Criminal driver with 39 points allowed to continue driving

Road safety campaigners last night called for urgent action after it emerged a motorist is still behind the wheel despite amassing 39 penalty points, the most in Britain.

They insisted it was ‘completely unacceptable’ for anyone to rack up more than three times the number of points that would usually lead to an automatic ban.

The shock statistic about the driver, from Swindon, emerged in a Freedom of Information request from BBC West to the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Twelve points usually means a six months ban for a driver unless they can prove it would cause exceptional hardship.

Bear in mind that

Penalty points are effective for 3 years from the date of conviction

Under current legislation, you will be disqualified under the "totting up" procedure if you amass 12 points within any 3 year period. However, this will not apply if you can persuade the court this will involve exceptional hardship.

Also bear in mind that the penalty points system gives drivers as few as 3 points for a wide range of lethal behaviour when driving.

We need to know who this driver is.

We need to know what the points were given for.

We need to know why this scandal has been kept a secret. This is someone who has clocked up an astonishing 39 points in less than three years, and who has continued driving lawlessly, repeatedly indulged by the judiciary.

We need to know which particular judges and magistrates have permitted such a highly dangerous driver to continue driving.

This won’t happen until campaigning organisations live up to their names and start applying pressure by organising protests.

I’m not holding my breath…