Four hundred thousand offences written off in 2020-21
More than one in six speeding offences detected by police forces in England and Wales ends up being cancelled, RAC Foundation analysis of the latest government data suggests.
During 2020-21, a total of 2,426,950 cases of speeding were recorded by constabularies in the two countries and later reported to the Home Office. However, 404,335 (17%) of these were later cancelled.
In 2019-20, there were 330,623 cancellations, 13% of the 2,584,571 speeding offences detected in that year.
The reasons why offences go on to be cancelled is not recorded but could include:
- Faulty or incorrectly calibrated speed cameras
- Cloned vehicles carrying a false number plate
- Emergency vehicles lawfully breaking the speed limit whilst driving with blue lights
- A delay in issuing notices of intended prosecution
- A lack of resources to bring cases to court
Problems could have been exacerbated by Covid.
Of the instances of speeding that didn’t get cancelled:
- 977,587 (40% of the 2,426,950 total) were disposed of with a speed awareness course
- 762,336 (31%) ended in a fixed penalty notice
- 233,080 (10%) ended in court action
The highest proportions of speeding cases that ended up being cancelled were seen in Greater Manchester and Warwickshire, both at 39%.
Wiltshire had the lowest proportion of speeding offences cancelled at just 2%. Wiltshire also detected the lowest number of speeding drivers (912), probably because it has no fixed speed cameras.
The 2,426,950 speeding cases detected in 2020-21 – a period which included travel restrictions imposed to combat Covid – was down 6% on the previous year.
However, the annual fall in traffic volume was greater, down 26% across Great Britain (259 billion vehicle miles driven in 2020-21 compared with 352 billion vehicle miles in 2019-20).
The vast majority (96%) of speeding offences were detected by cameras.
There continues to be large disparities between forces in the number of speeding offences detected.
The top five forces for speeding offence detection in 2020-21 were:
- Metropolitan Police Service and City of London – 262,280 (up 22% compared with 2019-20)
- West Yorkshire – 180,432 (+2%)
- Greater Manchester – 178,123 (+13%)
- Lincolnshire – 123,533 (+90%) – however, news reports suggest at least 19,000 drivers were wrongly identified as committing an offence because of a camera error
- Thames Valley – 100,622 (-19%)
The constabulary-level variations in detection rates are likely to be for a variety of reasons, including: length of the road network, road type, traffic volume and makeup, local priorities dictated by police and crime commissioners, financial and human resources, and the availability of detection technology.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“It is correct that drivers caught speeding should face the consequences but it is also important that the systems of detection and prosecution are robust. The hundreds of thousands of ‘cancelled’ offences each year indicate they are not. At the very least it is an administrative burden the police could do without.
“We urge the Home Office to start collecting data from police forces about these cancelled offences so we can understand where the problem lies.”
Dr Adam Snow, a lecturer at the Law School of Liverpool John Moores University, who worked on the report, said:
“Police forces and local authorities are seeing number plate cloning as a growing problem. With the increasing reliance on camera enforcement for clean air zones and moving traffic violations there is some evidence to suggest more motorists are seeing this as an acceptable response even though it is fraud.”
ENDS
Contact:
Philip Gomm – Head of External Communications – RAC Foundation
07711 776448 | [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
The RAC Foundation is a transport policy and research organisation that explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users.
The Foundation publishes independent and authoritative research with which it promotes informed debate and advocates policy in the interest of the responsible motorist. All the Foundation’s work is available at:www.racfoundation.org
According to the Home Office “North Wales, South Wales, Gwent, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire do not record all outcomes on the PentiP system.” This means some offences and their disposal will not be reflected in the official data.
