What Are Penalty Points On Your Driving Licence
You may find that as well as getting a fine for committing a driving offence in the UK, that your driving licence could also be endorsed with penalty points. The amount of time that these points will stay on your licence will be either four or eleven years. The seriousness of the driving offence will determine how long the points stay on your licence.
Getting more than twelve points on your licence in three years will result in you receiving a driving ban
You will be disqualified from driving if your licence is endorsed with more than twelve points in three years. Whether or not you have been already disqualified from driving in the past will determine the length of time you are disqualified for each time. You will be banned from driving for two years if it is your third disqualification, for one year if it is the second time in three years and if it is your first time you will be disqualified for six months. You can also be disqualified until you retake your driving test. You may have to undergo some medical tests if your ban was due to drink driving.
The number of penalty points you receive on your licence will all depend on the severity of the driving offence. Here are just some examples;
Not stopping after an accident up to 10 points
Driving when disqualified 6 points
If you drive without due care and without paying attention you could face up to nine points on your licence
Up to 11 points on your licence if you cause death by driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
If you drive a vehicle with unsafe brakes you could get three points on your licence
Failure to follow road traffic signals could mean three points on your licence
There are so many different offences which could result in penalty points being applied to your licence and you could still get a driving ban immediately for one of these offences if a judge decided to enforce it. You will need to apply for a brand new licence if you want to get these points removed from your licence once they have run out.
If you are looking for a driving related job, any potential employer is well withing their right to do official checks to the type of license you hold . Driving licence verification is an issue you should take care about. Make sure you always hold the appropriate driving license before applying for a particular driving job.
