A third of drivers with 12 points avoid a driving ban

A third of motorists who’ve racked up 12 or more penalty points on their licence in England and Wales are still on the road, according to exclusive Auto Express figures.

A Freedom of Information request to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) revealed that in July 2015 there were 19,848 drivers with 12 or more points on their licence. Of these, 7,078 are still allowed to drive by the courts – and that’s up by 500 from May 2015.

Current “totting up” rules mean if a driver reaches 12 points or more over the course of a three-year period, the court must ban them for a minimum of six months.

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However, our figures show up to 35 per cent are let off a disqualification by courts, including some who’ve accumulated more than 40 points on their licence.

The DVLA said: “In a small percentage of cases the Agency understands a court can exercise its discretion and not disqualify the driver. In the majority of these cases, magistrates may have decided to allow drivers to retain their entitlement to drive where it is considered disqualification would cause exceptional hardship.” Examples of “exceptional hardship” include a person losing their job and as a result their home, a person who is unable to care for a disabled or reliant loved one or the impact on a business resulting in redundancies.

Motoring lawyer Neil Davies, senior partner at Caddick Davies, said letting drivers off a ban wasn’t a “legal loophole”, but explained motorists must demonstrate evidence of disqualification causing a real hardship rather than just inconvenience.

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Neil added: “It must be remembered that if the court agrees not to disqualify the motorist, they will still remain with any penalty points on their driving licence and may only make this application once every three years on the same grounds.

“If the motorist commits another offence within three years and finds themselves again “totting up” with 12 or more points, they will not be able to use the same reasons. This is therefore perhaps far from a total let off, and exceptional hardship must very much be considered a one-time get out of jail free card.”

To ban or not to ban: what qualifies as 'exceptional hardship'?

Here are a few examples of drivers who received 12 points and avoided a ban by claiming “exceptional hardship”:

The owner of a trio of travel companies was spared a ban after he failed to comply with road markings, taking him to 12 points. James Hardiman, from Croyde, North Devon, said a ban would prevent him doing his role and risk the jobs of 250 of his staff. North Devon Journal, March 2015

A driver racked up 42 points after being caught speeding seven times in three months yet was still allowed to continue taking the wheel. Alex McFarlane, from Basildon, Essex, hit speeds of 109mph on camera and then failed to respond to police penalty notices. He was given six points for each offence by magistrates, but dodged a ban after arguing he would lose his job and be unable to pay debts. The Independent, July 2015

A transport company owner was caught speeding four times in two years, but avoided a ban so he could drive a school bus. Barry Short, from Forfar, Angus, was caught at 71mph in a 50mph zone, but convinced the court he was required to do school runs as his other driver was off sick. He said a ban would cost the firm £30,000 to hire replacement drivers. Dundee Evening Telegraph, July 2015

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Under-17s with driving bans: stats reveal scale of problem 

The number of children banned from driving is on the rise, as new figures reveal a total of 725 under-17s were disqualified in 2014 – up five per cent on 2013.

• Calls for special licences to limit young driver freedoms

Statistics from Churchill Car Insurance show that during the first six months of 2015, 284 children too young to even hold a provisional licence were banned by the courts for driving illegally on the road. The youngest disqualified driver was just 12 years old, while nearly 1,000 under-17s have been prosecuted more than once. In fact, one 16-year-old has been prosecuted nearly 15 times for driving offences.

Steve Barrett, head of car insurance at Churchill, said: “It’s shocking. It doesn’t make sense that bans are served when children are not legally able to drive. The number of repeat offenders is proof in itself of how ineffective a deterrent this is. Bans should commence from the date an offender becomes 17.”

Meanwhile, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show the number of drivers jailed for driving while disqualified has fallen from 9,925 in 2005 to just 1,654 in 2014. The MoJ said the reason for the decline was falling crime numbers and revealed that the custody rate of 25 per cent has still remained the same.

What do you think about the UK's system of driving licence endorsements? Does it need a rethink?