Drivers Pay £200 a Minute in Speeding Fines

Revenue from speeding increased by 400% since Labour came into power

By Oli S / Tuesday, 5 August 2008 / Loading comments

Working for the cash machine?

Revenue from speeding fines has increased by 400% to £200 a minute since Labour came into power, it has been revealed. The news comes as the Government prepares a massive expansion of speed cameras and the Tories have accused them of using the devices as 'cash cows'.

When Labour came into power in 1997 there were 712,753 speeding tickets issued as a result of motorists being caught by camera and police patrols. According to figures released by the Home Office in a Commons written reply, this had soared to 1,773,412 by 2006.

This means that 4,850 tickets are now being issued to Britain's motorists every day and it is an increase of 150% in a decade. The revenue has also been helped by an increase in the value of fines from £40 to £60.

David Ruffley, the shadow police reform minister said: 'Coupled with an increase in the basic speeding fine, this means speeding tickets are now raising over £100 million a year for the Government. Ministers need to tell us what they are doing with this £100 million a year taken from motorists. How much is actually put back into practical road safety that does not involve speed cameras? Ministers' failure to answer that question confirms the view that for this Government the British motorist is "a nice little earner".'

The figures would have continued to soar had the Government not reformed its policy on speeding in April last year when they scrapped the arrangements under which safety camera partnerships kept all the cash.