8,000 caught speeding, but motoring offences down overall

ALMOST 8,000 people were caught speeding on Northern Ireland’s roads in the last 12 months.

The figures emerged in a new report which shows that the number of motoring offences have dropped by more than 30,000 since 2011. The most frequently detected offence in the last year was speeding (7,786), followed by lack of insurance (7,571), lack of vehicle test certificate (4,199), and careless driving (4,082).

Meanwhile, parking offences have seen an increase of 24.4% to 1,887 in the latest 12 months.

There was a total 79,795 motoring offences in 2011, which had dropped to 52,237 in 2017.

Last year saw a slight increase in the figure to 53,775 before another drop over the last 12 months to 47,383.

The drop was recorded in the PSNI’s latest motoring offence statistics bulletin, published yesterday.

Inspector Rosemary Leech said excessive speed is consistently one of the principal causes of the most serious road traffic collisions in which people are killed or seriously injured.

“The position of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on speeding is absolutely clear,” she continued.

“Drivers have to take responsibility for their own actions and by speeding they are causing a danger to fellow road users.

“Police will continue to enforce the law and are determined to make Northern Ireland’s roads safer.”

Middle-aged male drivers were responsible for most of the offences recorded in the PSNI statistics.

Those aged 30 to 49 years old accounted for 41.2% of motoring offences detected between September 1, 2018, and August 31, 2019. The next most prolific age group was those aged 18 to 29 (16,700).

The bulletin also revealed that men were responsible for almost eight in 10 (78.3%) of all motoring offences detected during the period.