Overall, FTA members, as employers of professional drivers, have stated their support for the introduction of fixed penalty offences, but believe that there is the need for an overarching strategy which will provide guidance on the standard of evidence required, ensuring that the same judgements are applied across the country and so will avoid a “‘postcode lottery” when penalties are issued.
The new fines are designed to give the police greater flexibility in dealing with less serious careless driving offences, freeing them from resource-intensive court processes.
Existing fixed penalty levels for most motoring offences – including using a mobile phone at the wheel and not wearing a seatbelt – rise to £100, bringing them into line with penalties for similar non-motoring fixed penalties.
Most motoring fixed penalties offences rise under the changes:
• a non-endorsable (where the driver does not receive points on their licence) £30 fixed penalty notice has risen to £50
• an endorsable (where points are given) £60 and non-endorsable fixed penalty notice has risen to £100
• an endorsable £120 fixed penalty notice has risen to £200
• the fixed penalty notice for driving with no insurance has risen from £200 to £300
Graduated fixed penalties (mainly for commercial goods and passenger carrying vehicles and including offences like drivers’ hours and overloading) and financial deposits (for drivers without a satisfactory UK address) have also increased:
• a £30 non-endorsable fine has risen to £50
• a £60 endorsable and non-endorsable fine has risen to £100
• a £120 endorsable and non-endorsable fine has risen to £200
• a £200 endorsable and non-endorsable fine has risen to £300
James Hookham, FTA director of policy and communications, commented: ‘FTA is asking that national guidelines are issued to remove the risk of “summary justice” being applied to generally subjective offences such as tailgating and being in the wrong lane, to avoid the postcode lottery of some offences being interpreted differently by different police forces.
‘The scale of the increase arises because these fines were last reviewed in 2000 and as we know, inflation has risen a great deal since then. FTA is concerned that this could result in many fines remaining unpaid and costing taxpayers extra to recover them. In the future fixed penalty fines should be reviewed more frequently to maintain proportionality and avoid the “shock increase” effect.’
Full details of the new penalties for careless driving offences can be found on the Department for Transport website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport