IT’S TIME WE PUT OUR FOOT DOWN Over

9,000 drivers use points loophole

A LOOPHOLE which lets motorists with 12 or more penalty points escape a ban is set to be closed.

Drivers who exceed the points limit after a series of offences should, based on the Road Traffic Offenders Act, automatically lose their licence.

A consultation was launched at the start of the year after concerns too many people were continuing to drive with excessive points on their licence.

An investigation in April this year found that more than 9,000 motorists with 12 or more points were on the road.

A clause in the act allows licences to be kept if people would face “exceptional hardship”.

Loss

This is often used by lawyers who argue their clients would lose their job if they had no licence.

Now the Sentencing Council – a public body made up of judges and legal experts which reports to the Ministry of Justice – has made it clear that the loss of employment should be considered an “inevitable consequence” of a driving ban.

It said judges should not automatically consider unemployment to mean an exceptional hardship.

The Sentencing Council says nearly every disqualification “entails hardship for the person disqualified and their immediate family” and the very nature of such difficulties is “part of the deterrent”.

Judges should instead be “cautious” before accepting an exceptional hardship argument, taking individual circumstances into account.

SPEEDING is no trivial matter.

Drivers who repeatedly do it must face the consequences of their actions.

The majority of motorists are able to stick to legal limits. So there are no excuses for these serial speedsters.

That’s why it’s ridiculous how many repeat offenders have dodged driving bans through loopholes. Until now.

Finally the Sentencing Council has abolished the ludicrous “exceptional hardship” clause in the law.

That means anyone with 12 or more points can no longer successfully argue taking away their motor could lead to loss of employment. Quite right too. As they say, if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.