Cameras may be to blame as police drop one speeding case in six

Analysis of Home Office figures by the RAC Foundation found that of the almost two and a half million speeding offences recorded last year, more than 400,000 resulted in no action.

The motoring organisation said this represents a rise of 22 per cent - more than a fifth - compared with the number of prosecutions abandoned the year before in 2019-20. Faulty cameras could be to blame as police drop one in six speeding prosecutions.

The report revealed that 404,335 speeding offences were dropped in 2020-21, accounting for 17 per cent of the total 2,426,950 recorded, compared with just 330,623 offences being dropped the year before - even though there were more speeding offences overall with a figure of 2,584,571. Of the offences that were prosecuted last year, 40 per cent (977,587) resulted in a speed awareness course, 31 per cent (762,336) resulted in a fine and some 10 per cent (233,080) went to court.

Researchers also found that the vast majority of speeders - 96 per cent - had been caught using roadside cameras. Greater Manchester and Warwickshire both had the highest number of offences being dropped, with 39 per cent of their cases resulting in no action. Wiltshire had the lowest proportion, with just 2 per cent of their offences being cancelled, however, the RAC said this was probably linked to the fact the county has no fixed speed cameras.

Police do not record why an alleged offence does not result in court action, a fine, or a speed awareness course. However, the foundation noted that faulty cameras have previously affected the number of speeders that forces have caught. The foundation, a charity, also said that a rise in number plate cloning - where criminals put fake versions of other people's plates on their vehicle to evade fines - could also be contributing to the rise.

The report cited examples where malfunctioning speed cameras had materially impacted the offences a force records - such as Lincolnshire seeing a 90 per cent increase in recorded speeding offences last year, which was blamed on a camera on the A1 that had wrongly flashed 19,000 drivers for speeding.

However, criminals finding ways to pass their speeding tickets off on to other drivers could also be behind the rising number of dropped charges, experts have said. A lecturer at the school of law at Liverpool John Moores University who worked on the report, Dr Adam Snow, said: "Police forces and local authorities are seeing number plate cloning as a growing problem. "With the increasing reliance on camera enforcement for clean air zones and moving traffic violations, there is some evidence to suggest more motorists are seeing this as an acceptable response, even though it is fraud".

The report also found that some forces saw a big increase in the number of fines they recorded last year. The largest rise - 22 per cent - was in London, where drivers were caught speeding 262,280 more times than the year before. Greater Manchester also saw a 13 per cent year-on-year rise, with 178,123 more offences recorded last year.

The foundation called on the Home Office to start collecting data on why speeding offences are cancelled so the issue could be properly addressed. Director of the RAC Foundation, Steve Gooding, said: "It is correct that drivers caught speeding should face the consequences, but it is also important that the systems of detection and prosecution are robust. "The hundreds of thousands of 'cancelled' offences each year indicate they are not. "At the very least it is an administrative burden the police could do without. "We urge the Home Office to start collecting data from police forces about these cancelled offences so that we can understand where the problem lies."
 

The Johnson Partnership

Nottingham Solicitors