Speeding Fines continue to fall but Traffic Offences and Parking Fines Rise

Anti-speeding measures may be working according to the latest Penalty Charge figures from National Car Rental.

National, which operates the UK’s largest rental fleet, predominantly serving the business sector, receives thousands of parking fines, congestion charge fines, speeding fines, bus lane fines and traffic offence fines every month, incurred by customers renting its vehicles. Analysis of figures for Q2 2007 reveals that speeding fines have fallen by 29% compared to the same period in 2006. This follows a drop of 9% Q1 2006 v Q1 2007.

However, not all types of penalty charge notices have seen a decrease. National’s figures reveal fines for bus lane offences and parking increased by 37% and 8.4% respectively Q2 2006 v Q2 2007. In addition, after the extension of the Congestion Zone in February this year, National has continued to see an increase in Congestion charge fines with a 32% increase in Q2 2007 from Q1 2007 and 17% up on Q2 2006.

While the actual number of fines for traffic offences remain small compared to other Penalty Charge Notices, National has seen a 91.3% increase in fines for these offences year on year. This could be attributed to Transport for London (TFL), the biggest issuer of traffic offence fines, beginning to enforce traffic offence laws in a larger area of the capital.

Ron Santiago Operations Director, National Car Rental comments “It is positive news that speeding fines are continuing to fall, we hope to see this trend continue. However, the increase in fines for bus lanes and traffic offences should be of serious concern to the many businesses potentially left footing the bill for these charges on behalf of their drivers. And although we have seen a small increase in parking fines, recent changes to the law introduced by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, to rein in the number of parking tickets issued by councils should see a drop in the number of fines received – welcome news for businesses.”