AN URGENT warning has been issued to Scottish drivers after the DVLA revoked almost 141,000 driving licences.
Motoring experts Dayinsure found that a total of 140,792 drivers across the UK have been banned from the roads.
A total of 140,792 UK drivers have had their driving licences revoked[/caption]
They analysed data from the DVLA to find the top eleven cities that have the most drivers who had their licences taken away.
To be banned from driving, motorists must have accumulated more than 12 penalty points within three years.
When a driver reaches this limit, an automatic ban is triggered and they will get a summons in the post that tells them when they must go to court.
A driver can also be banned if they are convicted of a serious driving offence.
A court will then decide how long the disqualification will last and this will depend on the severity of the offence.
The ban can last from six months, to 12 months, to two years.
You sadly cannot just assume that others will drive as carefully as you would… Ensure that you are fully insured in case worse comes to worse
Nicholas Shaw
And this will be based on how long the motorist has taken to accrue their penalty points as well as any other previous bans and convictions.
Anyone who is banned for 56 days or more must apply for a new licence before driving again.
They also face the possibility of having to retake their driving test or take an extended driving test before getting their full licence.
The data analysed by experts at Dayinsure found that Bradford is the top city in the UK with the most driving bans.
One out of every 191 drivers have had their licences revoked, which is far greater than Liverpool, which had the second-highest number of banned drivers.
Here, one in every 204 motorists has had their licences revoked by the DVLA.
Teesside takes the last spot in the top three with one in every 231 drivers subject to a ban, according to Birmingham Live.
The other UK cities to make the top five were London and Birmingham, which have 7,995 and over 4,000 disqualified motorists respectively.
Edinburgh was the only Scottish city to make the list of the top eleven worst cities for banned drivers.
The other five spots were taken by Blackburn, Leeds, Oldham, Sunderland and Halifax.
Nicholas Shaw, Director of Operations at Dayinsure, has now warned drivers to take extra care on the roads.
He urged motorists to pay extra attention when driving, regardless of location.
He said: “You sadly cannot just assume that others will drive as carefully as you would.
“Our final piece of advice would be to ensure that you are fully insured in case worse comes to worse and you are involved in an accident”.
Apply to reduce your disqualification period
IF you get banned from driving, there are things you can do to try and reduce your disqualification period.
The DVLA say:
You can ask the court to reduce your disqualification period after you’ve been banned from driving for:
- 2 years – if the disqualification was for fewer than 4 years
- half the disqualification period – if it was for at least 4 but under 10 years
- 5 years – if the disqualification was for 10 years or more
You must have a good reason for asking for the disqualification to be reduced. For example, if you think the court made a legal mistake or there were reasons you committed the driving offence that the court did not take into account.
Write to the court that disqualified you with the date of offence, date of conviction and any other supporting information.
The court will tell DVLA if it decides to reduce your disqualification period. If it does, you’ll need to apply for a new licence.
