Court convicts car reviewer who posted high speed video to Facebook
Car reviewer and YouTube channel host Joe Achilles posted a clip of him driving an Audi R8 supercar on a narrow road against oncoming traffic to Facebook last November. He is being convicted by a U.K. court after prosecutors used his own video as evidence against him.
Britain’s worst driver is still on the road despite racking up 78 points in just four years.
The penalty points-laden motorist from Bradford, West Yorkshire. tops the list of more than 10,000 drivers who are still behind the wheel despite repeated driving endorsements.
The unnamed offender must have committed at least eight driving offenses in a four year period – but most likely much much more.
COURT CONVICTS DRIVER WHO POSTED HIGH SPEED VIDEO TO FACEBOOK
The second worst driver who is still behind the wheel is a 48-year-old man from Faversham, Kent who has 66 points.
The country’s worst female driver is a 33-year-old from Burnley, Lancs who has clocked up 49 points.
Drivers are usually banned if they receive 12 points on their license.
However, 10,858 motorists across Britain have that tally or more – and are still able to drive.
Of those, 261 have a whopping 20 or more points, according to Department for Transport figures.
The oldest repeat offender is an 81-year-old woman, who is still allowed to drive despite having 25 points on her license.
The youngest is a 17-year-old, who has racked up 19 points in less than a year of being on the road.
Motorists receive penalty points for a variety of offenses, including speeding, dangerous driving and not having insurance.
The vast majority of offenses stay on your license for four years, apart from causing death or injury by driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
This means it’s likely that Britain’s worst driver has racked up his 78 points in the last four years.
The highest number of penalty points a motorist can be slapped with is 11, for causing death by driving under the influence.
Motorists can tot up huge points totals – and still be able to drive – if their offense was dealt with by a banning order or prison sentence in court.
After serving their time, drivers can reapply for their license which will still have all of the points they have racked up.
Dangerous drivers can also dodge bans by convincing magistrates they will face “exceptional hardship” if they lose their license.
If the motorist or a family member will be seriously affected by a ban, magistrates can waive it.
This means drivers can rack up huge numbers of points and stay on the road.
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “On the face of it, the thought of somebody still being allowed to drive after accumulating 78 penalty points for poor driving is truly horrifying.
“And it suggests some drivers are repeatedly breaking the law – perhaps being caught by multiple speed cameras.
“But it’s the case that these drivers can escape a driving ban if they can prove to magistrates that by having one would lead to ‘exceptional hardship’.”
The road safety charity Brake is campaigning for the Government to block this loophole.
