Back to Motoring news

Motoring news

Motoring news search

Search our archive of Motoring news.

		GO

Motoring news archive

Search our archive of Motoring
news by date.

2012

January
February
March
April
May

2011

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2010

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2009

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

2008

September
October
November
December

RSS feed

You can subscribe to receive the latest motoring news from Admiral with RSS.

	Motoring news RSS feed

Conviction rates fall for careless drivers

24/09/2010

Convictions rates for careless drivers have dropped dramatically since speed cameras were brought in, according to a Government-funded study. The Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned research into a period when the number of cameras on the road was increased, but the number of police traffic patrols were reduced. The Daily Telegraph reports that 2.6 million drivers were penalised for speeding in 1997. This figure almost doubled to 4.9 million in 2007, but over the same period of time prosecutions for careless driving took a big fall, dropping from 192,000 to 90,000. These figures have caused another storm to erupt over the speed camera programme in the wake of new data released on road casualties. It emerged yesterday that failure to look properly was the key factor in 38 per cent of accidents last year. Five per cent of accidents were caused by excessive speed. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said Labour had relied on the ‘easy option’ of using cameras to catch speeding drivers for 13 years, but had failed to tackle the hard core of serious and serial offenders who cause the most damage, according to the Daily Mail. Since the Coalition took office, they have reversed the sole use of speed cameras by refusing to fund new devices. Spending cuts have also seen number of partnerships switching cameras off to save maintenance or repair costs. A second DfT-sponsored study raised major doubts over whether speed cameras actually work as a deterrent for motorists, aside from the ones about to lose their licence. Drivers with one speeding conviction were almost as likely to commit the same offence as someone with a clean licence, according to the study conducted by Brunel University and the Transport Research Laboratory. They also noted that the number of convictions for speeding had risen, particularly since 2002. Meanwhile deaths on UK roads hit an all-time low with 2,222 killed last year. AA President, Edmund King told The Daily Telegraph: "We hope that this all-time low in road deaths can be beaten next year but this will be a real challenge given the cuts to public expenditure which have already hit some road safety budgets"

Tweet