Driver with 229 points still holds valid licence

A antheral from northbound Wales inactive holds a valid driving licence contempt having 229 points, figures show.

The 26-year-old from Flintshire is among much than 50 drivers successful the UK, including 9 successful Wales, who tin legally thrust with astatine slightest 30 punishment points.

The "shocking" statistic person sparked calls for repetition offenders to undertake mandatory retraining.

Motoring manufacture experts person raised concerns that, without transparency astir the reasons for prohibition exceptions, information and spot successful the strategy could beryllium compromised.

The statistic from August 2024, fixed to the BBC by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) pursuing a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, showed Wales had a full of 619 valid licence holders with 12 points oregon more.

This was retired of much than 10,000 drivers who fell into this class crossed the UK.

The Welsh section authorization with the highest fig was Cardiff, astatine 92, portion the lowest was 5 successful Merthyr Tydfil.

Across the UK, 3 antheral licence holders person much than 100 points, portion the pistillate with the astir points is simply a 50-year-old with 96, according to investigation by PA News Agency.

Points are issued for roadworthy offences, specified arsenic driving without owed attraction and attention, drink-driving and speeding.

Drivers are usually banned for six months if they person 12 oregon much points wrong a three-year period.

They tin enactment connected licences for up to 11 years aft an offence, meaning immoderate radical with aggregate convictions are legally allowed down the instrumentality due to the fact that they person served their disqualification.

People tin besides effort to person a tribunal a prohibition would effect successful exceptional hardship.

Alison Ashworth, a elder solicitor advocator successful motoring law, explained the fig of punishment points were "not needfully a pertinent consideration" erstwhile it comes to these arguments.

This is due to the fact that it "rests solely connected the consequences of the disqualification connected that idiosyncratic and those astir them [and] the offence itself is not truly a applicable consideration".

Hardship circumstances see having household members who are babelike connected your quality to drive.

“The tribunal wants to punish the offender, but they don’t privation to punish guiltless 3rd parties that haven’t done thing wrong," she said.

“Ultimately, it is simply a discretionary remedy, truthful you whitethorn good get a precise sympathetic seat of magistrates connected 1 peculiar occasion, and they whitethorn let idiosyncratic to proceed driving with much points than different you would expect."

Ms Ashworth added "common consciousness would suggest" radical would larn from accruing points connected their licence and set their behaviour, but added different factors could pb to precocious numbers of points wherever courts "look favourably" connected the driver.

For example, radical tin hide to update their code and the fig of points tin emergence arsenic the lawsuit escalates, she said.

She said aggregate offences could beryllium committed by triggering respective cameras successful 1 country oregon connected 1 time without realising the error, adding the instauration of 20mph zones successful Wales was a bully illustration of this.

"They could person driven done the aforesaid spot each time for, realistically, up to 14 days earlier they person to person a notification from constabulary that they’ve committed an offence, and by this clip they’ve committed each these offences without having the accidental to set their mode of driving."

Nicholas Lyes, manager of argumentation and standards astatine roadworthy information foundation IAM RoadSmart, said the "shocking statistics" called into question the explanation of exceptional hardship.

"At the precise least, those that accrue 12 oregon much points connected their licence should beryllium required to instrumentality an further grooming course, adjacent if they are allowed to support their licence," helium said.

Steve Gooding, manager of motoring probe foundation the RAC Foundation, added "more transparency" was needed for "collective safety" and "public confidence".

"It would beryllium reassuring to cognize that idiosyncratic successful authorization was monitoring some the implicit fig of licence holders swerving a prohibition and the reasons wherefore they've been granted permission to support driving," helium said.

"Exceptional hardship needs to beryllium genuinely exceptional."

Ms Ashworth said having hundreds of points was "very overmuch the exception".

"I’ve seen galore radical effort their luck… and the courts are rather rigorous successful the mode they measure these arguments," she said.

She added radical who already person points, oregon who had escaped a prohibition based connected exceptional hardship, which they cannot use for connected the aforesaid grounds much than erstwhile successful a three-year period, were often "a batch much cautious than anybody other connected the road".

Additional reporting by Alex Bish