Motor vehicle offences hit a nine-year high in 2016 as official figures from the Department for Transport revealed that more motorists were caught speeding than any other year in over a decade.
Almost 3.06million offences were recorded during 2016, which is the highest number since 2007 when 3.33million were issued.
Some 2.15million of these were for speeding, which is the highest they’ve been according the the DfT’s records and means 5,899 drivers are caught exceeding the limit every day in England and Wales.
Pedal to the metal: The number of penalty charge notices issued to speeding drivers in 2016 was higher than any other year for over a decade, DfT stats said
The number of motorists issued with a penalty charge notice (PCN) for speeding offences last year was 28,000 higher than in 2015, according to the statistics.
The updated figures also showed that licence, insurance and record-keeping offences were at their highest since 2011, with 31,000 more cases than the year previous.
But not all offences were on the climb.
The number of drivers cited for dangerous, careless and drunken driving dropped to 179,000 in 2016, compared to 190,000 in 2015 and lower than any other year in the DfT’s records.
Thefts and unauthorised taking of vehicle offences are also at a new low and have halved from what they were a decade ago.
| OFFENCE TYPE | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dangerous, careless or drunken driving etc | 204 | 249 | 284 | 244 | 239 | 249 | 235 | 276 | 238 | 212 | 197 | 190 | 179 |
| Accident offences | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Speed limit offences | 2,071 | 2,134 | 1,977 | 1,607 | 1,351 | 1,201 | 1,103 | 1,617 | 1,714 | 1,787 | 2,023 | 2,125 | 2,153 |
| Unauthorised taking or theft of motor vehicle | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Licence, insurance and record keeping offences | 543 | 476 | 444 | 408 | 376 | 352 | 316 | 343 | 318 | 316 | 300 | 306 | 337 |
| Vehicle test and condition offences | 35 | 36 | 39 | 50 | 71 | 83 | 89 | 95 | 95 | 99 | 80 | 70 | 69 |
| Other offences relating to motor vehicles | 1,462 | 1,163 | 1,055 | 1,005 | 883 | 780 | 670 | 546 | 494 | 391 | 318 | 347 | 309 |
| Source: Ministry of Justice and Home Office | |||||||||||||
Responding to the figures, IAM Roadsmart’s director of policy and research, Neil Greig, told Autocar: ‘Unfortunately, these figures show that we still have a long way to go to make speeding as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving.
‘While some of the increase in the volume of speeding offences has been caused by a change in reporting methods, with those attending driver awareness courses – which have been shown to reduce reoffending – now included, there is no doubt that speeding remains a major safety concern.
‘Resources are still needed for education and publicity campaigns to drive home the message that road safety is as much about taking personal responsibility as it is about new methods of enforcement.’
Road safety experts have linked the higher number of people being caught over the limit to increased use of average speed cameras
Neil Greig from IAM Roadsmart said the falling number of dangerous, careless or drunken driving offences could be in correlation to the declining number of traffic officers on the road
Greig added that speed cameras – especially average speed cameras – would have clocked up the escalating speeding penalties recorded by the DfT while other offences in decline could be linked to the reduced number of traffic officers patrolling the nation’s roads.
‘The decreasing figures are strong indicators of a lack of police on the beat, that’s why we’re disappointed to see those go down,’ he added.
‘We know that it’s not the case that people are driving more considerately.
‘There are fewer traffic police out there and the main indicator of that is the reduction in the number of people being charged with more serious offences.’
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