Escaping Disqualification: Special Reasons
In some cases, you may find you can escape disqualification from driving on the grounds of either special reasons relating to the specific offence.
Special reasons are mitigating circumstances connected to your offence, which should be put forward by motoring solicitors for the court to take into account. This includes reasons for driving in a certain manner (medical emergencies, for example) or unknown circumstances relating to your offence, like not knowing your non-alcoholic drink had been spiked before you drove home. With cases specifically linked to drink driving, there are a huge amount of things the court will take into consideration, including the following:
• The possibility of causing danger to other road users.
• The road and traffic conditions.
• The condition of the vehicle.
• The distance driven.
• The reason for driving.
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Courts must consider what a reasonable, responsible and (most importantly) sober friend of the offender would have advised the offender to do at the time.
An important factor to consider if you are intending to claim special reasons, is that you must give the court notice that you will be doing so. Failure to do so will harm your chances of being excused.
