A Freedom of Information (FoI) request has found that nearly 10,000 people annually have been convicted of driving while disqualified over the past four years, leading to calls for more resources to be devoted to roads policing, and for stronger action to be taken against those who get behind the steering wheel without a valid driving licence.

Sky News reports (link is external) that the FoI request submitted to the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by the Press Association discovered that 37,500 people were convicted of driving while banned over the past four years – with one person caught doing so no fewer than 20 times.

In all, around 8,000 of those caught – nearly one in four – were repeat offenders, having committed the offence more than once.

Edmund King, president of the motoring organisation the AA, urged for more resources to be given to traffic policing, an area in which budgets have been slashed over the past decade or so.

He said that putting more traffic police on the roads would be a clear signal to law-breaking drivers that they would be targeted, and “increase the perception they are more likely to be caught.”

King added that the fall in the number of traffic police officers over the past decade “needs to be reversed to keep our roads safe.”

The article also quoted senior Metropolitan Police Service officer Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox, who is the national lead for fatal road crashes at the National Police Chiefs’ Council and also regularly raises funds for the charity RoadPeace.

He took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to share the full text of the quote he had supplied.

“Disqualified drivers have already committed road crimes, endangering safety in a manner sufficient to lose their licence,” DCS Cox wrote.

“Those individuals who continue to drive whilst disqualified brazenly ignore the punishment handed down to them, and in doing so risk the safety of themselves and others.

“These selfish lawbreaking actions can have fatal consequences, needlessly cutting lives short and causing lifelong trauma for bereaved families.

“The public understandably expects these serious offences to be recognised as such when habitual disqualified drivers are brought to justice.

“Via deterrence we can reduce danger on our roads and ultimately save lives,” he added.

Lifetime bans from driving are extremely rare, even in the most shocking cases.

One that we reported on here on road.cc was handed down in 2010 after lorry driver Dennis Putz was convicted of causing the death by dangerous driving of cyclist Catriona Patel near the Oval cricket ground in south London.

Puts, who was still intoxicated after a drinking session the previous evening, had been using a handheld mobile phone at the time of the fatal crash.

He had previously been convicted twice of driving-related offences, including one in which he faced 16 counts of driving without a licence.

During the trial, it emerged that Putz had previously been disqualified from driving 20 times and also had three convictions for drink driving and three convictions for reckless driving.

Following sentencing, London Cycling Campaign highlighted the case in its No More Lethal Lorries campaign, and said that Putz’s employers, Thames Materials Ltd, “failed in their responsibility to protect the public” by employing

“We’ve been making the case for a long time that companies have a duty to ensure their drivers are competent and capable of doing their work in a way that doesn't endanger the public,” LCC said.

“This was a crash waiting to happen because the regulations are too lax and they're not properly enforced.”

https://road.cc/content/news/tougher-action-against-those-who-drive-while-banned-305885

On 30/12/2023 01:48 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

> A Freedom of Information (FoI) request has found that nearly 10,000 people annually have been convicted of driving while disqualified over the past four years, leading to calls for more resources to be devoted to roads policing, and for stronger action to be taken against those who get behind the steering wheel without a valid driving licence.

The correct term for them is "fully unqualified chav-cyclists", since
chav-cycles are the only vehicles they are allowed to use (and that only
because no knowledge, training or familiarity with the rules of the road
is required for the use of a chav-cycle).

> Sky News reports (link is external) that the FoI request submitted to the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by the Press Association discovered that 37,500 people were convicted of driving while banned over the past four years – with one person caught doing so no fewer than 20 times.

See below.

> In all, around 8,000 of those caught – nearly one in four – were repeat offenders, having committed the offence more than once.

See below.

