KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
• A second offence within three years of driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition (although note here the minimum ban is six months).
Again, because these bans are imposed Instead of points, it doesn’t wipe existing points off the licence.
These bans remain on the driving record for 11 years.
As the ban is for over 56 days, the driver will need to reapply for their licence at the end of the ban but would not need to re-take their test unless ordered to do so by the court (e.g. – with dangerous driving a person will be banned until they pass an extended driving test. This is called a disqualification ‘until test passed’. These are mandatory for offences of danger- ous driving but are very rare for other offences).
3. Totting bans
Where someone gets 12 points they are at risk of a six month ‘totting’ ban which may be increased if the driver has previously been banned within the last three years.
An important point to note is that the Court will consider the total number of points on your licence at the time, and any accumulated since. So if you had nine points on your licence at the time of a speeding offence, you will still be at risk of a totting ban even though some of those may have expired by the time you actually get into court.
A totting ban is discretionary, and the court has the power not to ban if it agrees that a ban would cause exceptional hardship. So the best way of trying to avoid a totting ban here is to attend the hearing and present an exceptional hardship argument.
If exceptional hardship is not found, the court will ban for a minimum period of six months and the licence is wiped clean of points, although the ban and the convictions will still show.
If the court finds exceptional hardship to exist, it has the power not to disqualify at all (in which case the points will remain valid on the licence but there is simply no ban) or it can find hardship to exist and reduce the preriod of disqualification: a ‘reduced totting ban’, in which case the licence is still wiped clean of points.
If the ban is for 56 days or longer, the driver will need to reapply for their licence at the end of the ban, but wouldn’t need to retake their test.
These disqualifications remain on the driving record for four years.
PHTM JANUARY 2024 REMOVING A DISQUALIFICATION
If you have been banned and you are seeking to remove the disqualification, there are a number of ways of being able to do this:
1. Statutory declaration. If someone didn’t know about the court proceedings, they have the right to make a declaration under oath that they were unaware of the hearing, which will set aside the ban and give the defendant the opportunity to present their case.
2. Appeal. If someone did know about the court proceedings but was still banned, they can appeal that decision to the Crown Court within 15 business days of the ban being imposed.
3. Reopen. If the Magistrates’ Court has made a mistake, the defendant can apply to the court to reopen the case to rectify that error.
4. Application to lift a ban early. If someone has been banned for more than two years, they are able to make an application to the court to remove the disqualification early after;
a. Two years, if the disqualification is for less than four-years;
b. One-half of the period of disqualification, if it is for less than ten-years, but not less than four-years;
c. Five-years in any other case.
But, which route to take is not always immediately easy to identify, and each option has its own procedures, so always seek legal advice before going down any of these routes.
DRIVING WHILST DISQUALIFIED
One final point on driving whilst on a disqualification. It’s serious.
Any person who is caught driving whilst disqualified will be looking at an extension of their disqualification and potentially a prison sentence.
Our best advice is – if you are banned – always avoid getting behind the wheel!
For regular updates on road traffic law follow us on
facebook.com/PattersonLawMotoringSolicitors or
twitter.com/Patterson_law_
If you need any advice on motoring matters please call 01626 359800 or email
advice@pattersonlaw.co.uk for free legal advice.
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