What Is The Value Of Penalty Points Anymore?

Once you’ve passed your driving test, you are free to drive independently; free from instruction or restriction. However, some people take that freedom too far.

For those who are unaware, when you commit a driving offense, you may receive penalty points as punishment. These are marks against your licence and if you manage to receive 12 of them your licence can be revoked.However, within the first 2 years of passing your driving test, the limit is only 6.

Many drivers who have exceeded this 12 point limit still have their licences. According to an IAM article, over 7,000 people in Britain have licences that exceed this 12 point limit.

When questioned about why these licences hadn’t been revoked, the DVLA explained that it is up to the discretion of the court to decide whether or not to ban a driver. They said cases may not result in a ban if the court deems the disqualification to cause “exceptional hardship” to the driver.

Below is a chart of where in the UK the worst individual penalty point offenders are, along with how many penalty points they currently have. Shockingly, there are 3 drivers in the UK who have racked up over 40 penalty points! The worst being a provisional driver from Oxford.

Details on Driving Licence Data

When you learn to drive, you are taught the importance of following the law and obeying the Highway Code. By not reacting harshly enough on those who disobey these rules, we believe they are not instilling good values in impressionable young and learner drivers.

Dangerous driving is a crime for a reason, and penalty points are supposed to deter people from re-enacting those crimes.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Let us know in the comments below.