More Nottingham Drivers On The Road With 12 Points Than Anywhere Else In The Country

It has been revealed that Nottingham has the highest number of drivers on the road with 12 points in the whole country.

180 motorists from Nottingham are on the road despite being on 12 or more points.

Other places with a high number of drivers on the road despite reaching the totting up threshold are Doncaster with 174 motorists, Cardiff with 173 motorists, Birmingham with 169 motorists and Sheffield with 156 motorists.

This information has caused some controversy, as shown in this Nottingham Post article, where a spokesman for the road safety charity Brake describes drivers who reach 12 penalty points as having ‘no respect for the rules of the road’.

As specialist motoring specialists, we help many people conduct Exceptional Hardship applications to allow them to remain on the road despite reaching 12 penalty points or more, and we completely disagree with that comment.

In our experience, motorists who find themselves in a totting up position are generally very capable and responsible people who find themselves in that situation for a number of reasons including the mileage they do.  It is much easier to keep a clean licence, after all, if you drive once weekly to the local supermarket and home.  Many of our clients are high-level executives and business owners who are on the road every single day, clocking up tens of thousands of miles each year.

They usually find themselves in a totting up position because of four separate minor speeding offences.  There are, of course, other ways a person can find themselves in a totting up position, ranging from more serious speeding offences that have resulted in 6 points, to convictions for no insurance, using a phone whilst driving, or even careless driving.

Four minor speeding offences remains the most common scenario by which our clients find themselves in a totting up position, though, and we feel it is important to put this into perspective.

Penalty points remain active on your licence for 3 years, meaning that a person can find themselves at risk of losing their licence for 6 months if they have, at four separate times, been driving at, say, 36mph in a 30mph… in the last 3 years.

How easy is it to find your speed has crept up a few miles since you looked at the speedometer last?

How many of us can honestly say that we have never realised we are above the speed limit on an unfamiliar road?

We pride ourselves on working very hard for clients who are genuinely remorseful about their actions, and we know from first hand experience that our totting up clients do respect the rules of the road, and have simply made mistakes.  Mistakes that are usually minor, and mistakes that are, in reality, made by virtually every motorist at some point.

If you are at risk of a totting up ban, and want help from people who will hear your story and not judge you, call our expert team now on 01623 397200.

There were celebrations in Stafford Magistrates’ Court this week after our client, Peter Davies, was told by a District Judge that his Exceptional Hardship application had been accepted by the court.

For Peter, who works as a Roadside Technician for a well-known motoring organisation, this means that not only does he avoid the automatic 6 month disqualification he faced as a result of ‘totting up’ to 12 penalty points.  Importantly for him and his young family, it also means that he keeps the job he loves.

Peter explained during his first conversation with us that a disqualification would mean he would be dismissed by his employer.  Peter, who had worked hard to become a Roadside Technician, told us with modesty that he had received several certificates for his customer care skills, based on excellent customer feedback following his roadside assistance.  In fact, Peter’s Manager attended the court hearing with him – something he said he would not do for every employee!

All the staff at Forrest Williams were delighted when Steve Williams, the firm’s Senior Partner, called into the office with news of Peter’s successful outcome.

Peter was relieved to hear that he can continue to drive, as this means he can carry on doing the job he loves – helping motorists in their hour of need!

We at Forrest Williams are delighted that our careful preparation of Peter’s Exceptional Hardship application, together with Steve Williams’ presentation of his case, resulted in yet another life-changing result – for the motorists’ friend!