Majority of the road traffic offences carry either a mandatory endorsement of penalty points or a driving disqualification. However, in some circumstances it may be possible to put forward a ‘Special Reasons’ argument which if successfully argued may result in the avoidance of the imposition of a penalty altogether.
A Special Reasons argument can be put forward in circumstances where although technically, under the strict interpretation of the law, you may be guilty of the alleged offence, due to the circumstances under which the offence was commissioned, it may be morally unfair for you to be punished. If the Special Reasons argument is accepted by the Court, the Court retains the discretion to not disqualify or endorse penalty points where ordinarily it would be mandatory.
As mentioned above, Special Reasons can apply to most Motoring offences. However the argument put forward must be relevant to the case and must directly relate to the commission of the offence.
The following are just a few arguments (non-exhaustive) that can be used to put forward Special Reasons:
- Driving in an emergency of situation
- Driving in an attempt to escape a serious threat of violence
- Driving a short distance
- Drinks spiked/laced with alcohol or additional alcohol
- Driving without insurance where you believed insurance was in place
- Driving without insurance where the insurance policy was cancelled without your knowledge
- Driving without a licence where unbeknown to you your licence has been revoked by DVLA
- Any other situation where there is no moral culpability
If you believe that the circumstances in which you committed the offence amount to Special Reason. Contact us for free advice and consultation. At Caines Law we have a team of specialist motoring solicitors who have considerable experience in successfully arguing ‘Special Reasons’ arguments. It is because of this experience and in depth knowledge of the legal framework that we can give our clients expert advice and the best chance to succeed with the argument in Court.
In some circumstances it may be necessary to instruct a relevant expert to support the Special Reasons which will facilitate in the success of the Special Reasons argument. We will carry out an assessment of your case and will advise you if there is a need for this.
In drink driving for example, we would instruct a forensic scientist to carry out an assessment on your alcohol consumption to determine whether but for your drinks being laced with alcohol, you would have been within the legal limit to drive at the point you drove. An expert forensic scientist would need to calculate this and the findings would need to be presented to the Court.
We have established some very strong links with the country’s leading experts. We fully prepare our clients in all our cases to ensure that they know exactly what to expect before they attend Court. Our role is to work with our clients and for them. We guide them through proceedings and provide them with regular updates in respect of the progression of their case.
We operate nationally, making our expertise and services available to clients across the whole of England and Wales.
Contact us for a free consultation on 0800 6441544 to discuss your circumstances. Our ethos is very simple: if we do not believe that your circumstances are likely to be accepted by the Court as a ‘Special Reason’ we will advise you of this.
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