EXCEEDING THE SPEED LIMIT REVEALED AS THE UK’S MOST TICKETED OFFENCE
According to new data by a UK insurance firm, drivers in England and Wales have racked up a massive 28 million fixed penalty notices (FPN) in a 10-year period.
Speeding was the motoring offence most punished, and a shocking two million people received an on-the-spot ticket for not wearing their seat belt.
The insurer Direct Line Car Insurance said a heavy right foot was the most common reason drivers received a FPN, with 15 million handed out between 2002 and 2012 for exceeding the speed limit.
A further five million were issued for selfish driving behaviours such as obstruction and parking offences while an additional two million were caught not buckling up behind the wheel.
Another two million notices were also handed out for other offences linked to showing a lack of awareness on the road.
These included failing to follow instructions from traffic signs or neglecting pedestrian rights, made up of failing to give way, running a red light or driving somewhere other than the road.
Some 852,488 drivers received a fine because they were not up-to-date with their paper work.
This includes vehicle registration and excise licence offences — mainly not having a visible registration mark — as well as driving without valid insurance or while disqualified.
Gus Park, director of motor at Direct Line said many of the FPNs issued were avoidable, suggesting some motorists “fail to obey the basic rules of the road”.
He said: “The analysis highlights that millions of drivers are being penalised each year for flouting the most obvious of traffic laws, such as speeding. Careless drivers put lives at risk and are also a major source of concern and irritation for those motorists that abide by the law.”
Looking at the data on a regional split, drivers in Suffolk, South Wales and Merseyside were the worst offenders overall. Drivers in North Wales were most likely to be caught not wearing a seat belt, while drivers in Merseyside were most often caught using their mobile phone while driving.
Motorists in Hertfordshire were most often caught driving uninsured, but drivers in Cumbria were the worst speeders, with 255 per 1000 of the population being issued a FPN for speeding offences.
-Daily Mail