Facing a "totting-up" ban in a 20 zone - 9 points in three days in Wales (advice on arguing exceptional hardship)

Hi All.

I'm looking for some advice. First I accept I have made a mistake here and I'm not looking for judgement. It was an honest mistake even though I appreciate it was my fault and I accept I was in the wrong. I am looking for advice on whether I do have any chance of keeping my licence on exceptional hardship grounds and whether the context of getting the points will play any role at all, even if it's just in the back of the judge's mind.

I was driving in Wales last year in Mold and got done for 3 separate offences in three days. I accept I should have been paying more attention to the speed limit, I was just unaware of the situation in Wales and genuinely thought the road was a 30. The offence notices come through the mail on consecutive days; one for doing 28 in a 20 and the other two for doing 29 all by the same camera. I was white with the shock that I could be banned as I already had three points on my licence.

The court date is upcoming on the 9th at Wrexham Magistrates Court and I cannot afford a solicitor. I need my car for work as I work as an Uber Eats delivery driver.

I was working in another role but I had to quit because I was struggling with the work. I have Autism and OCD and have a lot of fatigue. I struggle with understanding certain tasks and at the moment the only job I can hold down is the Uber driving. If I lose my licence I will lose my ability to work and will not be able to cover my rent - I'm genuinely concerned it will make me homeless.

Does anyone know if I have cat in hell's chance of convincing a judge based on this and does anyone have any advice on what I can/should include in a defence and what evidence I would need to provide.

Again I understand I was entirely in the wrong, but I'm not in the game of casually speeding and looking to get off scot-free either. Paying the penalties has already been difficult given my financial situation and I'm desperate to keep my licence and not make the mistake again.

Here’s Magistrates’ guidance when dealing with such a plea:

When considering whether there are grounds to reduce or avoid a totting up disqualification the court should have regard to the following:
It is for the offender to prove to the civil standard of proof that such grounds exist. Other than very exceptionally, this will require evidence from the offender, and where such evidence is given, it must be sworn.
Where it is asserted that hardship would be caused, the court must be satisfied that it is not merely inconvenience, or hardship, but exceptional hardship for which the court must have evidence.
Almost every disqualification entails hardship for the person disqualified and their immediate family. This is part of the deterrent objective of the provisions combined with the preventative effect of the order not to drive.
If a motorist continues to offend after becoming aware of the risk to their licence of further penalty points, the court can take this circumstance into account.
Courts should be cautious before accepting assertions of exceptional hardship without evidence that alternatives (including alternative means of transport) for avoiding exceptional hardship are not viable.
Loss of employment will be an inevitable consequence of a driving ban for many people. Evidence that loss of employment would follow from disqualification is not in itself sufficient to demonstrate exceptional hardship; whether or not it does will depend on the circumstances of the offender and the consequences of that loss of employment on the offender and/or others.

So you need to demonstrate that the hardship you and/or others will suffer is over and above that would be suffered by other drivers. When explaining to the court that you will lose your job, firstly you will need to present evidence of that (e.g. a letter from your employer) and then go on to explain why alternative employment, not requiring you to drive, is not possible. You will also need to explain why you think the consequences of a ban are “exceptional” (bearing in mind the above guidance). Bear in mind that you will have had some time to investigate such possibilities and the court will expect you to have investigated the possibility thoroughly.

If you tot up to 12 (or more) relevant points (assuming that you had at least 3 current points when the offences were committed, The court is required by law to disqualify you for at least 6 months, unless it finds that such a ban would cause excessive hardship (to you or others). The court is not allowed to take into consideration anything that makes the offences seem less serious - simply whether or not the ban would cause exceptional hardship.

It would seem that your argument as to why a ban would be far harsher on you than other people totting up is that due to your austism and OCD you are unable to undertake alternative work. As the hearing is in 8 days time, I assume that you already have documentary evidence of your conditions, and a letter from an appropriate medical professional to that effect?

If you are banned, the ban will have immediate effect - so don't rely on being able to drive home from the hearing.

…and whether the context of getting the points will play any role at all…

No it won’t. The law (Section 35(4) of the Road Traffic Offenders’ Act) specifically prohibits it:

(4) No account is to be taken under subsection (1) above of any of the following circumstances—

(a)any circumstances that are alleged to make the offence or any of the offences not a serious one,

Subsection (1) is the subsection that makes it mandatory for the court to impose a disqualification for “totting up”.

What exactly are you going to court for, all 3 offences or have you already accepted two and this is just the third one?