What are Special Reasons?
Special Reasons are circumstances that lead to an offence being committed. These reasons must relate directly to the offence and not to you. That might sound a little confusing but in the examples below, we hope to demonstrate Special Reasons a little more clearly for you.
But how do Special Reasons help me?
If a Court finds Special Reasons do exist in a case, it allows them to exercise their discretion in respect of not imposing the mandatory penalty, such as NOT to disqualify you from driving or NOT to impose penalty points.
Examples of Special Reasons
Mr H Jr is stopped by the Police and is found to be driving without insurance. The car belongs to his father, Mr H Snr. Prior to taking the car the father had told his son that he was insured to drive the car as it was insured for any driver. The problem was that Mr H Jr was only 21 and the “any driver” provision on the insurance only related to people over 25. So Mr H Jr had committed the offence of driving without insurance but there was a reason why he did so. The Court found Special Reasons and NO penalty points were placed on Mr H Jr’s licence.
Mr X was on a night out with 2 friends to celebrate his birthday. Both friends bought him, what they told him was a single vodka and coke. Mr X was stopped by the Police and found to be over the drink drive limit. It later transpired that the drinks were in fact doubles. Mr X was completely unaware that he had consumed enough alcohol to take him over the drink drive limit. At Court, Mr X and his friends gave evidence that he did not know about the “spiked” drinks. The Court accepted the evidence and Special Reasons were found, meaning that Mr X was NOT disqualified for the offence.
These are not the only occasions when Special Reasons may apply to a case. Other circumstances can be medical emergency, insurance company error or shortness of distance travelled.
If you have a motoring offence and want to know if Special Reasons apply, contact Carl today on 01482 227669 or click “ask a question“.
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