Two Tickets From a Ban: The Speeding Crackdown That Never Passed — and the One That Did

• Back in 2008, the government proposed six penalty points — double the usual three — for any Driver caught 20mph or more over the limit.
• That plan quietly died. The fixed penalty for speeding is still 3 points and £100 today.
• But don’t relax: since 2017 the Courts have had a tool that can take your licence after a single offence.

In November 2008, the government announced a plan that would have put a million British Drivers one ticket away from losing their licence.

The proposal was blunt: anyone caught 20mph or more over the speed limit would get six penalty points instead of three. Road safety minister Jim Fitzpatrick promised to “crack down on the most dangerous drivers”.

Do the maths and the threat was obvious. Twelve points triggers an automatic ban — so at six points a time, two offences would be enough. And as one industry chief pointed out at the time, over one million UK Drivers already had six or more points on their licence. For them, the very next ticket would have been the ban.

Motorists braced for it. The consultation closed in February 2009.

And then… nothing.

The Law That Never Was

The doubled-points plan never made it onto the statute book. No six-point fixed penalty for speeding was ever introduced, and to this day the standard roadside outcome for a speeding offence remains what it was: three points and a £100 fixed penalty, or a speed awareness course if you’re offered one.

It’s a pattern every Motorist should learn to recognise. Headline-grabbing crackdowns get announced, generate a week of alarming coverage, then sink without trace in a consultation file.

But before anyone celebrates, here’s the uncomfortable second half of this story.

The idea behind that 2008 proposal — that big speeds deserve licence-threatening punishment — didn’t die with it. It just found another route in.

The Courts Got There Anyway

On 24 April 2017, new sentencing guidelines for magistrates came into force in England and Wales, creating a top tier — Band C — for exactly the Drivers the 2008 plan targeted: those caught 21mph or more over the limit.

That means 51mph in a 30 zone. 66mph in a 40. 101mph on a motorway.

Land in Band C and there is no fixed penalty. Your case goes to Court, where the guideline punishment is six penalty points or an outright disqualification of 7 to 56 days — plus a fine starting at 150% of your weekly income, up to £1,000 on ordinary roads and £2,500 on a motorway.

And for speeds the Court considers grossly excessive, the guidelines invite magistrates to consider a ban longer than 56 days.

So the six points the government failed to legislate in 2009 arrived anyway — not at the roadside, but in the courtroom, with a driving ban sitting right alongside them as an alternative.

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What This Means If You’ve Been Caught

The practical picture for today’s Driver is this: a modest speed usually means 3 points and £100, but a big one — 21mph or more over — puts your licence itself on the table, at a single stroke.

Add the totting-up rules and the stakes climb further. Reach 12 points within three years and the Court must impose a ban of at least six months, unless you can establish that it would cause Exceptional Hardship — a legal argument with strict rules, not a sympathy plea.

Which is precisely why a Court date for speeding is not a formality to be nodded through. Whether the speed reading is accurate, whether the paperwork is valid, whether points or a short ban is imposed, whether Exceptional Hardship or Mitigating Circumstances apply — these are all arguments, and they go far better with a specialist making them.

DriveProtect™ Members have that specialist on hand from the moment trouble starts. When a NIP or Court summons arrives, Members get direct access to a specialist Speeding Solicitor who reviews the case and advises them exactly what to respond, for a fraction of the normal cost of legal help.

Got a NIP or points on your licence right now? See how DriveProtect Membership works — a specialist Speeding Solicitor in your corner from £25/month.