Speeding tops guilty verdicts

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Speeding is the biggest motoring-related offence where the defendant is found guilty in court according to figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Out of 512,043 successful prosecutions for motoring offences in 2014, 148,426 were for speeding, a sharp increase of 28% from 115,935 the previous year.
The next highest offence where defendants were found guilty was vehicle insurance-related crimes with some 118,254 people found guilty in court of this, which is 7% up on 2013.
The figures, obtained by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) from the MoJ, also showed that vehicle registration and excise duty offences and driving with alcohol in the blood above the legal limit are both offences that have fallen in huge numbers in the past ten years.
Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive officer, said: “We can see from these figures that as the UK comes out of recession traffic levels have risen, speeding appears to be becoming more prevalent and regrettably casualties are rising again. The government and police forces cannot afford to take their eye off the ball and more visible policing is, in our view, the key way to ensure that people don’t think they can get away with speeding.”

The top five offences where offenders are found guilty in court is as follows:

1. Speed limit offences – 146,426
2. Vehicle insurance offences/ – 118,254
3. Failing to supply information as to identity of driver when required/not applicable – 54,372
4. Vehicle registration and excise licence offences – 46,636
5. Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit – 37,853