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How Can I Beat A Driving Ban?

Beating a driving ban is not easy and in certain cases it is impossible to beat a driving ban.

In cases such as drink driving, the court is compelled by statute to disqualify. This is called a Mandatory ban and there is a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months. This will be imposed unless the court can be persuaded that the client should be placed on a drink drive rehabilitation scheme. Then the ban period can be reduced by up to 25%.

Clients and even solicitors sometimes get confused about "Special Reasons" and "Exceptional Hardship". We recommend that anybody facing disqualification seeks expert legal advice as soon as possible.  In our experience if the accused raises the issue of Special Reasons or Exceptional hardship they will raise the matter the wrong way and incur the wrath of the presiding Sheriff. You must have a full understanding of the technical requirements to establish this mitigation or you will end up with a more severe penalty.  If you want to convince the court not to disqualify, you will have to meet certain legal criteria.  The court will expect you to understand the criteria and to have your arguments prepared, documents lodged and witnesses available where necessary. 

High excess speeding offences are often visited with a disqualification and depending upon where the incident has occurred in Scotland the variation in sentence can be considerable. Many courts south of the border seem to impose short period disqualifications such as 28 days or so but this type of disposal is less common in Scotland. A 6 month disqualification is regarded as short by many Sheriffs.

If any driver reaches the dreaded 12 penalty points within 3 years he/she would face a 6 month disqualification under the "totting up" procedure.  Other offences, such as, dangerous driving  carry mandatory disqualification periods.  Detailed below are some frequent questions

If you are looking at a possible disqualification, you should seek expert legal advice as soon as possible. Action taken now could save your right to drive.

I depend on my licence for my job, will this mean I can argue "exceptional hardship"?

No, it is not "exceptional" remember that the legislature intended for there to be hardship if people were convicted of offences that warranted a disqualification therefore we would need to establish the "exceptional" argument with lots of detailed evidence regarding who else would be affected by your ban. The judge will take into account the financial and personal effects of a ban on employment and family life, however your mitigation should not rely upon this alone.  A good road traffic lawyer will explain the type of thing that the court will be looking for to establish if the "exceptional" line can be argued and supported with evidence.

When is  "totting up" required?

Totting up is only imposed when a driver has amassed 12 penalty points through a series of offences, albeit that those offences must occur within a 3 year period. You may think that you will never be in that position but it is amazing just how quickly 12 points can be banged onto a driving licence in these days of cameras, lasers, mobile enforcement etc etc. The statutory guideline is that under the "totting up" procedure, a 6 month disqualification should be imposed but when the licence is returned, the licence is clean if the all relevant points had been taken into account in the disposal. If a disqualification is imposed for a specific offence, the period of disqualification will depend on the nature of the offence itself and the licence will be returned after the disqualification period with the old penalty points still valid. In recent times we have found that more and more Sheriffs are imposing a disqualification with an order that an extended test will require to be passed before returning to the land of drivers. 

Is disqualification mandatory when  a "totting up" ban is applied?

No, we have a former client presently driving with 17 points on his licence.  When considering a "totting up" disqualification, the Sheriff or Magistrate will listen to arguments on exceptional hardship. He may require a special court date to be set to afford time for evidence to be led but this is not strictly necessary.

What type of speeds attract a ban?

When driving well in excess of the speed limit, there is risk of an immediate ban, based on the speed recorded.  Although the Courts around the country can differ enormously, you can expect that if you are more than 40% over the speed limit, you are at risk of  disqualification.

Speed Limit (mph)/Speed Alleged (mph) (This is a rough guideline)

30            - In excess of 51

40            - In excess of 66

50            - In excess of 75

60            - In excess of 85

70            - In excess of 100

Graham Walker LLb,DipLP,NP

25 Years practising as a Criminal lawyer in Scotland. Specialising in road traffic law .