Are Magistrates Going Soft On Drivers?

Sunday, 3. October 2010

It would seem that magistrates have gone soft, as a result of the recession, if you have accidentally reached the automatic driving ban of 12 points on your licence. Some say this is wrong and that the ban should be automatically imposed, especially in extreme cases like the driver who was allowed to keep his licence even after he amassed 54 points! Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that 11,000 motorists, who could have been banned in 2009 – weren’t. 10,000 were let off after they pleaded that they would face ‘exceptional hardship’ if they were banned. The other 1,000 carried on driving as a result of an ‘administrative error,’ whereby the disqualification was not registered with the DVLA. Road safety minister, Mike Penning has pledged to prevent this happening again. AA’s Head of Safety said ‘It’s getting ridiculous when one in four people expecting to get banned, isn’t banned.’ He continued, ‘Courts should have discretionary powers, but there have been some pretty crazy examples of people getting off. The fact that so many motorists say they would lose their livelihood if they had to give up their licence shows they are playing the system – and getting away with it.’ What do you think? Is it all wrong or fair game if you can play the system? By Graham Hill