Offence: Speeding – 98mph in a 70mph speed restriction area – possible Totter and facing minimum period of disqualification of 6 months

Defence: Mitigation

Carl Millar was instructed by Mr C who potentially faced a minimum period of disqualification of 6 months under the totting up provisions.

Mr C had 6 penalty points on his driving licence made up of 2 separate speeding offences.  For the third incident, he was travelling at 98mph in a 70mph speed restriction area.  The Magistrates Court Sentencing Guidelines suggest the imposition of between 4-6 penalty points or an outright disqualification where the speed is between 91-100mph.  Obviously, Mr C was at the higher end of the scale and therefore could possibly have received 6 penalty points on his licence.

Powerful mitigation was presented and Mr C received 5 penalty points and therefore avoided the totting up provisions whereby an exceptional hardship case would have to be presented.  The Court were persuaded by the fact that Mr C would not be able to generate an income if he were to receive a 6 month ban and, in turn, he would not be able to pay his rent.  The knock-on effect of this would be that he would not be able to make the maintenance payments for his children and they would suffer through no fault of their own.  Naturally, Mr C was delighted with the outcome of the case.

Place: Oxford Magistrates Court

Offence: Speeding

Defence: Mitigation

Carl Millar was instructed by Mr D who faced a driving disqualification for speeding at 66mph in a 30mph speed restriction area.

Mr D had been advised that the Magistrates Court Sentencing Guidelines stop at 60mph for a speed of 30mph.  He was therefore literally beyond the scales of the guidelines which suggested 6 penalty points or disqualification of up to 56 days.  At all costs, Mr D wished to avoid a driving disqualification as this would have an immediate impact upon his ability to continue with his job.  The Court accepted the mitigation advanced by Messrs Millars Solicitors and 6 penalty points were imposed instead of a driving ban.

Offence: Speeding

Defence: Mitigation

Carl Millar was instructed by Mr DC who faced a minimum period of disqualification of six months under the totting up provisions.

Mr DC was travelling at 72mph in a 40mph speed restriction area when he already had 9 penalty points on his driving licence.  He was advised by Carl Millar from Messrs Millars Solicitors that he did not have good grounds for an exceptional hardship hearing.  We explained that we would try and persuade the Court to disqualify him outright for the offence alone, and therefore this would circumvent the possibility of the minimum period of six months disqualification under the totting up provisions.  The Court were persuaded by this argument and disqualified him for a period of 7 days for the offence of speeding.  Mr DC was delighted as he could have received a six month disqualification under the totting up provisions.

Being a boy racer, late for a meeting, forgotten to pick the kids up from school, or simply having a leaden foot all result in drivers exceeding the statutory speed limit.  So, what happens if you get caught speeding?  How does it affect you, your driving licence, and potentially your lifestyle?

How many points can I have on my licence?

The ideal number of points on your licence is zero – no infringements, no points. A lovely clean driving licence is always to be preferred.  However, sometimes we can get caught speeding, and penalty points will usually be the result.  Each endorsement has a different code, which will show up on your licence.  According to the www.gov.uk website:

Most common endorsements are the SP30 and SP50.  As you can see, a range of penalty points can be applied – The minimum penalty is £100 fine and 3 penalty points but this can increase up to 6 penalty points and a higher fine depending upon the severity of speeding offence. You can also be disqualified outright for speeding if the speed is in excess of 100mph.

If you are caught by a static speed camera, you will usually receive 2 Notices in the post although there is a legal obligation to send 1 alone. The 2^nd is a reminder Notice of Intended Prosecution: Notice of Intended Prosecution and a S172 Notice which requires you to disclose who was driving the vehicle.  If you return the S172 within 28 days, you would either receive a Fixed Penalty Notice with the points to be added to your licence or if the offence is severe, a letter requiring you to appear in court.

If you ignore the Notices, you are fast-tracking yourself to court.

If you are stopped by a police officer for speeding, they can either simply give you a verbal warning,  a Fixed Penalty Notice with the points to be added to your licence, or order you to court.  The relevant paperwork would follow.

When you are issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice, you can choose to plead guilty or not guilty.

If you plead guilty, usually you would be issued with the minimum penalty (£100 fine and 3 points) or instructed to attend a speed awareness course (if appropriate to the offence and you haven’t attended one within the past 3 years).

If you choose to plead not guilty, then you must appear in court, where if found guilty could result in an increased number of penalty points and a higher fine.  The fine is often calculated as a percentage of your weekly income and depends upon the speed involved.  You could also be disqualified from driving, if the offence is deemed serious enough.

Also, a word of warning for new drivers:  if you are caught speeding within 2 years of passing your driving test, and you have exceeded 6 penalty points, then your licence will be revoked.

