Drivers face automatic fines of £130
MOTORISTS face automatic fines for minor traffic violations under Government plans to give cashstrapped councils new power to enforce penalties.
Ministers hinted they were willing to hand powers to local officials to enforce £130 fines to prevent driving into cycle lanes or stopping in box junctions.
The Local Government Association said they needed the powers because police – whose job it is to impose the rules – have “largely ceased to enforce moving traffic offences”.
Junior transport minister Baroness Vere told the House of Lords the Government was looking to give councils enforcement powers under the 2004 Traffic Management Act.
She said: “We are giving thought to the role these powers could play in helping councils to deliver their transport recovery plans.” The money collected from the fines would help councils fund cycle lanes and implement other measures to reduce the number of people using public transport after the coronavirus pandemic.
But previous Cabinet ministers warned councils should not be given these abilities, saying they would treat motorists as “cash cows”.
Sam Packer of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Long overburdened motorists will be deeply worried that this shift will be used as a tool to squeeze yet more cash out of them.
“Motorists already contribute a huge amount in tax and should not be treated as a cash cow to be milked.
“Wasteful councils must get their own spending in order before they start turning to drivers yet again to fill their coffers.”