Cengolio · Fines · Codes · CD70
CD70 : causing death by careless driving then failing to supply a specimen for alcohol analysis
Checked 22 July 2026 · How we check our figures
What it means
CD70 closes the refusal exit at the gravest end: causing death by careless driving and then failing to supply the specimen, s. 3A RTA 1988. It exists for the same reason DR30 does, so that silence about the reading cannot outperform the reading, and here the stakes make the point unmissable: the refusal itself completes the offence. Clock and consequences track the rest of the quartet.
Points and how long it stays
3 to 11 points.
On the licence for 11 years from the date of conviction.
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
Sentence is custody with a mandatory ban under s. 3A RTA 1988; refusing at this end of the table closes no doors that matter, and opens none.
Read next
Calculator: the code decoder, every code on the official list →
Authority
gov.uk, Penalty points (endorsements), checked 2026-07-22