> Edmund King, president of the motoring organisation the AA, urged for more resources to be given to traffic policing, an area in which budgets have been slashed over the past decade or so.
> He said that putting more traffic police on the roads would be a clear signal to law-breaking drivers that they would be targeted, and “increase the perception they are more likely to be caught.”
> King added that the fall in the number of traffic police officers over the past decade “needs to be reversed to keep our roads safe.”
> The article also quoted senior Metropolitan Police Service officer Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox, who is the national lead for fatal road crashes at the National Police Chiefs’ Council and also regularly raises funds for the charity RoadPeace.
> He took to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to share the full text of the quote he had supplied.
> “Disqualified drivers have already committed road crimes, endangering safety in a manner sufficient to lose their licence,” DCS Cox wrote.
> “Those individuals who continue to drive whilst disqualified brazenly ignore the punishment handed down to them, and in doing so risk the safety of themselves and others.
> “These selfish lawbreaking actions can have fatal consequences, needlessly cutting lives short and causing lifelong trauma for bereaved families.
> “The public understandably expects these serious offences to be recognised as such when habitual disqualified drivers are brought to justice.
> “Via deterrence we can reduce danger on our roads and ultimately save lives,” he added.
> Lifetime bans from driving are extremely rare, even in the most shocking cases.
> One that we reported on here on road.cc was handed down in 2010 after lorry driver Dennis Putz was convicted of causing the death by dangerous driving of cyclist Catriona Patel near the Oval cricket ground in south London.
> Puts, who was still intoxicated after a drinking session the previous evening, had been using a handheld mobile phone at the time of the fatal crash.
> He had previously been convicted twice of driving-related offences, including one in which he faced 16 counts of driving without a licence.
> During the trial, it emerged that Putz had previously been disqualified from driving 20 times and also had three convictions for drink driving and three convictions for reckless driving.
> Following sentencing, London Cycling Campaign highlighted the case in its No More Lethal Lorries campaign, and said that Putz’s employers, Thames Materials Ltd, “failed in their responsibility to protect the public” by employing
> “We’ve been making the case for a long time that companies have a duty to ensure their drivers are competent and capable of doing their work in a way that doesn't endanger the public,” LCC said.
> “This was a crash waiting to happen because the regulations are too lax and they're not properly enforced.”

> https://road.cc/content/news/tougher-action-against-those-who-drive-while-banned-305885

Yes... unqualified and unlicenced chav-cyclists who purport to be
drivers need a spell inside. Guaranteed. Every time.

Rendel Harris | 6 hours ago
2 likes
Impound a suspended driver's vehicle for the duration of their ban (at their expense). Put a chip in the driving licence that has to be tapped at the pump before any fuel is dispensed, shouldn't be too difficult to reprogram the extant at-pump card readers? Then fuel access could simply be switched off for suspended drivers. Of course it wouldn't stop everyone but it might stop a fair number. In tandem also make it an offence to facilitate a suspended driver getting behind the wheel by helping them obtain fuel, lending them a vehicle etc.

In Canada it's the responsibility of a vehicle owner to check that any person who borrows their vehicle has a valid licence and insurance; if someobody without a licence or on a suspended licence is found driving your vehicle then you get a heavy punishment (including points) as well as the direct culprit. Good idea.

On 30/12/2023 03:58 pm, Simon Mason wrote:
> Rendel Harris | 6 hours ago
> 2 likes
>
> Impound a suspended driver's vehicle for the duration of their ban (at their expense). Put a chip in the driving licence that has to be tapped at the pump before any fuel is dispensed,

Good idea.

You could easily get one off May Sun's shoulder.

> shouldn't be too difficult to reprogram the extant at-pump card readers? Then fuel access could simply be switched off for suspended drivers. Of course it wouldn't stop everyone but it might stop a fair number. In tandem also make it an offence to facilitate a suspended driver getting behind the wheel by helping them obtain fuel, lending them a vehicle etc.
>
> In Canada it's the responsibility of a vehicle owner to check that any person who borrows their vehicle has a valid licence and insurance; if someobody without a licence or on a suspended licence is found driving your vehicle then you get a heavy punishment (including points) as well as the direct culprit. Good idea.
>

JNugent <jnugent@mail.com> wrote:
> On 30/12/2023 03:58 pm, Simon Mason wrote:
>> Rendel Harris | 6 hours ago
>> 2 likes

>> Impound a suspended driver's vehicle for the duration of their ban (at
>> their expense). Put a chip in the driving licence that has to be tapped
>> at the pump before any fuel is dispenser

> Good idea.

> You could easily get one off May Sun's shoulder.

LOL!

