Cengolio · Fines · Codes · CD33
CD33 : causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving
Checked 22 July 2026 · How we check our figures
What it means
CD33 is the code that moved careless driving off the fine-only shelf: causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving, s. 2C RTA 1988, created by the 2022 sentencing reforms. The standard of driving stays careless, nothing worse, but the injury converts a banded fine into custody territory, the same construction the death codes use. Its dangerous-driving mirror is DD10, one shelf up in both standard and sentence.
Points and how long it stays
3 to 11 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
Nothing here is dealt with by penalty notice; the case is charged and heard.
If it goes to court
Custody territory under the 2022 offence, s. 2C RTA 1988, above the fine band world; the endorsement follows the conviction as a record entry rather than the punishment.
Read next
Calculator: the code decoder, every code on the official list →
Authority
gov.uk, Penalty points (endorsements), checked 2026-07-22