The Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 is a United Kingdom statute dealing with procedure, penalties, endorsement, penalty points, disqualification, fixed penalties, and related matters for road traffic offences.
It works alongside the Road Traffic Act 1988. The Road Traffic Act creates many of the substantive offences, while the Road Traffic Offenders Act deals with how many of those offences are prosecuted and punished.
Penalty Points and Endorsement
The Act sets out when convictions must or may be endorsed on a driving record. Endorsement usually means penalty points or disqualification being recorded against the driver's licence record.
Schedule 2 lists many offences and the penalty points or disqualification consequences attached to them.
Totting Up
A driver who accumulates 12 or more penalty points within the relevant period is normally liable to disqualification under the totting-up rules. The court can consider exceptional hardship arguments, but the threshold is not simply inconvenience.
New drivers face a separate regime under the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995. A new driver's licence is revoked by DVLA if they accumulate six or more points within the probationary period.
Notice of Intended Prosecution
Section 1 contains notice requirements for certain road traffic offences. For offences such as speeding, careless driving, and dangerous driving, a person may need to have been warned at the time or served with a notice of intended prosecution within the statutory time limit, subject to exceptions.
This rule does not apply to every road traffic offence. It is especially relevant to camera-detected and later-reported cases.
Fixed Penalties
The Act supports fixed penalty procedures for some road traffic offences. Fixed penalties allow certain cases to be dealt with administratively without a full court hearing if the driver accepts the penalty and meets the conditions.
More serious offences, disputed offences, or cases where disqualification is considered may still go to court.
Disqualification
The Act gives courts powers and duties relating to disqualification. Some offences carry obligatory disqualification unless special reasons apply. Others allow discretionary disqualification.
Disqualification can arise from the seriousness of one offence or from accumulated penalty points.
Special Reasons
Special reasons are not a defence to the offence. They are reasons connected to the offence that may justify the court not imposing an otherwise obligatory endorsement or disqualification.
Examples sometimes argued include genuine emergency or being misled about insurance. Whether a special reason exists depends on evidence and the specific facts.
Practical Examples
Speed Camera Case
A vehicle is detected speeding by camera. The notice of intended prosecution and driver-identification process may become important before any fixed penalty or prosecution.
Totting Up
A driver already has nine points and receives three more. The court must consider totting-up disqualification unless a valid exceptional hardship argument succeeds.
No Insurance
A driver is convicted of using a vehicle without insurance. Endorsement and penalty points are normally required unless the court finds special reasons.
See Also
References
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