Offence: Speeding / Totting up penalty points

Defence: Exceptional Hardship

Carl Millar represented Mr W before Wrexham Magistrates Court.

4 penalty points were imposed for the offence of speeding, which meant that Mr W now had 13 penalty points on his driving licence. Exceptional hardship was advanced and was found due to Mr W’s personal circumstances.

Mr W is a service manager who travels to 46 buildings throughout the Lancashire area. As part of his role he is required to travel around each site and undertake spot checks. His contract of employment would have been terminated by his employer if he were disqualified for the minimum period of six months. It was accepted that a driving licence is crucial for his job role. Furthermore, the Court accepted that he would struggle to pay his mortgage as his wife only worked part-time and therefore exceptional hardship was found for himself and his wife. Obviously, Mr W was delighted with the outcome as he was not disqualified from driving.

Place: Nottingham Magistrates Court

Offence: Speeding / Totting up 12 penalty points or more

Defence: Exceptional Hardship

Mr K received 4 penalty points for the offence of speeding. At the time of the offence he had 9 penalty points on his driving licence and therefore he faced a minimum period of disqualification of six months under the totting up provisions.

We advanced exceptional hardship and we are pleased to confirm that exceptional hardship was found in the circumstances.
The impact of a driving disqualification would mean that Mr K would have lost his job and therefore would not be in a position to maintain his mortgage payments. This would have had a negative impact upon his family whereby his daughter would have needed to have been taken out of private school.

In the circumstances, Mr K was delighted with the outcome.

Offence: Speeding / Totting up 12 penalty points or more

Defence: Exceptional Hardship

Messrs Millars Solicitors represented Mr B before Folkestone Magistrates Court on the aforementioned date. Mr B received 6 penalty points for driving at 100mph in a 70mph speed restriction area. At the time of the offence he already had 6 penalty points endorsed on his driving licence.

We are pleased that exceptional hardship was found in the circumstances. We had managed to obtain a letter from Mr B’s employer which summarised that a driving disqualification of six months would result in a loss of his job. This would have an impact upon his ability to pay the mortgage on his house where he lived with his wife, and his ability to care for his elderly mother.

Mr B was not disqualified from driving in the circumstances and was naturally delighted with the outcome.

Offence: Speeding / Totting up 12 penalty points or more

Defence: Exceptional Hardship

Miss A appeared before Reading Magistrates Court on the 18th May 2019. She had committed a further offence of speeding when she already had 9 points endorsed on her driving licence in the previous 3 years. With exceptional hardship, the Court look at the first offence date until the offence date within a 3 year period.

Miss A did not have a powerful argument for an exceptional hardship hearing. In the circumstances we tried to persuade the Court to disqualify her outright for the offence alone. Fortunately, the Court were persuaded by this argument and disqualified Miss A for a period of 28 days.

Although Miss A was disqualified from driving, she was relieved that this was only for a period of 28 days rather than six months under the totting up provisions.

Offence: Speeding / Totting up penalty points

Defence: Exceptional Hardship

Carl Millar represented Mr S before Northallerton Magistrates Court in respect of totting up 12 penalty points or more, whereby Mr S faced a minimum period of disqualification of 6 months under the totting up provisions. At the time of this further offence Mr S already had 10 penalty points on his driving licence. The Court imposed a further 3 points and therefore he now had 13 points on his driving licence.

Carl advanced exceptional hardship explaining the consequences of disqualification would mean that his position of employment would become untenable. The collateral damage following on from this would be that there potentially could be a loss of jobs to other employees in his place of work due to the nature of his job. Mr S worked as a contracts manager for a shop fitting company in various locations up and down the country.

Mr S’s house was subject to a mortgage and he had three children. His partner did not work and his family relied solely on his income. The impact of a disqualification and subsequent loss of job would mean that his partner and children could potentially be made homeless if his house were to be repossessed. Thankfully, exceptional hardship was found in the circumstances.

Offence: Totting up / Exceptional Hardship

Defence: Exceptional Hardship argument

Millars Solicitors recently represented Mr H who faced disqualification for a minimum period of six months under the totting up provisions

Mr H already had 9 points on his driving licence when the matter went before the Court. He was travelling at a very high speed that could have resulted in a disqualification of 56 days for the offence alone, of travelling at 110mph in a 70mph speed restriction area.

Millars Solicitors persuaded the Court to disqualify Mr H for the offence alone of speeding whereupon he received a 25 day period of disqualification. Mr H was concerned that the Court may not find exceptional hardship in his circumstances and this was a preferred option. Naturally, Mr H was delighted with the outcome as he avoided the minimum period of disqualification under the totting up provisions of 6 months.