You & The Law

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- David Glover

Road traffic regulations

SPECIAL REASONS

Q Please can you answer a question which my colleagues and I have been discussing. What are ‘special reasons’ in road traffic matters?

A In certain cases, a driver may be found guilty of an offence which may normally attract a penalty, but due to the existence of ‘special reasons’ the court can have reason to not impose the penalty. Special reasons are not the same as what is commonly referred to as ‘exceptional hardship’. The latter tends to be an argument put forward to demonstrate to a court a disqualification under the totting-up procedure would lead to exceptional hardship being incurred, and as such the court can draw back from imposing either the full period of disqualification, or a disqualification at all.

In Section 34(1) of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 under the heading “Disqualification for certain offences”, it states:

‘Where a person is convicted of an offence involving obligatory disqualification, the court must order the individual to be disqualified for such period not less than 12 months as the court thinks fit unless the court for special reasons thinks fit to order the person to be disqualified for a shorter period or not to order the individual to be disqualified.’

A special reason is one which is special to the facts of a particular offence. It is a mitigating or extenuating circumstance which is directly connected with the commission of the offence and which can properly be taken into consideration by the sentencing court. A circumstance peculiar to the offender, as distinguished from the offence, is not a special reason. Neither is a ‘special reason’ a defence to the charge.