Fixed Penalty Fines being increased

PerryGunn

Elite
 By the seaside...
Grabbed from another forum, but of interest to people here

Note that the 'extensive public consultation' was with 'road safety groups and Police forces' - how 'extensive' can it be if it only involves special interest groups and the enforcement agency?

___________________________________________
From the VOSA website:

Fees will rise for graduated fixed penalties

Department for Transport have recently announced that fixed penalty levels are expected to increase from July 2013. The changes are being introduced following an extensive public consultation which took place in 2012 with the road safety groups and Police forces.

As well as affecting most motoring fixed penalties offences, graduated fixed penalties and financial deposits will also increase due to the changes. This will mainly affect commercial goods and passenger carrying vehicles, and includes offences like drivers’ hours and overloading.

The changes are as follows;
◦ A £30 non-endorsable fine will rise to £50
◦ A £60 endorsable and non-endorsable fine will rise to £100
◦ A £120 endorsable and non-endorsable fine will rise to £200
◦ A £200 endorsable and non-endorsable fine will rise to £300

It is also being proposed that the new legislation will increase the maximum amount of deposit requirement that can be taken at the roadside (Applies to non-UK vehicles). Penalty points will not change.

Most penalty levels have not changed since 2000 and these changes are intended to ensure that penalties reflect the seriousness of the offence and are consistent with the penalty levels in other areas of offending.

For more information about current fixed penalty levels please see VOSA’s Guide to Graduated Fixed Penalties and Financial Deposits
 
The consultation document/response lists how many of each category submitted a response, and the majority were 'individuals' rather than groups.

If you look at the response to the consultation document, then you'll see that in the cases where the public disagreed, they ignored them and increased the fines anyway!
 
Given that very few people will know that the fines have increased, it can't be argued that the hike in fines is supposed to be a deterrent. Instead, looks like another revenue generator
 
Back
Top Bottom