Police forces across the country were last night accused of applying a ‘random’ approach to cracking down on speeding drivers. File photo
Police forces across the country were last night accused of applying a ‘random’ approach to cracking down on speeding drivers.
A Daily Mail investigation has exposed the glaring differences between the chance of drivers being caught and punished in different regions.
Analysis of Home Office figures shows in some areas around a tenth of the local population were caught speeding last year.
But in others there appears to be virtually no chance of being spotted. And even when caught, the punishments can vary greatly from region to region.
One motoring campaigner last night described enforcement as a ‘postcode lottery’.
Avon and Somerset has emerged as the speeding hotspot of the UK, with more than one ticket handed out every four minutes.
But in Wiltshire, a county of more than 700,000 people, just 974 drivers were penalised last year.
The figures, which come from fixed speed cameras and mobile vans, reveal the areas with a slim chance of speeders being caught also include Kent, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.
There is also a disparity in the way drivers are treated if they are caught. Some forces, including Dorset and Kent, give nearly all motorists a fixed penalty notice, which includes a minimum fine of £100 and at least three points on their licence.
Others, including Cleveland and Durham, allow the majority, around six in ten, to go on speed awareness courses instead.
With minor offences, drivers are often allowed to choose between a £100 fine and three points, or a speeding course, which costs around £85.
Avon and Somerset has emerged as the speeding hotspot of the UK, with more than one ticket handed out every four minutes. But in Wiltshire, a county of more than 700,000 people, just 974 drivers were penalised last year. File photo
But the variations in the latest figures suggest some forces may be capitalising on the courses, while also allowing drivers to avoid harsher punishment.
Part of the course fees go to police, whereas fines go to the Treasury. Of the 184,654 drivers caught in Avon and Somerset last year – the highest number in England and Wales – more than four in ten were sent on a speed awareness course.
As forces collected £35 of the course fees last year, Avon and Somerset police would have pocketed an estimated £2.8million.
The findings have fuelled concerns that the law is being inconsistently applied, with some police forces accused of being too soft on dangerous driving and others being ‘too punitive’.
Tory MP Julian Knight said: ‘These figures are really stark – and show an incredible difference between areas. My concern is that the law needs to be applied around the country as evenly as possible.’
Dr Adam Snow, lecturer in criminal law at Liverpool Hope University, who analysed the figures for the Mail, said: ‘Motorists could be forgiven for thinking there is a degree of randomness when it comes to roads policing.’
Howard Cox, of campaign group FairFuelUK, said: ‘It seems that depending on where you live or drive it’s a postcode lottery as to whether you are caught.’
A Wiltshire police spokesman said it does not have any ‘dedicated mobile speed vans like other forces’, adding: ‘We are committed to dedicating resources into targeting speeding drivers and will continue to look at areas where speeding is a particular concern.’
A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman said: ‘There will be variation between police forces in part because of differences in population or kinds of roads but also based on the force and local authorities’ assessment of problem areas for speeding and particular local vulnerabilities.’