Penalty Points - Would You Or Wouldn't You?

As Chris Huhne sweats it out, the er, 'wife swapping' debate resurfaces...

By Chris-R / Tuesday, 17 May 2011 / Loading comments

Chris Huhne: "Allegations are incorrect"

Radio 4 this morning carried reports about a couple of specific cases of folk serving time for swapping speed camera penalty points with relatives or friends - the programme suggested a four month prison term is about par for the course if you're caught at it.

The practice of swapping points, officially known as 'perverting the course of justice', is (or has been) pretty widespread if the implications of known statistics can be reasonably extrapolated.

Various surveys have been carried out over the years, with a quick web search revealing a 2005 survey by Churchill Insurance in which 2.2 percent of 2000 drivers admitted taking points on behalf of partners (multiply that out across the country and it added up to 726,000 drivers evading punishment), while a third said they'd consider asking their partner to admit to speeding if it saved them from losing their own licences.

Back in 2003 you may remember, official stats revealed 1.8 million offences were detected, a rise of 1.3 million over the year before (don't you just love speed cameras), yet the number of people banned for totting up 12 points fell from 34,000 to 33,000.

It's presumably coincidental that 2003 is the year that the Huhne police investigation is focused on, but there's no doubt the rapid roll-out of speed cameras around that time put 'points swapping' into the public consciousness.

Whatever your thoughts on the righteousness of speed cameras, the cases highlighted on the radio this morning reveal the courts take a dim view of the practice.

And whatever the outcome of the Huhne investigation (did you know the esteemed minister used to be a director of a speed camera company?), we reckon that fact could come as a painful surprise to many who, thanks to the possibly trivialising effect speed cameras have had on respect for the UK's speed enforcement regime, have been tempted to think swapping points might be a trivial matter in the eyes of the law too.