A serious situation

Sir

I recently sent my driving licence to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre in Swansea in order to have a speeding endorsement erased alter three years. This morning my licence was returned with a covering note informing me that endorsements are removed only after four years and, furthermore, when the time came I would be required to pay a fee of £2.

So the persecution of the British motorist continues. Not only is the period in Purgatory extended, presumably in order to enable the Authorities a greater chance of removing one from the road by disqualification; but, having paid a fine at the time of conviction, one is now, in effect, lined again for having behaved and reached the stage where an endorsement can be erased. I would have thought that either income tax or the exhorbitant Lso road tax would have covered any administration costs.

I have been a regular reader of Motor Sport for ten years. May I thank you for the stand you take for the motorist and for the continued excellence of your magazine?

Wrightington W.D.FORSHAW

(The period for which an endorsement remains effective stays at three years, or to years in the case of a drink/driving offence. The endorsement remains stamped on the licence for a fourth or eleventh year purely as a matter of record. The extra year has no effect upon the “totting-up” procedure. – Ed)