Save Your Driving Licence
Accruing 12 or more penalty points on your driving licence will permits a Court to disqualify you from driving for a minimum period of 6 months under what is known as ‘Totting Up’.
There are a multitude of driving offences that carry penalty points. The minimum number of points that can be imposed for contravening a road traffic law is 3 with the maximum being 10.
Many people have existing penalty points on their driving licence but what happens when you reach 12? Well, you will face a totting up disqualification which we, as expert motor law solicitors, fully appreciate, could have catastrophic consequences.
One of the most common scenarios that we deal with that gives rise to a potential driving ban is the dreaded speeding offence.
When we speak to people who have received a fixed penalty notice in respect of a speeding offence, we and you both know that you shouldn’t have broken the speed limit unless you have a genuine reason (Special Reasons). Speed limits are in place on every road in the country and breaking the speed limit in place will almost inevitably result in penalty points and a fine.
Very often, people accept that they have broken the speed limit and are remorseful for doing so. Unfortunately, in most cases, being sorry and remorseful does not avoid the consequences of penalty points.
SPEAK TO ONE OF OUR MOTOR LAW SPECIALISTS
If you need any further assistance please give us a call on 0151 480 5777 or for 24 hour emergency police station assistance 0151 480 5833 or fill in our contact form below.
PLEADING EXCEPTIONAL HARDSHIP
If you decide to plead Exceptional Hardship, then your case will be listed at Court for a formal hearing before a District Judge or Lay Bench of Magistrates and your attendance will be required. If you attend alone, then you will face questions in court from the prosecution solicitor, especially if you’re pleading job loss as a reason to keep your licence. The prosecution will ask if you can use public transport instead of your car and if not, why not. They may ask if a relative could drive you around or if you could hire a driver. If this were not possible then they will ask why would not be possible.
The Court will also seek proof from you that your job is at serious risk and it is very likely that you will need written proof in respect of this.
If it can be demonstrated and proven that the impact of a driving ban would not just affect you and you can show how others will be impacted upon, then a Court may be more inclined not to impose a disqualification.
What we often find is that a successful Exceptional Hardship argument is built on good preparation and good presentation. All relevant information relating to you, your personal and professional circumstances and the impact on others should be put before the court in order to give you the best opportunity to save your licence and avoid a ban.
With our advice and assistance, we will take a thorough and detailed statement from you and assist you in gathering other material that will be used to support the arguments that will be put before the court. Our experience of dealing with exceptional hardship arguments will allow us to guide you through this process and extract information that you may not necessarily realise is helpful to your case in order to demonstrate to that court that the loss of your driving licence would amount to Exceptional Hardship.
Our solicitors have attended at various Courts across the country and represented hundreds of clients in respect of Exceptional Hardship arguments and have enjoyed a high degree of success in persuading Courts not to impose a disqualification.