Disqualification and endorsement: 2
Page 40
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Les Oldridge, T Eng (CEO, I M I lISCRETIONARY" and bligatory" disqualification m driving for certain motoroffences were discussed in last article. Courts are given ther powers to disqualify m driving motorists who )itually contravene the traffic S.
section 93 (3) of the Road, ffic Act 1972 provides that ere a person convicted of an .)nce involving discretionary thligatory ban has within the vious three years been conted on not less than two asions of offences, the partiars of which have been lorsed on his driving licence, court must order him to be Iualified for not less than six nths.
Nhere the court is satisfied, 'ing regard to all the circum-ices, that there are grounds mitigating the normal conseince of the conviction, it may er him not to be disqualified
be disqualified for a shorter iod.
rhe exception provided in
section is wider than the recial reasons'' for not dislifying a driver for particular !nces discussed in the last :le. It was held, for example, amble v Woodage (1972) 1 R 754 that the expression I the circumstances" inies those of the earlier noes as well as those of the St offence.
vidence of the trivial nature he earlier convictions is adsable although the weight to attached thereto would in it cases be slight, bearing in d that the section is aimed so much at the gravity of the nces but at their repetition ng a relatively short period. he disqualification period does not "wipe the slate clean" so that the endorsements on the licence do not count if the driver is charged with further endorsable offences after his licence is restored. For example, suppose a driver has convictions. endorsed on his licence for offences committed in May 1977, January 1978 and on August 1, 1978, and on the last occasion he is banned from driving for six months. He will get his licence back on February 1, 1979. If he commits a further endorsable offence in September 1979 he can again be disqualified for six months.
This is borne out by the case of Fearon v Sydney (1966) 1 WLR 1003 2 All ER 694. Here it was held that where two convictions, in respect of which endorsement was ordered, have been taken into account upon a third conviction, so that a disqualification has been imposed, is not a ground for mitigating the normal consequences of conviction if a fourth conviction occurs in the same three-year period; the first two convictions remain as an aggravating feature and there should be a further banning.
Offences against the Construction and Use Regulations which are concerned with the prevention of danger, for example defective brakes, steering and tyres; unsafe loads, etc, carry a maximum penalty of a £400 fine. In addition obligatory endorsement and discretionary disqualification is prescribed for any person using or causing or permitting the use of a goods vehicle in contravention of these safety regulations.
However, a defendant's driving licence will not be endorsed or disqualified if he can prove that he did not know and had no reasonable cause to suspect that the facts of the case were such that the offence would be committed.
It seems strange that there is a heavier penalty for contravention of these regulations by the driver of a goods vehicle than there is for drivers of other types. One would have thought that the driver of a coach, for example, who is responsible for the safety of 40 or 50 passengers, ought to be liable to at least an equal, if not a more severe, penalty than a goods vehicle driver who commits a similar offence.
This exception to the general rule for endorsement or disqualification is open to the employer who provides a good sound maintenance system for his fleet of vehicles but, because of some unforeseen and unavoidable circumstance, is charged with using a defective vehicle, when his driver employee has been detected actually driving the faulty vehicle.
Section 95 of the Road Traffic Act 1972 deals with applications to the court, by which an order for disqualification was made, to have the disqualification removed. Applications may be made to that court by persons wishing to get their licence back not earlier than: E Two years, if the disqualification is for less than four years; E] One half of the period of disqualification if it is for less than ten years but more than four years;
E Five years in any other case.
When a driver is disqualified from driving he loses his ordinary driving licence and because of this he is not permitted to drive ANY class of vehicle irrespective of the type of vehicle he was driving at the time of the offence. Regulation 13 of the Heavy Goods Vehicles (Driver's Licences) Regulations 1977 requires drivers who have been disqualified from driving to: Notify the Licensing Authority in whose area he resides of the disqualification; and
D Deliver his hgv driver's licence to that LA.
When a driver who has been disqualified gets his ordinary licence back the LA will return the hgv licence if the ordinary licence is produced.
Driving while banned is a very serious offence punishable summarily, ie, in the magistrates' court, with six months' imprisonment or a fine and on indictment (before a judge and jury) with 12 months' imprisonment or a fine or both.
This section of the 1972 Road Traffic Act (Section 99) also makes it an offence punishable with a maximum fine of £100, to obtain a driving licence while disqualified. The licence so obtained would be void. So anyone driving with such a licence would also commit the offences of driving without a licence, driving while disqualified, making a false declaration to obtain a driving licence and possibly no third-party insurance.
Section 100 of the Act gives a police constable in uniform power to arrest, without warrant, any person driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle on a road whom he has reasonable cause to suspect of being disqualified.
Magistrates may disqualify a driver from driving until he passes a driving test. In this case he may obtain a provisional driving licence. If he then drives alone or without "1,plates he commits the offence of driving while disqualified. Hunter v Coombs (1962)1 WLR 573.