Wolverhampton home to one of the UK's worst drivers - but still no ban
A driver from Wolverhampton is amazingly still on the road despite clocking up an astonishing 54 penalty points.
The 44-year-old mystery motorist is the worst serial offender in the UK according to DVLA figures.
In all, more than 500 ‘dangerous drivers’ are still on the region’s roads.
Drivers are usually banned if they clock up 12 points or more on their licence but according to DVLA figures, 567 people across the region have managed to dodge the law.
The 54 points man from the Wolverhampton/South Staffordshire area is still on the road despite having more than four times the number of points allowed.
Road safety charity Brake claims the current system is allowing ‘repeat offenders’ to exploit loopholes in the law. It has accused the Government and courts of being ‘complicit’ in putting the public at risk.
Currently, if a driver can convince a magistrate that they, or an innocent party such as a family member will face ‘exceptional hardship’ as a result of losing their licence they may be allowed to keep it.
In Wolverhampton 100 drivers have at least 12 points without being banned. There are 105 such drivers living in Sandwell – including one on 30 points – 93 in Walsall and 77 in Dudley. Across the Black Country around 30 in every 100,000 local drivers have at least 12 points on their licence, the national average is 23 per 100,000.
In Stafford 95 motorists who should be banned are still driving, including one who has totted up 28 points. The Lichfield area has 49 drivers who have dodged a ban and in Cannock the figure is 48.
Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, said: “By ignoring the exploitation of the ‘exceptional hardship’ loophole that allows unsafe drivers to remain on our roads, the Government and courts are complicit in increasing the risk to the public.
“This dangerous loophole must be dealt with as a matter of urgency so that drivers who reach 12 points are automatically disqualified, protecting the general public.”
John Bache, of the Magistrates Association, said: “The process for establishing exceptional hardship is robust – magistrates scrutinise every case very carefully and an individual would only avoid a ban if the magistrates are confident that exceptional hardship would genuinely be caused.”