The full report is available to download:
|
Police force |
Number of speeding offences detected 2019-2020 |
Number of speeding offences detected 2020-2021 |
% year-on-year change in number of speeding offences detected |
Number of speeding offences cancelled 2019-2020 |
Proportion of all speeding offences 2019-2020 |
Number of speeding offences cancelled 2020-2021 |
Proportion of all speeding offences 2020-2021 |
% year-on-year change in number of speeding offences cancelled |
|
|
Avon and Somerset |
108,433 |
100,396 |
-7% |
7,085 |
7% |
12,020 |
12% |
70% |
|
|
Bedfordshire |
72,784 |
51,862 |
-29% |
15,561 |
21% |
11,969 |
23% |
-23% |
|
|
Cambridgeshire |
45,919 |
35,930 |
-22% |
6,812 |
15% |
6,737 |
19% |
-1% |
|
|
Cheshire |
64,269 |
27,810 |
-57% |
3,219 |
5% |
2,332 |
8% |
-28% |
|
|
City of London / Metropolitan Police |
214,409 |
262,280 |
22% |
69,950 |
33% |
77,399 |
30% |
11% |
|
|
Cleveland |
14,682 |
6,628 |
-55% |
730 |
5% |
782 |
12% |
7% |
|
|
Cumbria |
35,039 |
26,070 |
-26% |
3,168 |
9% |
2,073 |
8% |
-35% |
|
|
Derbyshire |
13,124 |
19,789 |
51% |
1,415 |
11% |
3,777 |
19% |
167% |
|
|
Devon and Cornwall |
63,306 |
77,086 |
22% |
571 |
1% |
3,693 |
5% |
547% |
|
|
Dorset |
23,825 |
16,640 |
-30% |
2,617 |
11% |
2,250 |
14% |
-14% |
|
|
Durham |
14,632 |
8,357 |
-43% |
934 |
6% |
290 |
3% |
-69% |
|
|
Essex |
83,998 |
54,472 |
-35% |
2,331 |
3% |
3,347 |
6% |
44% |
|
|
Gloucestershire |
31,582 |
25,268 |
-20% |
1,719 |
5% |
1,727 |
7% |
0% |
|
|
Greater Manchester |
158,155 |
178,123 |
13% |
45,424 |
29% |
68,672 |
39% |
51% |
|
|
Hampshire |
89,315 |
65,356 |
-27% |
9,025 |
10% |
6,944 |
11% |
-23% |
|
|
Hertfordshire |
67,398 |
50,047 |
-26% |
14,785 |
22% |
10,029 |
20% |
-32% |
|
|
Humberside |
45,786 |
48,174 |
5% |
1,988 |
4% |
4,543 |
9% |
129% |
|
|
Kent |
22,082 |
31,684 |
43% |
2,150 |
10% |
3,978 |
13% |
85% |
|
|
Lancashire |
71,303 |
55,154 |
-23% |
6,115 |
9% |
6,704 |
12% |
10% |
|
|
Leicestershire |
49,604 |
31,084 |
-37% |
8,193 |
17% |
5,878 |
19% |
-28% |
|
|
Lincolnshire |
65,033 |
123,533 |
90% |
7,142 |
11% |
20,695 |
17% |
190% |
|
|
Merseyside |
70,057 |
66,498 |
-5% |
8,542 |
12% |
4,012 |
6% |
-53% |
|
|
Norfolk and Suffolk |
93,322 |
95,181 |
2% |
9,233 |
10% |
14,455 |
15% |
57% |
|
|
North Wales |
19,037 |
15,535 |
-18% |
254 |
1% |
290 |
2% |
14% |
|
|
North Yorkshire |
85,016 |
73,658 |
-13% |
1,887 |
2% |
2,324 |
3% |
23% |
|
|
Northamptonshire |
64,716 |
62,414 |
-4% |
6,037 |
9% |
8,954 |
14% |
48% |
|
|
Northumbria |
66,585 |
57,753 |
-13% |
5,519 |
8% |
6,876 |
12% |
25% |
|
|
Nottinghamshire |
21,791 |
21,207 |
-3% |
307 |
1% |
637 |
3% |
107% |
|
|
South Yorkshire |
59,867 |
48,771 |
-19% |
868 |
1% |
3,571 |
7% |
311% |
|
|
Staffordshire |
58,708 |
55,902 |
-5% |
5,626 |
10% |
6,970 |
12% |
24% |
|
|
Surrey |
84,465 |
78,647 |
-7% |
2,711 |
3% |
2,269 |
3% |
-16% |
|
|
Sussex |
65,954 |
54,028 |
-18% |
9,086 |
14% |
6,820 |
13% |
-25% |
|
|
Thames Valley |
124,512 |
100,622 |
-19% |
6,138 |
5% |
5,954 |
6% |
-3% |
|
|
Wales (except North Wales) |
41,036 |
35,389 |
-14% |
1,384 |
3% |
1,972 |
6% |
42% |
|
|
Warwickshire |
45,560 |
34,132 |
-25% |
10,343 |
23% |
13,239 |
39% |
28% |
|
|
West Mercia |
85,319 |
75,719 |
-11% |
9,123 |
11% |
10,069 |
13% |
10% |
|
|
West Midlands |
66,353 |
74,407 |
12% |
12,862 |
19% |
18,238 |
25% |
42% |
|
|
West Yorkshire |
177,013 |
180,432 |
2% |
29,755 |
17% |
41,829 |
23% |
41% |
|
|
Wiltshire |
582 |
912 |
57% |
14 |
2% |
17 |
2% |
21% |
|
|
Total England and Wales |
2,584,571 |
2,426,950 |
-6% |
330,623 |
13% |
404,335 |
17% |
22% |