Court summons for speeding on rise

Twenty-five of the 51 police forces in Britain issued a total of 492,479 fixed penalty notices for speeding last year
23 June 2013

The number of drivers summoned to court for speeding offences is on the rise, new figures indicate.

Statistics from 25 of the 51 police forces in Britain showed they issued just over 48,000 court summonses for speeding in 2012.

This was more than 9% up on the comparable figure from the 25 forces in 2011, according to statistics obtained by LV car insurance.

These forces issued 492,479 fixed penalty notices for speeding last year.

This was down 6% on the 2011 figure. But LV pointed out that since court summons were issued for the more-serious incidents, this suggested "a growing minority of drivers are committing the worst offences".

The company also said that the figures showed that British motorists were fined around £30 million for speeding in 2012.

Of the forces supplying information, West Mercia police issued the most fixed penalty notices for speeding last year - a total of 84,049 - while Lancashire police issued the most court summonses - 10,641.

The figures were obtained by LV from requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.

LV car insurance managing director John O'Roarke said; "While overall speeding convictions are down, it appears that the police are rightly taking a hard line on the most serious speeding offences. However, if a driver is caught exceeding the limit by even just a few miles an hour they can still be fined and given penalty points. Drivers should take care to know their limits to avoid a fine, penalty points or worse."

Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said: "The vast majority of drivers know that exceeding the speed limit is dangerous and that keeping to the speed limit can mean the difference between life and death in a collision. We want people to drive at safe speed at all times - that is why we are increasing the fixed penalty to £100. We have also issued guidance to local authorities on setting speed limits and have made it cheaper and easier for councils to implement 20mph limits and zones."

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