Special Reasons
A special reasons argument is used when you want to to present an argument the the court that proposes that under the circumstances it wouldn’t be fair to impose points for the driving offence in question.
Reasons for a special reasons argument might be where you were forced to drive while intoxicated for an emergency, or where you had to run a red light to move out of the way of an emergency vehicle, or take to a bus lane for the same reason.
There are a variety of reasons why you might use a special reasons argument, which include extenuating circumstances that the court ought to take into consideration.
In any situation where you committing the offence was a genuine mistake on your part are possibilities for special reasons.
Strict Liability
Many motoring offences fall under the umbrella of strict liability, meaning that whether you intended to or not, the fact that you committed the offence makes you guilty.
Special reasons exists to cover those moments when you genuinely didn’t mean to commit the offence, but you had to because of ….. x y z.
It can be a powerful argument in the right hands and often allows motorists to minimise the penalty that they receive for an offence.
A proficient motoring lawyer such as Patterson Law will be able to prepare a suitable special reasons defence allowing you to minimise your potential punishment.
Defending yourself can soon become a lottery because presenting different arguments requires a specialist knowledge of motoring law, test case history and an understanding of what the courts consider to be acceptable for a valid defence and what they think of as time wasting.