by Alice Scarsi
Motorist from London commits 12 driving offences and receives 40 points without even holding a provisional driving licence
A driver has gathered a total of 40 penalty points despite never having held a provisional driving licence, let alone a full one.
The man from Lewisham, South London, whose name hasn’t been revealed, has racked up that impressive amount of points committing a total of 12 offences – six speeding fines and six instances of driving without insurance.
The news has emerged after that the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) filed a Freedom of Information request to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to find out the top 20 highest penalty points holders in England and Wales.
Shockingly enough, this instance is only the second worst on the roads of Britain. Among the other offenders listed, the highest points holder is a Liverpool man, who has amassed 45 penalty points on a full driving licence, having committed eight driving offences. The first woman on the list is the third highest point holder from Blackburn who has collected 38 points following committing ten felonies.
What’s really worrying, though, is the fact that out of the 20 people listed, a total of three have driven without even having a licence, one with 33 penalty points for seven offences and the other with 28 points for five offences, including driving without insurance.
As IAM chief executive Sarah Sillars pointed out, these motorists share the road with us, clearly presenting a danger to those safer drivers among us. She said: “It’s been three years since the IAM raised this issue with the DVLA, but we still have drivers on the road with multiple points allocated to them.
“Now we discover that some of them have never held any kind of driving licence. We all have to share the road with these unqualified, uninsured and dangerous drivers.”
The Institute is pushing the Government to introduce tougher sanctions on drivers who repeatedly offend without a licence: “We need to punish offenders as well as give them the opportunity to change their ways. Offenders are unlikely to drive legally if they face a ban or points on their licence as soon as they pass their test,” added Sillars on the matter.
Do you agree with the IAM? Do you think that hardening the punishment for driving without a licence could stop these offenders or it would turn out to be a useless measure?
