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What Are The Special
Reasons To Avoid Disqualification?
Special reasons are
relevant if you are convicted of a road traffic offence
which has a penalty of disqualification, or obligatory
endorsement. Although special reasons are not
technically a defence, they can significantly reduce the
sentence you receive and can mean that you avoid a
driving ban.
Obligatory
disqualification
-
Imposed
for serious offences such as dangerous driving or drink
driving.
-
The
court must disqualify for a period of at least 12 months
(more if you have a similar previous conviction, or if
the offence is particularly serious one).
-
The
court may shorten the period of disqualification or
remove it altogether if it considers that there are
“special reasons” to do so.
Obligatory endorsement
-
Imposed
for a range of offences, including speeding, using a
mobile phone, not having insurance, as well as more
serious offences where disqualification can also be
imposed.
-
The
court may impose anything up to 11 penalty points.
-
If the
court thinks that there are “special reasons” for doing
so, they will decide not to endorse your licence (it
cannot reduce the number of points it imposes).
Special reasons can
only relate to the facts and circumstances of the
offence itself, such as the reason why it was committed.
Your personal circumstances, for example the effect that
the disqualification/endorsement will have on you or
others, or the fact that the offence was “trivial” (for
example if you only slightly exceeded the speed limit)
do not count as special reasons.
Examples of special
reasons
Medical emergency
If you can show that
you committed the offence only because of a medical
emergency, then this will amount to a special reason.
However, the emergency must be genuine and unforeseen.
You must also show that you drove only as a last resort:
you must have exhausted all other possibilities of
dealing with the emergency, including contacting the
emergency services. For example, if a driver who lived
in a rural area drove (whilst over the legal limit) to
take his seriously sick child to hospital because no
ambulance was available, then this would probably amount
to a special reason for not disqualifying.
Short distance
Whether the fact that
you only drove for a short distance amounts to a special
reason depends on the whole circumstances of the
incident. The law is complex in this area, but what is
clear is that the distance must be very short indeed,
and the court will carefully consider any danger that
you posed to the public.
Laced Drinks
For offences involving
alcohol, it will not be a special reason if you did not
realise how much you drank. But if you don’t know that
you are drinking alcohol (for example, if you are served
regular beers when you asked for alcohol-free ones), or
you don’t realise how alcoholic your drink is (for
example, if someone “spiked” your pint with shots of
tequila), then a special reason might be established if
it was obvious that the unadulterated drink would not
have put you over the legal limit. |
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