INCREASING numbers of driving offenders are pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity to benefit from new rules on discounted penalty points, lawyers have claimed.

Road traffic lawyer Graham Walker said more of his clients are choosing to admit their offences quickly in a bid to receive fewer points and keep insurance premiums down. Mr Walker said this means less time is being spent in court dealing with the cases, resulting in a saving to the public.

The new regulations were brought about by a controversial legal ruling issued by the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill, at the end of last year.

Previously, no discounts were offered on penalty points or bans and any fine imposed was reduced instead. But, following the ruling, drivers can now obtain a discount of up to one-third at the discretion of the judiciary.

Mr Walker said: “We have referred to the discount direction from the day of its publication and we have received the benefit of discount in penalty points often. The magistrates actually say in their ruling, ‘I was going to impose X points but will discount to Y points because of the early plea’.

“The other day I had a case that merited five penalty points but the accused had the case accelerated – the case hadn’t even been called in court yet and he wanted it brought forward to secure the points discount.

“He eventually received four penalty points and was delighted with the reduction.

“As everyone knows, insurance companies charge more for businesses and young people who have points on their licences. He was a garage owner with high insurance premiums so he needed less points to keep the premiums down. My take on this so far is that we are seeing more clients who see real merit in an early plea and they are actively seeking that.”

A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “The court’s decision was issued on December 20, 2011. It is too early to assess the impact of the decision on the number of relevant cases proceeding to trial.”

Julie Townsend, chief executive of road safety charity Brake, said: “It’s incredibly worrying that we can now allow drivers who have committed driving offences – in some cases very serious and deadly offences – to have their penalty points reduced.

“This will give drivers more opportunities to commit more offences before they are disqualified.”

However, under the ruling, drivers are still subject to a three-point minimum penalty.

The Glasgow Herald reported that the move to create a tougher drink-driving limit north of the Border were backed by the Law Society of Scotland – despite potential to cause confusion for motorists.

Speaking after giving evidence to the Scotland Bill Committee, Michael Clancy, director of law reform at the society, said they were “broadly in agreement with the changes to the powers to allow Scottish drink-driving limits in Scotland” but warned that “having different limits across the UK could cause confusion amongst motorists”.

Personally I do not think there will be any confusion that will cause motorists difficulty. The present confusion occurs because motorists think that there is a “Two drink” limit. ie That the present law allows you to have two drinks and to drive. With the proliferation of strong beers and wine that is of 14 -15% alcohol times have changed and motorists need to be aware of the dangers of drinking ANY alcohol and driving. It therefore makes a great deal of sense to reduce the limit to an amount that will allow for residual alcohol (From night before etc) and present a strong message to general public that drink driving is simply not acceptable in Scotland.

As for the notion that there would be some kind of cross border “confusion” that is simply nonsense. We already have the same Road Traffic Law legislation in both countries and there are times when it is interpreted differently. The simple message that needs to put across is that “Drink Driving is Illegal”