Use of Hand Held Mobile Phone while driving a motoring vehicle on a road !

[islandgirl]

But it is your wife who will be banned. So you drop her at your mum and dad's house on Mon and Tues and drive where you need to. I do not understand the argument, sorry. Inconvenient yes; exceptional - I believe not.

[dinkydonk]

Exceptional hardship ..... you run your own business and if you employ staff will the ban impact your employees (lay off or short time working etc)?

My wife not being able to look after my parents those two days per week and the ability to be at their house quickly, stops me being able to travel for my business and likely keeps me out of the office for 40% of my working hours.

It's risks the future of the business and all employees. The sales for the two brands in am in charge of 2023 when my parents were not ill and this year when I have been caring for them, are down significantly.

A new brand we launched run by someone else, is the one pushing our sales higher this year.

[wales01man]

You are offering mitigation worth a try may or may not succeed .Opinion on here seems to be against this defence.

[islandgirl]

Sorry I still do not see it - why can she not look after them? You can take her then do what you need to do. Why does this threaten the business. If it does be prepared to explain how. I sit on these cases and the question will very likely be asked.

[des8]

What does OP mean by " being able to travel for my business " ?
If it requires him to be away from home for days at a time, perhaps travel abroad, I could envisage a scenario where it could adversely impact the business to the detriment of his employees.
Obviously the situation needs to be fully fleshed out for court

[dinkydonk]

What does OP mean by " being able to travel for my business " ?
If it requires him to be away from home for days at a time, perhaps travel abroad, I could envisage a scenario where it could adversely impact the business to the detriment of his employees.
Obviously the situation needs to be fully fleshed out for court

I am based in North Yorkshire and 90% of my customers are in London and then BENELUX / Portugal / France / Germany and Dubai

For 2023 I have simply been unable to travel as I need to be around in emergencies and also to provide daily care.

I am the sales director for two out of our three brands and our results this year, compared to last are down just over 40% as a result of me not being able to do my job.

If my wife loses her driving licence we will not be able to hire then new account manager we have interviewed and unless sales improve we are likely to lose two other positions as well, one in the warehouse and one in the design team.

This is all documented and can be presented.

The other option I have I that I have to leave my role entirely and we hire a sales director in my place, which means me needing to find employment locally and obviously my wife could lose her job too.

[dinkydonk]

Sorry I still do not see it - why can she not look after them? You can take her then do what you need to do. Why does this threaten the business. If it does be prepared to explain how. I sit on these cases and the question will very likely be asked.

If I have to be responsible for taking her, then I cannot travel for my work and nothing changes for this year. Travel and seeing customers is a critical aspect of my job, if I cannot travel then I am not in a position to effectively carry out my roles and the entire company faces serious problems.

I am left with a choice of being able to look after my parents or choosing my job.

Take a Monday for example.

My Wife drops the kids as school at 08.40 which is walking distance from the house and then travels to see my father.

She has to get from the school to the first station, which is 4 miles.

Then it's 2 hours train journey with 3 changes

20 minute walk at the other end !

Say all that takes 3 hours, she arrives at my fathers at 11.40

She has to be back to collect kids from School at 15.15, leaving she is at my dads for only 35 minutes


Then if there is an emergency, in a car she could be there in 40 mins, not 3 hours or expense of taxi - which we cannot afford consistently.

Then there is my mother who is in care home and she wouldn't be able to take my father too visit her, or even visit her herself as it's even further away.

My father has one leg, so it's even more difficult for him to travel independently and any weather conditions cause more issues.


I know my wife was caught doing something bad, I understand she already had 9 points - but there has never been an instance in her life at the age of 45 where she has ever received any further points or been in trouble in anyway.

I see people driving with 30+ points on their licence and I'm struggling to understand how my wife, with everything we have going on and difficulties we would face are not going to have at least some empathy.

I am very very worried about my financial future and my company as well as my parents.

[dinkydonk]

You are offering mitigation worth a try may or may not succeed .Opinion on here seems to be against this defence.

Ok, so me and my wife losing both our livelihoods, with people at my company potentially losing their employment, with two young kids and two terminally ill parents to look after and care for, I give up !

I'm beaten !

[islandgirl]

Surprising though it is your case is not that unusual. I hear similar all the time. The whole point is a ban SHOULD be a huge inconvenience. Realistically I do not see that you will lose your job and nor will you sack your staff. With so much at stake you will make it work for just 6 months. Move your schedules, travel on different days, pay a carer to visit the gentleman if your wife cannot get there. Take the kids to school, drop your wife at the gentleman's house, get a friend to pick up the kids (or pay someone) and care for them till you get back with your wife later that night. I don't see people driving with 30+ points (well not in my court anyway!). You can run your arguments and they may work if you get a particularly sympathetic bench. It is worth a try. But be prepared for your arguments to be dismissed. I am sorry if this is upsetting for you but it would be wrong of us to tell you that your wife would avoid a ban when there is a good chance she won't. At least you can plan....I wish you good luck and would very much like to know what happens if you feel like coming back and telling us. I am sure we all hope we are wrong!