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Milking the motorists: One in every THREE drivers is fined annually - raising up to £800million

By JAMES SLACK

The Daily Mail 1st May 2008

One in every three drivers is fined annually - but the majority of offences are minor, leading to concerns motorists are being used as 'cash cows'

One in three drivers is caught each year by a parking warden or speed camera.

The total rises to more than four in ten when the number of motorists trapped by the police is included.

The collective fines are worth up to £800million. The number of more serious offences punished by the courts, such as dangerous or drink driving, has slumped however.

The official figures gave rise last night to claims that drivers are being used as cash cows in a surveillance society.

Between them, cameras and council staff trapped 9.8million drivers in 2006, the equivalent of one in every three licensed vehicles.

The majority of offences - 7.8million - were logged by local wardens. These included obstruction, waiting and parking offences such as lacking a permit or leaving a tyre on the kerb.

Police also handed out three million fixed-penalty notices - the vast majority for speeding.

Two thirds of offenders were caught on camera. David Ruffley, Tory police spokesman, said: "The numbers of drivers being nicked by cameras has risen by a colossal 615 per cent in ten years, from 323,200 in 1997 to 1,986,200 in 2006.

"This is another staggering statistic that tells us a lot about the surveillance society."

The figures were released in the annual Ministry of Justice Motoring Offences and Breath Test Bulletin.

The document concedes that the overall chances of a motorist being trapped by the authorities have soared.

It says: "The 12.7million motoring offences dealt with during 2006 represents 422 per thousand vehicles licensed, compared with 401 per thousand in 1996."

Some 164,900 fixed-penalty notices were handed out to motorists caught using mobile phones at the wheel in 2006 - up 38,100 on the previous year.

The offence, introduced in 2003, carries three penalty points and a fine of £60 - raising almost £10million.

The rise in on-the-spot fines and penalty notices - now used in 86 per cent of all cases - was coupled with a slump in motorists taken to court.

The total number who appeared before magistrates was down 15 per cent, to 1.7million.

There were fewer prosecutions in two of the main categories which worry the public.

Dangerous driving cases fell by 1,100 to 7,400 and driving while drunk or on drugs prosecutions were down from 103,500 to 101,400.

The latter follows a fall of 1 per cent in the number of motorists actually tested.

Hunting in packs: Traffic wardens swoop on a parked car to issue one of the million fines that raise up to £800million a year from drivers.

This will fuel suspicions that the focus of the authorities has switched from offences which require police action to those which raise large amounts of cash.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said the figures could harm public confidence in the enforcement of motoring laws.

"There is one major worry here and that is the move to remote enforcement rather than using traffic police.

"If a motorist is forced to move into a bus lane for a good reason, this can be explained to a police officer and common sense can be exercised.

"The view taken by a camera is that it never lies. There is also the danger that hardened criminals, who in the past were stopped by a police officer for speeding, only for other offences to come to light, will go undetected.

"The Yorkshire Ripper, for example, was caught by someone on traffic duty."

John Stewart, spokesman for the charity Roadpeace, said: "Parking in the wrong place is not an offence that can have any fatal consequences and it seems the priorities are askew.

"It does look as if money for cash cows is taking priority over real efforts to cut danger on the roads."

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Councils are increasingly abusing the fines and charges system as a means of raising revenue.

"This is an extra council tax dressed up as a law and order measure.

"It's time councils realised that squeezing the public for all the money they can is not a solution to their financial problems - they need to start making better use of the money they already have."

Chief Constable Steve Green, head of road policing for Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "These figures show that we're out there actively prosecuting people who use their phones in the car.

"If you use your phone there is a very good chance that an officer will see you, stop you, and prosecute you for that offence."

The figures for parking fines are likely to increase even further this year.

Under a new 'Big Brother' camera onslaught which began last month, wardens and councils can issue the tickets remotely without the driver even knowing until they receive the penalty charge notice through their letter box.

The change came with controversial new Government parking regulations that allow the use of CCTV evidence.

Uniformed traffic wardens and attendants have been renamed civil enforcement officers.

