There has been some uproar in the news recently regarding figures posted by the DVLA as to the amount of points that some drivers have on their licence. Statistics report that a total of 10,056 drivers hold a valid licence despite having at least 12 points. 3 male drivers hold a licence despite having more than 100 points; the woman with the most points is a 50-year-old with 96 points, whilst 53 people in general have at least 30 points.
Drivers who have accrued 12 or more points on their licence are automatically subject to the “totting up” provisions. Essentially, totting up provides that a driver should be automatically banned for a minimum of 6 months; there are ways around this, however, where you are able to successfully argue that being disqualified would cause you “exceptional hardship”.
What is “Exceptional Hardship”?
When you are at risk of a totting up ban, you will normally receive a court summons. This is because the court cannot normally disqualify you on paper and will want you to attend court so that they can impose any disqualification in person.
Exceptional hardship is an argument, normally best presented on the day of court, which sets out the ways in which losing your licence would affect you. The key consideration in the argument is whether the hardship is “exceptional”. The loss of a job, for example, is not always considered exceptional - the court will anticipate some hardship to befall a motorist who has obtained 12 points or more on their licence.
Can you still argue hardship if you accrue more than 12 points on your licence?
Yes, you can argue hardship if you accrue more than 12 points on your licence. In fact, that is the focus of the recent set of news articles published on the matter.
The articles refer to a 26 year old male who is still permitted to drive under the principle of exceptional hardship who currently holds 176 points on his licence. As we are sure you will appreciate, that is some way above the normal 12 points threshold. We have done some quick maths back at the office to work out the ways in which someone could reach 176 points - for reference. We should make it clear, however, that no figures have actually been published as to how this person reached 176 points.
Disclaimers out the way, here are some examples of how to reach 176 points:
1. Be caught whilst in charge of a vehicle, over the prescribed limit for drink or drugs, 17 times. Afterwards, whilst awaiting a court date, get caught speeding twice.
2. Drive 34mph in a 30mph zone 58 times. 59 if you get the course first time around.
3. Be convicted of careless driving - in the most severe cases - 19 times. After that, get caught doing 34/30 on the way back from the station.
4. Make 29 journeys whilst using your mobile phone.
5. Ignore 59 red lights.
6. Make 14 journeys with all 4 tyres of illegal condition.
7. Cause serious injury whilst furiously riding a bicycle 19 times (yes, seriously).
8. When required to do so, refusing to submit to an eyesight test. Continue to refuse to do so 58 times.
As you can appreciate, reaching 176 points is quite the feat. Especially when you consider that exceptional hardship cannot be argued for the same reasons within a 3 year period. This means that if hardship is found on a particular set of circumstances, a defendant cannot then argue hardship again for the same reasons within the following 3 years.
The caveat, of course, is that this relies on the Magistrates making a note of the circumstances surrounding why hardship was granted in the first instance. It is clear that, given the examples above, these circumstances are not always noted down. I suspect that they may not have been in some of the examples given above of drivers with 100+ penalty points.
How does somebody argue exceptional hardship?
We would always advise that anybody who is facing a totting up ban instructs solicitors to deal with arguing hardship for them. There are a number of reasons as to why this is beneficial, but what we have seen in courts up and down the country over the years is that, statistically, those who are legally represented are more likely to have hardship found for them. Anecdotally, we normally see that when people present their own hardship circumstances, it comes across as a “sob story”. The Magistrates do not want to hear somebody come to court and complain about why they shouldn’t be disqualified - and that isn’t the purpose of arguing hardship. The Magistrates want to hear, objectively, why disqualifying you would cause hardship that is exceptional in nature.
In our experience, exceptional hardship is hardship that affects not only the person who has been charged with the offences, but hardship which affects people who are not immediately related to the offence. For most people, being disqualified would cause hardship to another person whether they realise it or not.
If you are facing a totting up disqualification and want some free initial advice, our specialists are always available for a telephone consultation to discuss whether you are likely to have hardship found - you can contact them on 0151 422 8020.
