licence. A further three points can be enough to trigger a totting-up disqualification, while higher-speed offences can result in a discretionary ban.
Where 12 points is in sight, our focus shifts to exceptional hardship and whether there is a realistic basis for avoiding a totting-up disqualification.
Under the totting-up rules, reaching 12 penalty points within three years triggers a minimum six-month disqualification. An exceptional hardship application asks the court to consider whether that ban would cause hardship going beyond the consequences normally associated with losing your licence.
What courts will not accept
Needing your car for work is not enough. Finding public transport inconvenient is not enough. The magistrates will be looking for hardship beyond the ordinary consequences of a driving ban.
What courts will consider
The effect on other people can carry particular weight. This may include employees who could lose their jobs, family members who depend on you for care, or a business that would suffer significant harm. These applications are won and lost on the quality of the evidence.
Exceptional hardship and special reasons are different legal arguments. Special reasons relate to the circumstances of the offence itself. Exceptional hardship applies only to totting-up disqualifications.
See our Exceptional Hardship service page for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
The notice will require you to identify the driver within 28 days. Do not ignore it, even if you believe it arrived late or the allegation is wrong, as failing to respond is a separate offence carrying six penalty points.
Before replying, check the alleged offence, date, location and vehicle details. If you are unsure who was driving, already have points on your licence or believe the notice may be defective, seek advice promptly.
A notice of intended disqualification means the court is considering banning you from driving, often because a recent motoring offence could take you to 12 penalty points or more. We can represent you at the court hearing and argue exceptional hardship in a totting-up case, or that a single speeding offence does not justify an immediate disqualification.
Yes. Once a court date has been fixed, we can usually download the prosecution papers electronically through the Common Platform. This allows us to review the evidence, advise you on plea and agree a plan of action before the hearing, avoiding rushed decisions at court.
If you are prosecuted through the Single Justice Procedure, the notice and supporting pack should already contain the relevant witness statements. If you have been charged and bailed from the police station, however, you may initially receive only a basic charge sheet.
We offer fixed fees where the work can be clearly defined in advance. Typical fees are:
- Guilty plea at the first Magistrates’ Court hearing: £750 to £1,500 plus VAT
- Drink or drug driving case dealt with at a single hearing: £750 to £1,500 plus VAT
- Exceptional hardship application: £1,500 to £3,500 plus VAT
- Special reasons argument: £2,000 to £4,000 plus VAT
- Not guilty plea and representation at a single trial: £2,000 to £5,000 plus VAT
If the case is adjourned for sentence or requires a further sentencing hearing, an additional fee of £750 to £1,000 plus VAT will usually apply. More complex cases or those involving several hearings may fall outside a fixed fee.
The precise cost will depend on the facts and scope of the case. We will confirm the fee in writing before you instruct us.
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