Are Britain’s worst drivers from YOUR town? Motorists with up to 51 POINTS shamed
A LEARNER driver is still allowed on the road despite having 51 POINTS on her licence, shocking figures reveal.
The woman [not pictured] is still allowed on the road despite having 51 points on her licence
The driver racked up three speeding offences in a 30mph zone and seven offences of not providing driver details.
She was given 51 points for the offences - but a court "exercised its discretion" and decided against banning her from the roads.
The lady, from Oxford, topped the list of motorists not disqualified despite having more than 12 points on their license.
There are currently 13 motorists who have racked up 28 points or more, according to DVLA figures released to the Institute of Advanced Motorists.
A motorist from Basildon has 42 points for seven offences including driving at 109mph.
They avoided a ban because their lawyer argued they would suffer "extreme hardship" through a loss of income if disqualified.
In Liverpool, another driver also has 42 points thanks to five counts of not reporting the driver of a vehicle and two for speeding.
The numbers of drivers with 12 or more points has gone up by 9 per cent in just seven months between March and October 2015 - from 6,884 to 7,517.
Around 90 per cent of the motorists driving on the road with 12 or more points are doing so at the court's discretion, according to the DVLA.
The driving agency's roles is as a record keeper.
When they see a motorist has more than 12 points they let the courts know, who then decide a punishment.
A spokesperson for the DVLA said: "In a small percentage of cases where the driver has accumulated 12 or more penalty points, the agency understands that a court can exercise its discretion and not disqualify the driver.
The area where the country's worst drivers are
The IAM has been highlighting this issue for several years now
"In the majority of these cases, magistrates may have decided to allow drivers to retain their entitlement to drive where it is considered that disqualification would cause exceptional hardship."
Britain's worst drivers were revealed in the DVLA list and the Oxford learner topped the haul of shame by 9 points from the runner up:
51/Oxford
42/Liverpool
42/Basildon
39/Wigan
38/Burnley
33/Northampton
The numbers of drivers with 12 or more points has gone up by 9 per cent in just seven months
33/SW London
30/Sheffield
30/Southend-on-Sea
30/Slough
30/Cambridge
29/Peterborough
28/Stevenage
A motorist [not pictured] from Basildon has 42 points for seven offences including driving at 109mph
IAM's chief executive officer said the wider public may see the laws of the road as 'ineffective'
SWNS - Bad Driver on his laptop, phone and has earphones plugged in while driving
Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive officer, said the wider public may see the laws of the road as "ineffective and unimportant".
She said: "The IAM has been highlighting this issue for several years now and we appreciate that the flow of information between the DVLA and the courts is slowly improving, which will allow the courts to make better decisions while armed with the full facts.
"However these improvements cannot come quickly enough to deliver a truly joined-up approach to the judicial process.
"Individual courts making decision on prosecutions can lead to inconsistency in how the law is applied which risks devaluing the simple '12 points and you're out' road safety message.
"If the public sees that persistent offenders are getting away with it, they may believe that road traffic rules - which let not us not forget, are designed for their safety - are ineffective or unimportant."