One in nine drivers in parts of the UK have been slapped with penalty points, Mail analysis suggests.
Naming and shaming the country’s bad-driving hotspots, Halifax in West Yorkshire came top of the league of shame. In that specific postcode area, the equivalent of 11.36% of motorists have knocked up at least three points on the licence.
At the other end of the table was the Shetland Islands, with just 1.86% of drivers roaming around with penalty points.
Motorists can accumulate points for offenses if they’re caught speeding, ignoring road signs or using handheld mobile phones. Lower level offenses typically attract three point penalties.
Other offenses, such as driving without insurance or dangerous or careless driving, warrant a higher number of points.
If a driver picks up 12 points in a rolling three-year period they are typically banned from getting behind the wheel for up to two years. Currently 137,000 motorists are sitting on between nine and 11 points – meaning they are a single infraction from risking a ban.
New drivers can be banned if they tot up six penalty points within two years of passing their test.
The Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA) figures, obtained via a freedom of information (FOI) request, lay bare a clear north/south divide in terms of drivers who have had their driving licences suspended for accumulating too many penalty points over a three-year period.
The data, broken down into the 124 postcode areas, were correct as of October 25, 2025.
The area code includes one or two letters at the beginning of a postcode, such as L for Liverpool or NW for north west London.
Of the 53.3m people with a valid driving licence, 3.2m, or 6.07%, have penalty points. However there are large discrepancies across the country.
Of those, 2.3m have three penalty points, while 672,836 have six. Some 123,000 are sitting on the brink with nine points, meaning another transgression, such as driving too quickly in a 20 mile-an-hour zone or scrolling on a mobile phone while struck in traffic, could lead to them being disqualified.
Behind Halifax came Huddersfield where 9.99% of drivers have points, south west Cornwall, 9.41%, Plymouth (9.37%) and Leeds (8.98%).
Liverpool came top of the table, in relation to having the highest percentage of drivers currently banned (2.18%).
Middlesbrough (2.14%) ranked second, slightly ahead of the LL postcode area which covers north Wales and parts of Shropshire (2.05%).
The figures do not show where the penalty points were handed out, rather the home area of the motorist. So a driver from Northampton caught speeding in Essex would still be included in the Northampton area figure.
The lowest number of motorists banned from driving was in London, with figures in EC, WC, SW and NW London ranging between 0.5% to 0.68%.
According to the DVLA: ‘In a small percentage of cases, where the driver has accumulated 12 or more penalty points, the court can exercise its discretion and not disqualify the driver.
One in nine drivers in some parts of the country have received penalty points for offences such as speeding or using a mobile phone while driving. New figures seen by the Daily Mail show there is a distinct north-south divide with a higher percentage of drivers with penalty points in the north east and north west compared with most other parts of the country
‘In the majority of these cases, the magistrates may have decided to allow drivers to retain their entitlement to drive where it is considered that disqualification would cause exceptional hardship.
‘The DVLA checks with courts when a driver’s 12 current penalty point threshold is met or exceeded but where a disqualification is not imposed at the time of the conviction.
‘The DVLA takes this action to confirm that this is the intention of the court and to help ensure the DVLA records motoring convictions and sentences as accurately as possible.’
Across the country there are 6,730 drivers with 12 points who have not been banned. A further 2,672 have more than 12 points and have avoided having their licences taken away.
