Have you recently lost your driver’s licence? We may be able to help

We recently assisted a client who desperately needed an Extraordinary Driver’s Licence (EDL).

He had lost his driver’s licence for 14 months, after a second conviction for high-range drink driving.

Unfortunately, he lived 70 kilometres from his place of work, and catching public transport for over a year was out of the question. No matter how many times we checked the Transperth journey planner, there was no route that would get him to work by 7:00am. It was also completely impractical for him to be sitting on a bus for a total of over four hours every day.

There are three grounds for applying for an EDL, and the decision to grant and EDL is entirely discretionary. That means it is up to the Magistrate to decide whether you have met the application criteria or not.

The Magistrate can only grant you an EDL if they are satisfied that the refusal to grant an EDL would:

Deprive you of a means of obtaining urgent medical treatment for an existing illness, disease or disability, suffered by you personally, or suffered by a person who is a member of your family; or

Place an undue financial burden on you, or your family, by depriving you of your principal means of obtaining income; or

Deprive you, or a person who is a member of your family, of the only practicable means of travelling to and from the place at which you, or the person, is employed.

For our client mentioned above, we applied under the third ground, and were successful in obtaining him an EDL which allowed him to drive to and from work every day.

He has to follow strict conditions, such as travelling in the most direct route, only travelling between certain times of the day, and maintaining a blood alcohol content of 0.00, but these are some short-term sacrifices which have now saved him his job.

If you have recently found yourself in a similar situation, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss whether you may have sufficient grounds to apply for an EDL.