Motoring Offence Case Study

When charged with a motoring offence, depending on the seriousness of the offence and whether the driver has received any other penalty points within the last 3 years, the defence may be the only thing preventing the driver from facing disqualification.

There are various defences which may be available to a driver charged with a motoring offence depending on the circumstances involved. A defence can be in the form of an exceptional hardship argument, special reasons or, if none of these apply, simple mitigation.

Below are examples of where these arguments have prevented a disqualification from being imposed:

Mitigation

In March 2015, a Defendant (MB) was facing the prospect of having his license revoked after he was caught driving 100mph in a 70mph zone. An offence of this category faces a potential disqualification or a 4-6 point endorsement.

MB’s explanation for the speeding offence was that he was making a long journey back home in a heavy storm when a lorry veered into his lane on a dual carriage way. MB faced the decision of either braking hard, which may have led to him skidding and colliding with the lorry or accelerate and drive around the lorry. MB chose to accelerate and it was at this point that he was caught speeding.

This mitigation was taken into account, along with the fact that MB had extensive driving experience and a clean license up to this offence.

The Magistrates endorsed 5 penalty points which meant that MB kept his license.

Exceptional Hardship

If a driver has committed more than one driving offence within the last 3 years, the penalty points received for these offences accumulate and this is known as ‘totting up’.  If the penalty points tot up to 12 points (or 6 points within the first two years of passing their driving test), a driver faces a minimum disqualification of 6 months.

In certain circumstances, an argument known as “exceptional hardship” can be put forward in order to avoid a disqualification.

An example of this is seen in the case of PD, who faced a minimum six month disqualification for totting up 12 penalty points. The exceptional hardship in this case was that PD was a Roadside Technician for a well-known motoring organisation. PD was a much valued employee who had received awards for his customer service skills and there were many examples of great feedback from customers regarding PD’s roadside assistance.

If PD was to receive a disqualification, he would not only lose his job but this was likely to have a detrimental impact on the motoring organisation with whom he was employed.

During the court hearing, PD’s manager attended as a witness to inform the District Judge of the impact that a disqualification for PB would have on the business. His exceptional hardship argument was successful and PB could continue driving and carrying out the job he loved.

These examples demonstrate the importance of seeking specialist legal advice in this type of situation and Chadwick Lawrence can deliver this service. We have an excellent success rate in keeping our clients driving licences.