DRIVERS USED AS £1BN CASH COWS
12million penalty fines as police go soft on serious road crimes
DRIVERS are paying more than £1billion a year in fines amid claims they are being treated as ‘cash cows’.
A report out today reveals that 12million penalty notices are handed out annually – the equivalent of one every 2.5 seconds.
It means that close to a third of Britain’s 40million motorists are being hit with fines – most of them for relatively minor offences such as running red lights, speeding and parking. The RAC Foundation report last night triggered fresh claims that drivers were being ‘fleeced’ so councils and police forces could plug gaps in their own finances.
Critics said that while penalties have soared, the number of frontline traffic officers has been cut – meaning motorists are often getting away with more serious offences such as using mobile phones at the wheel or drug-driving.
They also said that fines for using bus lanes had risen four-fold to 1.4million over the last decade, as councils across the country have deployed cameras to catch out drivers. Tory MP Charlie Elphicke said: ‘This is yet more evidence of how local councils are using motorists as cash cows to plug gaps in their own finances. It’s high time that they stopped using fines to fleece motorists.
‘There is a real concern that cameras are used to go after easy pickings when more should be done to tackle dangerous driving.’
The report looked at the most recent data available from the year 2015/16. It found that around 8million penalty charges were doled out for parking offences in England and Wales, with another 2.5million for traffic offences such as driving in a bus lane or stopping in a box junction.
Of the remaining 1.5million fines, one million were issued by police for speeding or running a red light. Half a million were dished out for other
offences such as failing to renew a driver’s licence and not having insurance.
Dr Adam Snow, the author of the report, estimated that the 12million fines cost motorists around £840million – with the cash collected by local authorities, police forces and the DVLA.
Most of this sum – £580million – went to councils, with almost £109million collected by the police. Total fines could even top £1billion once penalties paid to private parking companies and fees of up to £91 for speeding awareness courses are included.
Around 1.2million drivers take these courses each year to avoid a £100 fine and three points on their licence.
The RAC Foundation’s director Steve Gooding said the fact that so many Britons are receiving penalties is a clear sign that the ‘system is failing’. ‘While wrongdoing should be punished and not excused, a decline in frontline policing risks an imbalanced approach to enforcement,’ he said.
‘Millions of motorists are being caught by camera, often for arguably minor misdemeanours, whilst more serious and harmful behaviour goes undetected.
‘When it comes to civil enforcement of bus lane and parking infringements authorities should constantly be asking themselves whether the number of notices issued suggest a different method is needed. Some bus lanes and box junctions have become renowned as money spinners.’ The report also raises concerns that cameras are increasingly used to keep drivers in check, while the number of dedicated police traffic officers fell by 24 per cent between 2010 and 2014 as their budgets have been slashed.
While cameras are immune to matters of ‘colour, religion, race, gender and so on’ they cannot provide either discretion or common sense, the report’s authors said.
According to separate figures by the group, the number of fines issued for driving or parking in bus lanes has risen four-fold from 366,000 in 2008/9 to 1.4million in 2015/16. Some box junctions have been dubbed ‘moneyboxes’ junctions by motorists. Last year it emerged that the box junction of New Kings Road and Bagley’s Lane in Fulham generated over £5million in fines for the local council in three years.
Many speed cameras are also highly lucrative, raking in thousands of pounds a day from motorists. This money goes to the Treasury, while police forces receive cash from speed awareness courses.
Tory MP Julian Knight said: ‘These figures are alarming. No one can disagree with motorists being penalised for speeding and illegal parking but these numbers suggest punishment on a wholly disproportionate scale.’ Despite the growing network of cameras to monitor drivers, the number of deaths on Britain’s roads reached a fiveyear high of 1,792 last year.
Safety campaigners have warned of the ‘ epidemic’ of drug- driving and use of mobiles at the wheel. Road safety minister Jesse Norman highlighted the ‘awful truth’ that tens of thousands of drivers are still flouting the law regarding mobiles.
A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said the approach by police to fines is ‘proportionate’ and targeted at areas that are ‘ particularly dangerous or where drivers are more likely to drive without due care and concern’. Martin Tett, of the Local Government Association, said parking controls were ‘essential’ – adding that the cash raised is helping to plug the UK’s £12billion roads repair backlog.