--
Spike

On Saturday, December 30, 2023 at 3:58:42 PM UTC, Simon Mason wrote:
> Rendel Harris | 6 hours ago
> 2 likes
>
> Impound a suspended driver's vehicle for the duration of their ban (at their expense). Put a chip in the driving licence that has to be tapped at the pump before any fuel is dispensed, shouldn't be too difficult to reprogram the extant at-pump card readers? Then fuel access could simply be switched off for suspended drivers. Of course it wouldn't stop everyone but it might stop a fair number. In tandem also make it an offence to facilitate a suspended driver getting behind the wheel by helping them obtain fuel, lending them a vehicle etc.
>
> In Canada it's the responsibility of a vehicle owner to check that any person who borrows their vehicle has a valid licence and insurance; if someobody without a licence or on a suspended licence is found driving your vehicle then you get a heavy punishment (including points) as well as the direct culprit. Good idea.

===============================================Sorry, I don't see the point of trying to shift the responsibility of law enforcement away from the police. Adding chips to licences and then adding chip readers etc. to all the petrol pumps wouldn't really achieve anything as someone could just borrow a licence (e.g. from their gran) if they want to go and fill up. Yes, that could be made an offence, but I can't see that police would be interested in enforcing that as you could only really catch people at the moment they were buying fuel.

The answer is a bigger police presence on the roads with them stopping drivers and checking their credentials if they see any speeding or unusual driving. This would also help with preventing other driving offences and I think would improve road safety.

On 30/12/2023 05:32 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

> On Saturday, December 30, 2023 at 3:58:42 PM UTC, Simon Mason wrote:

>> Rendel Harris | 6 hours ago

>> Impound a suspended driver's vehicle for the duration of their ban (at their expense). Put a chip in the driving licence that has to be tapped at the pump before any fuel is dispensed, shouldn't be too difficult to reprogram the extant at-pump card readers? Then fuel access could simply be switched off for suspended drivers. Of course it wouldn't stop everyone but it might stop a fair number. In tandem also make it an offence to facilitate a suspended driver getting behind the wheel by helping them obtain fuel, lending them a vehicle etc.
>> In Canada it's the responsibility of a vehicle owner to check that any person who borrows their vehicle has a valid licence and insurance; if someobody without a licence or on a suspended licence is found driving your vehicle then you get a heavy punishment (including points) as well as the direct culprit. Good idea.

It's the same in the UK. Did you "think" it wasn't?
>
> ================================================
> Sorry, I don't see the point of trying to shift the responsibility of law enforcement away from the police. Adding chips to licences and then adding chip readers etc. to all the petrol pumps wouldn't really achieve anything as someone could just borrow a licence (e.g. from their gran) if they want to go and fill up. Yes, that could be made an offence, but I can't see that police would be interested in enforcing that as you could only really catch people at the moment they were buying fuel.

> The answer is a bigger police presence on the roads with them stopping drivers and checking their credentials if they see any speeding or unusual driving. This would also help with preventing other driving offences and I think would improve road safety.

I'm all in favour of more traffic patrols. Very much so.

They would also be able to apprehend bike-chavs and interdict their
constant illegalities.

[Sorry for use of that five-syllable word. Look it up.]

On 30/12/2023 04:37 pm, Spike wrote:

> JNugent <jnugent@mail.com> wrote:
>> On 30/12/2023 03:58 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

>>> Rendel Harris | 6 hours ago
>
>>> Impound a suspended driver's vehicle for the duration of their ban (at
>>> their expense). Put a chip in the driving licence that has to be tapped
>>> at the pump before any fuel is dispenser

>> Good idea.
>> You could easily get one off May Sun's shoulder.

> LOL!

:-)

Sorry, I don't see the point of trying to shift the responsibility of law enforcement away from the police...The answer is a bigger police presence on the roads with them stopping drivers and checking their credentials if they see any speeding or unusual driving

I do...because none of the latter is going to happen. There is now the burden of generations of UK police officers (not all of whom resemble Couzens or Carrick) who believe that cyclists are troublemakers and that anyone who helps keep them off the roads is doing society a favour. The entrenched belief of the police and the courts that 'I ain't gonna take away a man's wheels' (I think there's something like that in the cafe at the beginning of Terminator II, when Arnie is stealing the local Bad Boy's Harley) is the root of the refusal to take driving without a licence, MOT or insurance as a 'real' offence. If they refuse to take action over easily traceable hyper-illicit 'outside the pub' vehicles like this, what are the chances of them actually enforcing other road traffic legislation? (except in the cases where they really don't like the offender, because he wastes police time by reporting offences, for instance)