Motorist with 62 penalty points legally allowed to drive

A driver who clocked up 62 points on his licence is still allowed to drive, the BBC has learned.

The West Yorkshire man, who was speeding, was among 10,000 motorists legally driving on British roads last month, despite having excessive points.

Usually 12 points means a ban, but magistrates can choose not to enforce it in “exceptional cases”.

Brian Cornick, who lost his stepdaughter in a motorbike accident, said there should be “no excuses”.

He added: “The magistrates are being weak. Twelve points should be the ceiling.”

Sheena Jowett, deputy chairman of the Magistrates’ Association, the independent charity representing magistrates in England and Wales, said: “Magistrates take decisions under clear guidelines, impartially, and on the merits of each individual case.

“Automatic disqualification can be avoided or reduced in cases of ‘exceptional hardship’. The process is a robust one and the concept of hardship must be proved to an exceptional level.”

Losing a job on its own would rarely qualify, but proving it would mean being unable to pay a mortgage or feed your family, would.

The statistics were revealed under the Freedom of Information Act to BBC South East.

David Nichols, of road safety charity Brake, said the figures were “absolutely shocking”.

He added: “The penalty points system is supposed to be in place to protect the public from dangerous repeat offenders and it’s appalling that these risky repeat offenders are allowed to keep driving.”

Common ways people amass so many points:

• Driving on a familiar road and not realising the cameras are working. Driving a fraction over the limit, twice a day to work and back, could incur 30 points in five days, before the first penalty charge notice has been delivered

• Not informing the DVLA of a change of address. “Ignoring” penalty point notices also incurs extra points

Nick Freeman, a specialist traffic defence lawyer known as Mr Loophole, said he had come across cases similar to the first example.

Mr Freeman, who has represented clients including Jeremy Clarkson and Wayne Rooney, managed to get all the court summons to one date, for one case, “so the court hears just one argument of exceptional hardship”.

People can use the mitigation once every three years, but cannot reuse the reason for the hardship.

Mr Freeman said the legislation allowing hardship mitigation was to give people who committed trivial offences another chance.

“But it facilitates the current situation. If Parliament doesn’t want that situation to continue, the legislation needs changing,” he added.

The DVLA noted there could be a delay between issuing penalties and the court sentence, but the West Yorkshire motorway speeder had been dealt with and was still eligible to drive. BBC News