Road Traffic & Motoring Law

Conviction for a motoring offence is liable to lead to the imposition of penalty points upon your driving licence.

In the case of a newly qualified driver they now have an initial two year probationary period and the acquisition of 6 penalty points within that period will lead to a driving licence being revoked and the driver having to undergo a fresh driving test.

Once awarded penalty points remain effective for three years from the date of the offence before lapsing.

In certain cases conviction leads to mandatory disqualification [for example drink driving] and in those cases the law imposes a minimum period of disqualification of 12 months – though the term may be longer at the court’s discretion.

If a driver accumulates 12 or more penalty points in any three year period he faces disqualification from driving – for a minimum term of 6 months unless a court is satisfied that there are special mitigating circumstances showing that ‘exceptional hardship’ would follow which would make it just to dispense with entirely or reduce the period of disqualification.