Can I Reduce My Driving Ban?

Q.

My son lost his licence in March 08 due to taking my vehicle, his full licence came through the same day. i was in the process of looking for inurance, but eager to drive he took my car without consent, which was not insured for him to drive.

He was later in court and charged for agrivated vehicle taking and no insurance, and forty pounds in court costs.He lost his licence for a year.

He wants to reduce his ban, we live in ebbbw-ale gwent and was wondering if there is a course near our area. He has shown great remorse for what he has done, and the judge did state that he did not have to sit his test the sentence was convivtion spent.

A.

A driving ban, whether it is through drink driving, dangerous driving, driving without insurance or other circumstances is a very serious matter. Many courts will consider that any individual who gets behind the wheel of a car in these circumstances have not made a genuine mistake, but rather are fully aware that they’re breaking the law. Due to this, it makes it very difficult to appeal a driving ban, but in certain circumstances there are options where you may be able to reduce the ban.

Many judges will determine that an individual who appears to be truly remorseful may enrol in a rehabilitation course or an advanced driving course in order to educate themselves about the dangers of driving under the influence or without insurance. Certain rehabilitation courses will allow you to reduce your driving ban by around a quarter of it’s intended time. If you’re banned for a year for example, this means that there’s the possibility of you being able to reduce this to a 9 month ban. To be accepted to the rehabilitation course however, you need to be referred by the magistrate of the Court which handed down your original sentence. Generally these courses are tailored towards those who have been given a drink driving ban and will usually cost around 250GBP. They tend to focus on educating drink drivers about how consuming alcohol can impair your driving abilities and usually last around 16 – 30 hours in total. For someone driving without insurance, it may be more difficult to appeal to the magistrate for a rehabilitation course attendance, especially young drivers who are a high risk group.

Throughout the UK there are a number of driving rehabilitation courses available that can help a banned driver reduce their sentence. You should seek expert advice however on how to appeal to the magistrate and also which courses you feel would be beneficial. Some companies that offer courses to reduce driving bans are shown below:

• Drivewise – South East England
• Drink Driver Education – Bucks, Berks, Oxon, Surrey, Hants
• Aquarius – Midlands
• Vernon Manfield Consultancy Ltd – England and Scotland
• Norfolk TTC 2000 – Midlands, Wales and the North of England

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