A million motorists close to ban

By Jennifer Hill

LONDON (Reuters) - More than one million motorists are close to a driving ban, a survey shows.

Some 4.5 million drivers have points on their licence for speeding and 21 percent of them are one conviction away from a driving ban, according to research by Direct Line.

That figure has increased by four percent -- equal to 215,000 motorists -- in the past year.

Rising convictions could affect the livelihood of 14 percent of drivers who say they would lose their job if their licence was revoked -- a figure which rises to one in five among male motorists.

As well as clocking up penalty points, motorists have also paid more than 300 million pounds in fines for speeding in the past three years.

The research found that nearly half of speeding convictions were for a breach of the speed limit of less than 10 miles per hour.

Three quarters of drivers support government proposals to give those breaking the speed limit by less than 10 miles per hour fewer points. The current minimum is three penalty points.

There are 6,000 speed cameras in Britain, but safespeed.org.uk, an organisation campaigning for cameras to be scrapped, said high convictions does not mean safer roads.