This website is specifically designed for motorists who are intending to plead guilty or have already pleaded guilty, to a road traffic offence that carries penalty points and who for whatever reason, want to avoid getting those points on their licence.

If you are looking for a specialist road traffic solicitor to represent you in court from just £200, or if you are looking for advice and information about how you could avoid being convicted of a road traffic offence then you may wish to visit fixedfeelawyer.co.uk

HOW TO AVOID GETTING POINTS ON YOUR LICENCE

There are 4 main tactics that can be employed to try and avoid getting penalty points on your driving licence, they are as follows -

THE SHORT BAN AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO POINTS

In some circumstances you can ask the court to impose a short disqualification (14 days for example) instead of endorsing your licence with penalty points. You can then arrange for someone else to drive you during that short driving ban period or even better take a couple of weeks holiday!

There are many reasons why someone may prefer to have a short ban instead of points. For example, it may be worth doing if you already have points on your licence and want to avoid a minimum 6 month ban under the 'totting up' provisions (see the bottom of this page for an explanation of the term 'totting up') or perhaps you simply don't like the thought of having points on your licence.

Asking the court to impose a short ban instead of points is also one of the few ways to avoid having your driving licence revoked if you are caught by the 'New Driver Provisions' (see the bottom of this page for an explanation of the term 'New Driver Provisions').

It is not always easy to avoid points by asking for a short disqualification and you would be well advised to get a specialist road traffic solicitor to represent you, to increase your chances of getting what you want. Employing a road traffic solicitor to represent you at court in circumstances such as this can cost you from as little as £200. Go to fixedfeelawyer.co.uk to find out how much it would cost for a specialist road traffic solicitor to represent you.

The court has sentencing guidelines that they should use to decide whether to give you points or a ban instead and a good road traffic solicitor will refer to those guidelines when trying to persuade the court that it would be appropriate in the circumstances of your case to impose a short ban rather than points. The court is unlikely to impose a short ban simply because it would be convenient to you, which is why it is vital to identify other relevant reasons as to why a short ban should be imposed in light of the particular circumstances of your case.

For example, if you had pleaded guilty to using a vehicle without insurance part of your argument could be that the new driver provisions were not intended to punish new drivers who may commit document offences but instead were designed to make the UK's roads safer by removing full licence entitlement from those new drivers who have driven too fast or perhaps driven without due care and attention. The court may then be persuaded that imposing the minimum 6 points for no insurance and the consequential licence revocation would be unjust and therefore agree to impose a short ban as an alternative to points. Arguments such as this can be tricky to present and they need to be worded very carefully if you want to succeed in your objective to avoid points.

The courts are not supposed to impose a short ban instead of points if the reason is simply to enable a driver to avoid having their licence revoked under the New Driver Provisions. However, there are circumstances when the courts will agree that a straight forward disqualification is more appropriate than imposing points. For example, if the court can be persuaded that there are particular features of an offence that warrant the imposition of an immediate short disqualification.

THE SPECIAL REASONS ARGUMENT

The court is entitled to choose not to impose points that would otherwise be applicable to an offence, if the court is persuaded that there is a special reason not to impose points. A special reason is a particular feature of an offence that does not amount to a defence and is to do with the circumstances of the offence rather than the circumstances of the offender. For example, if your insurance policy was cancelled through no fault of your own and without your knowledge, you would still be guilty of using a vehicle without insurance but you could argue that the circumstances of the policy cancellation amount to a special reason not to impose the minimum 6 points that this offence attracts. A special reasons argument can also be used to persuade a court not to impose an obligatory disqualification or to impose a shorter disqualification.

It is not easy to determine what might amount to a special reason and so if you think you might be able to avoid points by arguing special reasons, you would be well advised to take advice from a specialist road traffic solicitor. Go to fixedfeelawyer.co.uk to find a road traffic solicitor who will give you free initial advice as to whether you might have a valid special reasons argument.

Special reasons arguments are all different depending on the particular circumstances of each case but by going to fixedfeelawyer.co.uk you will find a specialist road traffic solicitor who will be able to represent you in court and advance a special reasons argument on your behalf, with fees for special reasons arguments starting from just £250.

THE DRIVER'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE

Depending on your circumstances and the circumstances of the offence it is sometimes possible for a good road traffic solicitor to persuade the prosecuting authority to allow a defendant to complete one of the driver's educational course that are available, even if the case is already before the court.

Examples of the education courses that can be used as an alternative to prosecution include, the Speed Awareness Course, Traffic Light Awareness Course and the Driver Improvement Course. If you complete one of these courses then you don't get prosecuted and so you avoid getting points on your licence. Go to fixedfeelawyer.co.uk for free initial advice as to whether this tactic might be an option in your case.

THE APPEAL PROCESS

Everyone who is found guilty at a Magistrates' court has the automatic right to appeal against that conviction, you do not need grounds to appeal.

Everyone who is sentenced by a Magistrates' court has the automatic right to appeal against that sentence, again you do not need grounds to appeal

By successfully appealing to the Crown Court (or High Court) it is possible to avoid the points that the Magistrates' court have imposed, actually being placed on your licence. It is not easy to appeal against conviction and/or sentence and so if you are thinking of appealing you may find it helpful to visit fixedfeelawyer.co.uk, where you will find a specialist road traffic solicitor who will give you free initial advice on the chances of your appeal succeeding. Fees for representing you at court during your appeal start from just £350.

WHAT IS A TOTTING UP BAN?

A totting up ban is the name often given to the part of the law that says a driver must be disqualified for a minimum of 6 months if they accumulate a total of 12 or more penalty points on their licence within a 3 year period. When calculating this, the court uses the date of the actual offences rather than the date that the driver was sentenced or convicted.

If you have one previous disqualification for a period of 56 days or more, imposed within 3 years of the date of the new offence, then the minimum totting up disqualification period rises from 6 months to 12 months.

If you have two previous disqualifications for periods of 56 days or more, imposed within 3 years of the date of the new offence, then the minimum totting up disqualification period rises from 12 months to 2 years.

Points that lead to a disqualification under the totting up provisions, do not count towards any subsequent totting up calculation, i.e. they are effectively wiped for the purposes of totting up, which effectively means you start at zero points again following any totting up disqualification.

You can return your licence to the DVLA and request points be removed from your licence, although the DVLA will only remove those points that were placed on the licence for offences that were committed at least 4 years ago.

WHAT ARE THE NEW DRIVER PROVISIONS?

The New Driver Provisions state that if you accumulate a total of 6 or more points on your licence within 2 years of passing your test then your licence will be automatically revoked by the DVLA. You then have to re-take both the theory and practical driving tests to re-gain full licence entitlement. Penalty points accumulated before passing your test count towards the 6 points that trigger revocation, so if you get 3 as a provisional licence holder and then get 3 more for an offence committed within the 2 years after passing your test, then you will have your licence revoked.

The relevant date used for calculating the number of points is the date of the offence not the date of conviction or sentencing, so there is no point trying to delay the case.

If you appeal the conviction or sentence that would result in you having your licence revoked, then the DVLA will not revoke your licence until the appeal proceedings have been concluded, however, it is always wise to obtain written confirmation of this.

If you think you may be caught by the New Driver Provisions, then go to fixedfeelawyer.co.uk to find a specialist road traffic lawyer who may be able to help you avoid the dreaded licence revocation.