Recently I was posed a question by a member who asked about a pupil who currently had six penalty points on their driving licence and was due to take a test.
He had been practising with a friend a couple of weeks prior to his test and they had fallen out (it happens when learning to drive!) argued and the friend tried getting out of the car while they were travelling at high speed on a dual carriageway.
The student stopped the car, the friend got out. The student then decided to drive off – obviously, committing an offence. He was subsequently stopped by police and a prosecution is pending.
The crucial question the member wanted answering was this: is the date of the offence or date of the conviction used for the purpose of New Drivers Act 1995?
The member stated that, their thoughts were:
If date of offence is used – my student can take their test and if they pass they won’t be subject to the New Drivers’ Act if they are given penalty points as the date of the offence is before the test.
Any further offences post-test resulting in penalty points in the following two years will result in a re-application of provisional licence and taking both theory and practical tests again under the New Drivers Act.
If date of conviction is used – my student would be better not to take the test otherwise if they pass the test and are then found guilty with the court awarded points taking them over six points (which is very possible) the New Drivers Act will apply immediately as the date of conviction is after the test.
I have to admit I didn’t know the answer to this question so I contacted the nice people at DVSA. I asked them the question: An ADI has a client who already has six points. His driving test is this week. He has a prosecution pending which, if he is convicted, he will in all probability receive penalty points for after passing his test. However, the offence will have been committed prior to his driving test
Question 1 – Is the date of offence or date of conviction used for the purpose of New Drivers Act?
Question 2 – If he takes his test and passes and the points he receives take him to 12 he may be banned. If he is will he, after the ban, be returned a full licence or will he be returned to provisional licence status?
The DVSA responded as follows:
To answer your first question about the New Drivers’ Act, the DVLA must revoke a driving licence where a court has sent notification of the endorsement to the Agency where amongst other things, the offence was committed during the person’s probationary period.
An individual’s probationary period is for two years following their test pass. With regard to the question you asked in relation to a disqualification under the totting up procedures I should explain that, providing an individual is not ordered by the court to take a driving test as part of his/her disqualification, s/he will be able to apply to renew his/her full driving entitlement at the end of the ban.
So now I know and so do you.
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