A move by Labour aimed at slashing the costs of a legal defense that innocent motorists would be allowed to claim back once they have made a successful defense against motoring offences such as speeding is drawing fire from senior legal officials.
Legal experts say that the new regulations that become law next month will push perhaps millions of drivers away from considering defending themselves in motoring cases even if they are not guilty.
The problem is that it will possibly cost thousands to prove a motorist’s innocence against a case that will cost a couple of hundred in fines if they plead guilty.
Several lawyers have banded together to fight the new regulations claiming that in particular working and middle class drivers will be cut out of the motoring legal system allowing only the rich to defend themselves.
At the moment somewhere around 100,000 drivers are successful when defending themselves in court per year. The new rules will drastically cut how much of their legal expenses they can claim back through the courts, leaving tem no option but to plead guilty regardless of the circumstances.
The lawyers also feel that there will be more dubious cases brought by the police and other government agencies because there will be very few in a position to fight back.
