New analysis from Direct Line Car Insurance reveals drivers in England and Wales clocked up 28 million fixed penalty notices (FPNs) in a 10 year period for motoring offences. Many of these penalties were easily avoidable; 2,030,100 motorists received a fine for the most basic of driver fails, not wearing a seatbelt.
Speeding was found to be the most common FPN offence. Millions of drivers failed to match their speedo to the limit for the road as over 15 million FPNs were issued for speeding. The analysis also points to a lack of awareness on the road. Over two million (2,010,600) motorists were issued with fines for neglect of traffic signs and directions, or pedestrian rights, including failing to give way, running a red light or driving elsewhere than on the road.
Analysts for the company reviewed a decade’s worth of data and revealed more than five million (5,640,100) FPNs were handed out for selfish driver behaviours such as obstruction and parking offences. Some 852,488 drivers received a fine because they were not up to date on their paper work. This includes vehicle registration and excise licence offences (i.e. not having a visible registration mark) as well as driving without valid insurance or while disqualified.
