12 is the magic number. At least it is if you've a driving licence. 12 penalty points. 12 strikes and you're out. Or are you?
The penalty system is simple to understand. Each driving offence can carry with it a number of penalty points. Tot up enough and you lose your licence. And 12 is that limit. This equates to four speeding offences, which carry three points each. Except quite often that's simply not the case. In the first instance less points can be applied. There was a case last year where a driver had 9 points on her licence from 3 different speeding offences. She was caught again, and the judge gave her two points because she needed her car for work, and for driving her son to his work.
She had admitted that it was possible she could get a bus to work, but hadn't looked at the timetables and thought it would be difficult! The judge then said that the 11 points would be a warning and that if caught again she might lose her licence. So 9 points wasn't a warning? And if she breached a second warning there's still a possibility she wouldn't lose her licence? It seemed barmy. But recently the situation got even more ridiculous.
The BBC started publishing details from a Freedom of Information request on various areas of the UK where drivers were over the 12 point limit, and yet still had their licences. And in some cases they were a lot over the limit. Then whle UK details came to light on the Ubiquitous Blog under a post on the sacred nature of the driving licence. Here 'Amoeba' listed details from an FOI request that were quite simply staggering, and need to be reproduced in full...
Points |
Drivers |
Points |
Drivers |
12 |
6,983 |
21 |
39 |
13 |
809 |
22 |
10 |
14 |
870 |
23 |
15 |
15 |
1,075 |
24 |
24 |
16 |
297 |
25 |
3 |
17 |
144 |
27 |
3 |
18 |
233 |
28 |
1 |
19 |
37 |
30 |
4 |
20 |
46 |
33 |
1 |
And then 2 drivers had an almighty 36 points. Three times the amount that is supposed to get you a ban. 10,596 drivers in total who have been given a special dispensation to remain on the roads. But then is it any surprise when Ken Clarke can stand in Parliament and say this: "There is, of course, a higher penalty for causing death by dangerous driving, but the hon. Gentleman describes someone who behaved equally reprehensibly but happens not to have killed any of the victims. As I am arguing for discretion, we will look to see whether the constraint is too tight. In the case of ordinary dangerous driving without any serious consequences, although I deplore all dangerous driving we cannot start imposing heavy prison sentences on everybody who might otherwise be a blameless citizen and then behaves in an absolutely reprehensible way when driving his car."
Yes, you read that right. 'Ordinary' dangerous driving. As was pointed out by the author of the Ubiquitous Blog mentioned earlier, "You can legally hold a shotgun under licence, but if you were to take it out into the street and fire it over people heads no court would accept that it was OK because no one was hurt on this occasion!"
