Causing Serious Injury by Dangerous Driving Solicitors

Causing serious injury by dangerous driving is a criminal offence under Section 1A of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It carries up to five years in prison, a driving ban of at least two years and a compulsory extended retest.

If you’re under investigation or have been charged, our motoring solicitors can help from the police station onwards. If you’re reading this, you’re probably somewhere between a collision and a court date. Maybe you’ve had a letter, or the police have been in touch, and you don’t know what happens next.

What helps is knowing exactly where you stand, and having someone in your corner who knows how these cases work. That’s what we’re here for.

Key Facts

• Maximum sentence: 5 years’ custody in the Crown Court. Magistrates can impose up to 12 months.
• Guideline range: From 26 weeks’ to 5 years’ custody.
• Driving ban: 26 weeks to 5 years’ custody.
• Driving ban. Minimum 2 years, plus a compulsory extended retest. See more information on driving bans here.
• Penalty points. 3 to 11, only where the court finds special reasons not to ban you.

What is causing serious injury by dangerous driving?

Dangerous driving has a specific legal meaning, set out in Section 2A of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It’s defined as driving dangerously and causing someone a serious injury as a result.

Your driving is dangerous if it falls far below what’s expected of a competent and careful driver, and it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving that way was dangerous.

“Far below” is a high bar. A mistake, even a bad one, isn’t automatically dangerous driving. The test is also objective, so the court asks what a careful driver would have seen as obviously dangerous, not what you personally thought at the time.

It isn’t only about how you drove

You can also commit the offence through the state of the vehicle. If it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving the vehicle in its current condition was dangerous, that counts. The law also looks at anything attached to it or carried in it. Bald tyres, failed brakes or an unsecured load can all fall into this.

A hidden defect you had no way of knowing about is different.

What counts as a serious injury?

In England and Wales, “serious injury” means physical harm amounting to grievous bodily harm (GBH). That means really serious harm, such as broken bones or injuries needing major surgery.

Psychological injury on its own doesn’t meet the definition of GBH, although once the physical threshold is met, the court can take psychological harm into account when sentencing.

Your driving must also be a real cause of the injury. It doesn’t need to be the only cause, but it must be more than trivial.

Expert motoring solicitors like our team will carefully assess whether the threshold has been met.

Careless vs dangerous driving: what is the difference?

It comes down to how far below the standard your driving fell. Careless driving falls below the standard of a competent and careful driver. Dangerous driving falls far below it, in a way that would be obviously dangerous. When someone is seriously injured, that difference decides which offence you face, and it changes almost everything about the likely outcome.

	Causing serious injury by careless driving (s.2C)	Causing serious injury by dangerous driving (s.1A)
Legal test	Below the standard of a competent and careful driver	Far below that standard, and obviously dangerous
Maximum sentence	2 years’ custody	5 years’ custody
Guideline range	Community order to 2 years’ custody	26 weeks’ to 5 years’ custody
Minimum ban	12 months, with an extended retest at the court’s discretion	2 years, with a compulsory extended retest
Court	Magistrates’ or Crown Court (either way)	Magistrates’ or Crown Court (either way)

The line between the two isn’t always clear. Collision evidence can be read more than one way, and a case charged as dangerous driving sometimes looks more like careless driving once it’s examined properly. We cover this in more detail under defences below.

For the lesser offence, see our page on causing serious injury by careless driving.

“I would most definitely use Newtons again. Great staff, great company. Both Kristina Lancaster and Molly Brady kept me well informed on all matters. In the end, my road traffic offences were dropped by the court. Kristina and Molly even managed to get me a refund on some of my legal expenses.” – Richard Gordon, Newtons Solicitors client, August 2026

What the sentencing guidelines say

Every starting point in the guideline is a prison sentence, from 1 year up to 4 years. Courts must follow the Sentencing Council guideline, unless doing so would be against the interests of justice. Remember that a starting point isn’t the final sentence, and custody doesn’t always mean going to prison straight away.

The court starts by placing the case in a category. It considers how bad the driving was (culpability) and how serious the injury is (harm).

Culpability

• A (highest): Includes a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road, a prolonged course of dangerous driving, an obviously highly dangerous manoeuvre, prolonged phone use, driving highly impaired by drink or drugs, evading the police, racing, persistently ignoring warnings, a long lack of attention, and speed far over the limit or badly wrong for the conditions.
• B (middle): Includes phone use not falling in A, driving knowing the vehicle had a dangerous defect or load, speed wrong for the conditions, driving impaired by drink, drugs, a known medical condition or lack of sleep, and ignoring a warning. Cases between A and C also sit here.
• C (lowest): Driving just over the threshold for dangerous driving.

Harm

• Category 1. A particularly grave or life-threatening injury, lifelong dependency on care or treatment, or a permanent injury with a substantial long-term effect on daily life or work.
• Category 2. All other cases.

Starting points and ranges

Harm	Culpability A	Culpability B	Culpability C
Category 1	4 years (range 3 to 5 years)	3 years (range 2 to 4 years)	2 years (range 1 to 3 years)
Category 2	3 years (range 2 to 4 years)	2 years (range 1 to 3 years)	1 year (range 26 weeks to 2 years)

All figures are custody. More than one injured person in a single charge moves the sentence up within the range.

The court then looks at the wider picture. Aggravating factors include an injured pedestrian, cyclist, horse rider or motorcyclist; relevant previous convictions; passengers in your car; failing to stop; and a poorly maintained vehicle. Driving for work, or driving a goods vehicle or bus, also counts against you.

Mitigation can include a good driving record, the injured person or someone else contributing significantly, a genuine emergency, helping at the scene, real remorse and your personal circumstances; for drivers aged roughly 18 to 25, age and maturity are considered too.

