Getting your licence back early after a ban.

Application to remove a ban early.

If you have been banned from driving you can apply to the court to remove the ban early.

You can only do this in very limited circumstances.

The earliest you can apply to have a ban removed is after you have served at least two years. So this rule does not apply to short discretionary bans or 6 month totting up bans.

You have to apply to the court that made the order in the first place.

The application is under s.42 RTOA 1988.

The court will take into account the following factors before allowing the application and the Crown Prosecution Service have a right to comment on the application:

• Your character and your behaviour since the ban was imposed.
• The nature of the original offence
• Any other circumstances that the court feel ought to be taken into account - for example individuals that are suffering due to your ban e.g. children that rely on you

After hearing the application the court can do one of three things:

• Refuse the application
• Remove the driving ban completely
• Remove the driving ban from a set date

If the ban is for less than 4 years you can make the application after 2.

If the ban is for between 4 years and 10 years you can make the application after you have served half of the driving ban.

In any other case you can make the application after you have served 5 years of the driving ban.

You cannot make this application if you have been ordered to sit a retest before you can drive again.

We are good at these applications. If you want our help contact Emma Patterson imediately by either calling in on 01803 321260, or emailing her.