Shropshire drivers dodging points road bans

People are normally disqualified from driving if they receive more than 12 penalty points on their licence within a three-year period.

But motorists are escaping bans by arguing in front of magistrates at court that it would cause them "exceptional hardship" if they were unable to drive, the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency said.

There are 24 in Telford & Wrekin who have dodged disqualification and a further 50 across the rest of Shropshire, according to a Freedom of Information request submitted to the DVLA.

The Freedom of Information request, put in by Co-operative Insurance, also reveals there are more than 6,500 drivers nationally on the roads with 12 points or more.

A man in Liverpool has 45 points on his licence while a woman from Blackburn has 38, it said.

A spokesman for the DVLA said: "In a small percentage of cases where the driver has accumulated 12 or more penalty points, the agency understands that a court can exercise its discretion and not disqualify the driver.

"In the majority of these cases, magistrates or sentencers may have decided to allow drivers to retain their entitlement to drive where it is considered that disqualification would cause exceptional hardship."

Nottingham has the highest number of drivers with 12 points or more in England (180), closely followed by Doncaster, Cardiff and Birmingham.

Sheffield, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Peterborough, Manchester, Norwich and Swansea make up the top 10.

Steve Kerrigan, of the Co-operative, said: "It is clear that there are a large number of drivers on the roads with over 12 penalty points on their licenses.

"Despite young drivers having the reputation for being the worst motorists, when it comes to the drivers that have an excessive amount of penalty points we have found that in majority of cases older drivers, aged 26 to 55, have more points than any other, and as a proportion of their age group.

"As new generations of young drivers come through it is extremely important for safe driving education to continue and, in future, we will hopefully have safer roads as a result."

He added: "We want to see the number of people on the roads with an excess number of penalty points reduce from the 6,500 figure."

According to the Government's driving and transport website, drivers can be banned for six months for getting 12 penalty points or more within three years.

The period of a ban rises to 12 months for a second disqualification within three years.

And drivers could face a two-year ban for a third disqualification within the same period.