The 7.8million penalty charge tickets they handed out in 2006 was up by 169,000 on the year before.

Police gave out 502,000 tickets for obstruction-type offences.

The penalty for this in 2006 was £60 outside London and up to £100 in the capital.

The total was halved if paid immediately.

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£120 Parking Fines

£120 parking fines shock for motorists

by ZOE NAUMAN,

The Daily Mail 7th August 2002


Motorists face huge increases in parking fines with penalties of up to £120, it was revealed yesterday.

Clamping and car pound release fees are also to rise as councils seek to raise even more cash at the expense of drivers.

The biggest increases will be in London, where fines for a parking ticket will go up by 50 per cent.

At present motorists parking illegally in central London boroughs - known as the Band A zone - are charged between £60 and £80. Under the new tariffs they will face a fine of £120, which will drop to £60 if the penalty is paid within seven days.

Charges in Band B and Band C, further from the centre, would be £80 and £60, according to proposals by the Association of London Boroughs, which is responsible for parking fines across the capital.

Drivers who overstay on a meter could face a fine of up to £100. Motorists who are clamped will see a £5 increase in charges from £45 to £50. There are fears the swingeing rises will be copied by other authorities across the country.

Last night the Association of London Boroughs plans, revealed in a leaked document, were criticised by motoring organisations.

Kevin Delaney, of the RAC Foundation, said: 'It is unjustifiable, illogical and confirms every motorist's worst beliefs in local authorities.

'People who have parked in a bay but have overstayed their ticket by a few minutes have at least made an effort to park legally.

'It is the people who park illegally, on yellow lines, that should be penalised and face an increase in charges.'

Paul Watters, of the AA, said the move was a 'hammer blow' to motorists.

'Many of the councils say this is a way to generate extra money but the motorist will see straight through this,' he said. 'It is nothing but a revenue measure rather than a deterrent against illegal parking.

'Fines of up to £120 for staying over time in a bay for up to five minutes are disgusting. It is another nail in the coffin for motorists.'

Nick Lester, of the Association of London Boroughs, insisted the proposed increases were justified.

'We have a duty to impose the minimum level of penalty needed to ensure deterrence,' he said.

'Motorists have a simple way to avoid paying parking fines - by parking properly.'

Councils in Dudley, Bury, Wigan and Nottingham are among those who have already announced increases.

Nottingham City Council is to increase penalties for overstaying on pay and display bays and in car parks to £60 from October 1 as part of an annual review of charges.

Dudley, in the West Midlands, is increasing its parking fines from £33 to £40 while Bury and Wigan are putting up fines from £40 to £60.

Pensioner fined £85 for parking in snow-covered disabled bay

by RAY MASSEY
The Daily Mail 17th April 2007

When pensioner Donald Craig had to pick up a prescription in his local town centre, he was sure to check the car park signs signalling the presence of disabled bays.

Content he had found a regular parking space, the 75-year-old returned less than 10 minutes later to find a parking ticket for £85 on his car.

It transpired that the heavy snow in the free car park had completely obscured a marking on the ground to show it was in fact a disabled bay.

Mr Craig immediately appealed, but Central Ticketing of Birmingham disallowed this.

Mr Craig, a retired businessman, from Cumbernauld, said: "A lot of bays had notices up saying they were for disabled drivers, but others did not.

"I believed I had parked in a proper space and went to collect my prescription. When I came back five to ten minutes later, I had a parking ticket for £85 saying I had parked on a disabled space.

"The snow had totally covered it. I hadn't realised. It was a genuine mistake, but Central Ticketing disallowed my appeal."

The OAP, who is on state benefits, said the fine amounts to 90 per cent of his weekly income. He added: "It is a huge fine to ask someone to pay and it was a genuine mistake."

Sheila Rainger of the RAC Foundation said of this case: "This is an example of something happening the length and breadth of Britain with very little regulation. Its a civil case in law.

"This company said they were ticketing in Birmingham, the West Midlands and Scotland. These abuses must be stopped. There must be an independent tribunal to defend motorists."