A motor vehicle driver's licence is not a right, it is a privilege, the continued maintenance of which depends on avoidance of traffic offences.
As a direct result of his dangerous driving the appellant lost that privilege. The offences with which he was convicted carried a mandatory period of disqualification. The disqualification actually imposed, as I have said, was 18 months, not 12 months, so there was necessarily an element of punishment for the extremely serious offence.
The breadth of the licence sought, if granted, would have greatly minimised the punitive aspects of the disqualification, turning an 18 month disqualification for driving so dangerously as to cause bodily harm to four people into a 1-month disqualification and thereafter some minor inconvenience in the appellant's personal life.
The appellant was entitled to make application at the time that he did.
However, the consequence of making an application at the minimum period, meant that, effectively, he precluded the Magistrate's considerations under s 76(3)(e), namely, the conduct of the applicant subsequent to the disqualification, so that the magistrate could not really attribute any weight to that particular ground.
The appellant under the Road Traffic Act s 76(4) may shortly bring a further application. I do not consider that the same result as applied in the application presently appealed from necessarily would apply in a new application, in part because an application after this length of time would have to take into account to a greater measure than the Magistrate could, the provisions of the Road Traffic Act s 76(3)(e).
Other factors may also be relevant. I mention this simply to say that in my opinion the decision of the Magistrate in this matter appealed from was correct on the material before him and no error has been shown that he erred. However, that decision, and this decision, does not foreclose a fresh application being made on factors which may or may not now be different [19] - [25]. (emphasis added)