Motorists back lessons over penalties for speeding convictions: survey

The majority of motorists think speeding drivers should be sent back to driving school rather than clocking up points and fines, according to new research published today.

In the report, 'Talking Sense on Speed Campaign', conducted for the RAC Foundation and Autocar, 16% of motorists were found to have points on their licence for speeding – or 19% of males and 12% of females.

Less than a quarter of motorists would be very likely to report someone defacing a speed camera to the police and, while 75% of motorists do not condone the actions of safety camera vandals, the credibility of remote enforcement has fallen to such an extent that most of the drivers questioned admitted that they would rather turn a blind eye, the report claimed.

The percentage of drivers with penalty points on their licences for speeding offences has risen by more than a quarter in the past five years, according to the new survey, with the number of motoring offences dealt with in 2001 at 10.5 million - the highest ever.

Home Office figures show that cameras provided evidence for 1.1 million offences, up 39% on 2000. The Foundation is convinced, however, that educating drivers to reduce the number of casualties on the roads rather than maximising the number of fines should be the priority for police.

RAC Foundation and Autocar would like to see more specific courses for those receiving fixed penalty notices from speed cameras. These courses would be paid for by offenders as an alternative to points. The leading local authority involved in such courses is Lancashire. Their course started in 2001 and last year 8,690 drivers completed the course.

By September this year almost 15,000 drivers had been on the course. These courses are self-funding with the drivers paying £85 - which covers a theory and practical element.

The campaigners will write to the Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Transport Secretary, Scottish Executive and Association of Chief Police Officers seeking support.

Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation said: "There is a role for camera enforcement at traffic lights and accident blackspots but we should certainly not rejoice at a million plus prosecutions. The camera should be one weapon in the police armoury rather than the entire arsenal."

The survey of 1000 drivers across GB was conducted by NOP World Automotive in a MotorBus survey on behalf of the RAC Foundation and Autocar between 3-5 October and 10–12 October 2003.

(gmcg)