Do I need to tell a new employer about a driving ban?

[Lily27]

Hi all,

I have a question re driving ban.

I exceeded 12 points for band A speeding - this was for exceeding 20 MPH, not high speed. DVLA have said that this will incur a magistrate appearance and six months disqualification. I plan to appeal this as I have due to some personal care responsibilities.

The complicating factor is that I'm moving to a new job (currently awaiting contract, which should be with me in a week or so) - the job doesn't require me to drive but I am not sure whether I need to disclose this in good faith to them.

Does this not have to be disclosed to my employer because it is a civil not a criminal conviction?

What do you reckon?

Thanks - I will definitely be buying a speed limiter. To the OP who posted about London, it is a real issue around here.

What I don’t get is it’s over 3yrs so the first one happened. Yes may get caught and speed and do 22/24 in a 30

Then the second. So you know you have 6p and got caught twice

a year later maybe you get the 3rd lot so now 9p

why on earth did you keep speeding and not keep an eye on speed esp knowing had 9p - to then do it again

When I was last in Wales it was dead easy, everything that you would have expected to be 30 was now 20, while clearly you need to look out for the signs it die remove any doubt.

My comparison the situation in England is a mess with little bits of 20 scattered all over the place

Please lets have the Welsh approach

God no! 20mph everywhere is bloody ridiculous.

If you're too dense to change your speed to the relevant limit that's on you pal.

You should avoid telling your employer if at all possible. It’s basically a big sign saying “this new employee has a severe lack of judgement” which is never a good look when starting a job.

Magistrates is a criminal court Op… not civil. It’s a summary offence under the criminal court.

If there is no vetting or safeguarding checks for job I would be tempted to just say nothing and when asked say I just choose not to drive and wouldn’t feel confident to drive if they want you to.

That said I do not condone your actions

This. Generally you legally have to admit it if they specifically ask you because it is unspent. If they don’t ask you’re not obliged to tell them unless it’s in your contract that you must. When it’s spent you don’t have to tell them. But if you need an enhanced DBS it will be on there for a while - 11 years I think unless you get a suspended sentence. Might be getting the duration wrong.

That’s the rule for criminal records. Mines made easy because my job requires a DBS check so they get all the gory details no matter what I do.

And if they find out at any point in the future, it’s basically a big sign saying “this employee is a liar", which is an even worse look and potentially grounds for dismissal.

You seem to think you weren’t going very fast but looking at it as a percentage, 23mph is 15% over and 27mph is 35% over.

It is literally the definition of speeding.

This is worth a read. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8e94pe6w9ro

Figures from the Department for Transport show that in 2024, while 43% of cars exceeded the 30mph limit (and 44% exceeded 70mph on motorways), on 20mph roads, it was 76%.

this is quite a staggering number. Over time with penalties/points etc this will come down quite a bit. The 20mph takes getting used to esp as in London the speed limit changes very quickly. I drive daily and I had a completely clean driving record before this.

As an employer, this would be telling me that you don't learn from your mistakes and appealing the ban would tell me that you struggle to take accountability for your actions

I’m getting a speed limiter installed in my car - does this sound to you like I don’t learn from my mistakes? I regret exceeding the limit but are you based in London? The limit changes very quickly from one street to another, it takes a lot of getting used to. I have reasons for appealing the ban and it is within my rights to do so.

I appreciate many of the responses on here, they have been helpful, I fully regret not taking action earlier, but some posters make out like they have NEVER made a mistake in their lives.

No, it sounds like rather than being more observant and reactive to changing driving conditions, you're going to rely on something else to do it for you. Of course limits change quickly, they do everywhere. Once you pass the sign for the new speed, its changed. You need to be observant, anticipate that and react appropriately.

After 9 points, did you not think "oh shit, I really need my license, I need to be really careful here" ? Im assuming if your offenses are all exceeding the speed limit by a small % that on top of your 4 conviction resulting in 12 points, you've also done at least one speed awareness course?

When you appeal @Lily27 , you need to evidence how you not driving will adversely affect people that are dependant on you. Do not mention how it would negatively affect you, as it is of no consequence.

Only if you were asked directly and lied. If they didn’t ask in the first place I can’t imagine it would be grounds for dismissal unless there was a contractual requirement to disclose convictions.

That's the problem with this specific issue - OPs ban isn't considered a criminal conviction. There's no finding of guilt or criminal record.

However, the fines and ban come with endorsements on her driving record. Motoring offences are a bit of an anomaly under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. A court appointed endorsement for a road traffic offense is treated as a sentence under the ROA, and counts as 'unspent' for five years.

Most (all?) jobs require you to list unspent convictions when applying/onboarding. It's a grey area and there are groups working to get clarity, but the advice is to disclose.

This isn't correct, someone can successfully claim that a driving ban would cause exceptional hardship for themselves on a number of grounds, as long as they exceed the general hardships associated with a ban. It's a high bar though.

Like you say, the bar is slightly lower when third parties suffer the hardship. OP says she has caring responsibilities - but evidencing to a court that her being able to drive is essential to this care and no alternatives exist requires exceptional circumstances.

Everyone makes mistakes, but it's not unreasonable to criticize people who make the same mistake over and over without learning from it until it's taken out of their hands.

Especially knowing that you have caring responsibilities that you're going to tell a court can't be fulfilled by anyone but you, and only if you can drive.

When you appeal, the court will want to know why you continued to offend knowing that someone would suffer exceptional hardship if you were banned from driving.

OP, the limit is 20 everywhere where I live as well. My tip if you find your speed creeping up is to stay in second gear.

If you are planning to claim exceptional hardship to avoid a ban, you really need a solicitor with a lot of experience of totting up. It's a very high bar so worth getting the right advice.

I can see why you would react like that but honestly you need to live in north London to see the problem. I realise there are solutions and will take them now but there’s still a big difference between speeding very fast and slightly exceeding a very low speed limit. There have been parliament petitions to at least increase it to 25mph in London. I’ve been honked at by people behind for going too slow, there are traffic snarls due to this. That said I know that law is law and I’ll have to pay the price. But honestly some people on here are holier than thou and it makes me wonder how they really live their lives - sorry to say this but really…