CD10 : driving without due care and attention

Checked 22 July 2026 · How we check our figures

What it means

CD10 is the workhorse of the careless family: driving that falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver, s. 3 RTA 1988, judged objectively, which is why a single momentary lapse can qualify. It is the code cameras cannot issue and opinions decide, an officer's or a court's, and since 2013 the ordinary case has a roadside exit by fixed penalty or course. The prosecution clock matters here: careless driving sits behind the warning requirement, so the notice mechanics apply.

Points and how long it stays

3 to 9 points.

On the licence for 4 years from the date of the offence.

The CD family is one driving standard, careless, stretched across three different clocks, and the clocks are the map (gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22): CD10 to CD33 run 4 years from the offence, the drink and drug quartet CD40 to CD70 runs 11 years from conviction on the same shelf as the DR codes, and CD80 with CD90 run 4 years from conviction. The ladder underneath is consequence, not driving: s. 3 RTA 1988 is fine-only in the ordinary case, s. 2C adds serious injury and custody, s. 2B and s. 3ZB add a death, and s. 3A adds death plus drink or drugs, with a ceiling the 2022 reforms lifted to life imprisonment. Careless itself is defined once, driving below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver, and it never changes on the way up. The drink and drug mechanics sit in the drink driving guide at /fines/guides/drink-driving.

The usual route

Since 2013 the ordinary case can end at the roadside: an endorsable fixed penalty or a course offer; contested and injury cases go to court instead.

If it goes to court

In court the offence is fine-only in the ordinary case, income-banded; mechanics in the fine bands guide.

Authority

gov.uk, Penalty points (endorsements), checked 2026-07-22

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