Pleading guilty at the first opportunity normally earns a reduction of up to one third, but this shrinks the later you plead.

Will I go to prison?

Not always. A custodial sentence is likely if you’re convicted, but it can be suspended, meaning you serve it in the community and only go to prison if you reoffend or breach its conditions.

The rules changed this year. If you’re convicted on or after 22 March 2026 and the right sentence is 12 months or less, the court must suspend it. But there are exceptions; the main ones are a significant risk of harm to someone, being on a court order at the time, or exceptional circumstances that justify immediate custody.

For sentences over 12 months and up to 3 years, the court can still choose to suspend the sentence. It weighs things like your prospects of rehabilitation, your risk of reoffending, strong personal mitigation and the effect prison would have on people who depend on you. Sentences over 3 years can’t be suspended.

So where does that leave you? It depends heavily on the category your case falls into, and on your plea.

We can’t tell you your sentence before we’ve seen the evidence, and you should be wary of anyone who does. What we will do is build the strongest case for the outcome the facts support.

The extended test is longer and more demanding than a standard one. Until you pass it, you can only drive on a provisional licence, with the usual learner restrictions.

Courts can go above 2 years in more serious cases, but they’re told not to ban anyone for longer than necessary, and to bear in mind the effect on work.

If you’re sent to prison, the ban is extended by half the custodial term, so it isn’t used up while you’re inside. So a 2-year ban alongside an immediate 2-year prison sentence becomes a 3-year ban. There’s no extension for a suspended sentence.

Special reasons

Special reasons are the only way to avoid or reduce the ban after a conviction. The reason must relate to the offence itself, not to you personally, so losing your job or home, however hard, doesn’t count.

To qualify, it has to be a mitigating circumstance that isn’t a legal defence, is directly connected to the offence, and is something the court should properly consider. If special reasons are found and you’re not banned, your licence is endorsed with 3 to 11 penalty points instead. Special reasons arguments are not applicable for every case and need careful preparation, so talk to us early to see if this could apply to yours.

What happens next, from collision to court

Most cases follow the same broad route, and the early stages can take many months. Knowing what’s coming makes the wait a little easier.

1. Arrest or interview. Some drivers are arrested at the scene; others are invited to a voluntary interview later. In both cases, you’re entitled to free legal advice, and it’s worth having. Your answers can shape the charge. See our page on representation at the police station.
   
2. Your vehicle may be seized. Police often keep the vehicle so collision investigators can examine it, so expect it to be gone for a while.
   
3. The collision is investigated. Specialist officers reconstruct the collision. They may use dashcam, CCTV, phone data, witness accounts and medical records on the injury.
   
4. Bail or released under investigation. You’ll usually be released while this happens, either on bail with a return date and possibly conditions, or released under investigation with no fixed date. This is often the longest and hardest stage.
   
5. The charging decision. The CPS decides whether to charge and with what. Where there’s a real argument that the driving was careless rather than dangerous, this can be the moment to make it.
   
6. Charge or summons. You’ll either be charged at the police station or receive a written charge and a date by post.
   
7. First hearing. Every case starts in the magistrates’ court, such as York Magistrates’ Court for local cases. You’ll indicate a plea, and the court decides whether the case stays there or goes up to the Crown Court. Given the 5-year maximum, more serious cases are likely to go to the Crown Court.

If you’ve been charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, speak to a solicitor before that first hearing. The plea you indicate there matters, including for how much credit you could get.

Defences and challenging the evidence

The prosecution has to prove that your driving was dangerous, that it caused the injury and that the injury amounts to GBH. If any one of those fails, so does this charge, although a lesser one such as dangerous driving may still follow.

We’ll be honest about how strong any defence is. If the evidence is against you, we’ll tell you, and focus on getting the best possible outcome at sentence.

Where the evidence points to careless rather than dangerous driving, we’ll put that to the CPS. They may accept a guilty plea to causing serious injury by careless driving instead. That brings the maximum down to 2 years and the minimum ban down to 12 months. Although this isn’t guaranteed, raising it early, before positions are hardened, gives it the best chance.

Funding your defence

Legal advice at the police station is free for everyone, whatever your income.

For court proceedings, you may be able to get legal aid. Whether you qualify depends on two things. One is your income; the other is whether the case is serious enough to need representation, and the risk of prison and a long ban usually weighs heavily there. In the Crown Court, you may have to contribute to your costs.

If you’d rather instruct us privately, or don’t qualify, we can discuss costs with you. To get started, contact us for a consultation at your nearest office today.

Check your motor and home insurance policies too. Some include legal expenses cover for motoring prosecutions. If yours does, you’re generally entitled to choose your own solicitor once proceedings begin, rather than using one the insurer picks.

How Newtons can help

We’re a regional firm with ten offices across Yorkshire, Cumbria and the North East, and our motoring solicitors know the courts and represent drivers across the region.

We can step in at any point. If you haven’t been interviewed yet, that’s the best time to call. If you’re already charged, it’s not too late.

When you instruct us, your dedicated solicitor:

• Advise you before and during your police interview
• Scrutinise the collision report and medical evidence, and bring in our own experts where it helps
• Argue for a careless driving charge where the evidence supports it
• Prepare detailed mitigation, so the court sees the whole person and not only the collision
• Look at whether special reasons could protect your licence

We’ll also tell you honestly how things look. Even when the news isn’t what you want to hear.

“Waiting for a charging decision can take months, and that uncertainty is often harder on people than the court process itself. I aim to make sure my clients know what’s happening at every stage, even when the answer is that we’re still waiting.”

Kristina Lancaster, Criminal Law Solicitor with over 15 years’ experience including motoring law, see profile here.

Frequently asked questions