While we are rightly focused on young drivers and road safety, it seems that pensioners are the ones accumulating the points.

There are more than 304,000 pensioners (over 65s) currently driving on UK roads with penalty points on their licence. This is nearly 25 times the number of young teenage drivers (12,000) with penalty points.

Years mean points

These findings come from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the DVLA by IAM RoadSmart.

The oldest person driving with points on their licence was aged 102. Meanwhile, there are more than 3,000 drivers over the age of 90 currently driving with penalty points.

But we cannot just point the finger at older drivers and flag up the dangers of young drivers. Overall, there are more drivers in their 30s with penalty points than any other age range (575,029). They are closely followed by those in their 40s (572,238) and then by those in their 50s (568,511). Narrowing it down, the most pointed age for recorded infringements is 49 (63,248). Whether this is to do with the frustrations of mid-life crisis in unrecorded.

Still counting

Additional findings in the FOI request is that there are up to 8,800 people still driving with more than 12 points on their licence – the amount at which you are supposed to be disqualified – while the highest number of penalty points currently held by one individual is a dumbfounding 68.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart Director of Policy & Research, described the findings and “surprising”> He believes that the government “urgently” needs to review the rules about revoking licences as points accumulate.

“Speeding and other motoring misdemeanours are often associated with younger drivers. However, the findings clearly show there is a large number of older drivers also flouting the rules.

“Regardless of age, the message we need to get through is that road safety is paramount. We urge drivers of all ages to stick to the speed limits and ensure their vehicles are in a roadworthy condition.

“We also urge government to urgently revisit the issue of drivers with more than 12 points who still have not had their licences revoked. IAM RoadSmart has been raising this issue for almost a decade now and the problem still persists. It’s not by chance that certain drivers amass 12 or more points and they need to be removed from the public roads. By letting them keep their licence it undermines the simple “four strikes and you’re out” message and this urgently needs to be addressed.”