London is the most common place for fines

(27/02/2008)

Speeding is by far the most common driving offence committed by company car drivers, new figures from GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services indicate.

Analysis of the company’s 55,000-vehicle fleet shows that 41 per cent of the fines it has recorded on behalf of drivers in the last 12 months were for speeding. Other common offences such as congestion charge avoidance and parking fines add up to only around half of the same level.

The complete picture shows:

Rank - Type of driving offence - Percentage of fines recorded
1. Speeding: 41
2. Congestion charges: 22
3. Parking: 20
4. Other: 11
5. Bus lane: 4
6. DVLA/licensing: 2

Analysis of the company's figures also shows the top 10 bodies that issue the most fines – such as police constabularies, local councils and other transport bodies - represent a significant proportion of penalties affecting the GE Fleet Services fleet.

Unsurprisingly, London is the most common place for fines, with the top placed London Congestion Charging collecting more fines in total that the rest of the top 10 put together and issuing bodies based in the capital accounting for six out of the top 10.

However, there are some surprises - for example, two Welsh police authorities are also in the top 10, thanks to their efficiency in issuing speeding tickets. In total, GE Fleet Services handled fines issued by almost 400 different bodies across the UK.

The top 10 issuing bodies are:

Issuing authority - Total fines
1. Congestion Charging London: 3,510
2. Transport for London: 526
3. Camden Council: 424
4. Metropolitan Police Service: 412
5. Thames Valley Police: 363
6. Gwent Police: 345
7. Bedfordshire Police: 332
8. City of Westminster: 252
9. South Wales Police: 226
10. Greater Manchester Police: 217

Rich Green, managing director at GE Fleet Services, said: “While these figures are drawn entirely from our fleet of 55,000 vehicles and therefore not entirely representative of what is happening on our roads, we believe that the sample size is big enough to provide a good general picture of the fines being paid by company car drivers and their employers.

"Given the importance placed on the health and safety aspects of running a fleet over the last few years, it is worrying to see that speeding is such a common problem. Our belief is that there is clearly a hard core of company car drivers who are habitually exceeding the speed limit and this recklessness places themselves and other road users in danger. Fleets should take action.

"The figures on issuing bodies we have produced are perhaps less surprising but what is frustrating is that so many of these fines, together with the administrative burden that they represent, could be easily avoided by drivers with just a little planning and forethought. Congestion charging in London is perhaps the best example of this - the zone is now well established, well signposted and drivers know the rules but continue to rack up tickets at a rapid rate."

Related categories:  Car insurance 

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