If you’re a learner and get a speeding ticket you have the option to take a £110 driver awareness course instead of taking the penalty points and paying a fine. But let’s say you have a full licence and you’ve already got 9 points on it, then you get another ticket which puts you at 12 points. That would mean that you would lose your licence for 6 months and not be able to drive – quite an inconvenience, especially if you live in a rural area with minimal public transport.
You could ask someone with an unblemished driving record to take your points on your behalf. What would be the outcome? Technically you have committed a crime for which you could go to prison: you have perverted the course of justice.
Some estimates say that 300,000 people have done this in the UK. However, it carries a risk as police can look at the photo to see who was driving the vehicle and whether it matches your profile. You could end up with 125 hours community service and a fine like this woman, 8 months in jail like former energy secretary Chris Huhne, or seven years in jail like this guy who helped around 700 people dodge fines by allocating them to fictitious people or prisoners.
Four techniques people use to avoid speeding points
- Motorists fill in the forms themselves claiming that someone else was driving their car, e.g. a relative
- Motorists pay a criminal to put their name on it – in most cases these are people already in jail therefore three points on their licence doesn’t make any difference to them
- Details are used of someone living abroad in the hope police won’t check up on them
- The motorist uses a stalling technique to try to exceed the 6-month limit police have to investigate and prosecute
Of course, police are well aware of these scenarios.
How do you avoid a ban if you already have 9 points and receive another speeding ticket?
It’s possible to avoid a driving ban if you will suffer ‘exceptional hardship’. Exceptional hardship is, for example, if you will lose your income if you cannot drive. You will need a solicitor to represent you in court, and you will need to collect evidence such as a copy of the photographic evidence from the camera, plus evidence that the loss of licence will unduly disadvantage you or closely related third parties.
Darren has owned several companies in the automotive, advertising and education industries. He has run driving theory educational websites since 2010.