In addition, the number of motorists caught for speeding by police officers
increased between 2002 and 2003 (Home Office, 2005). Comparative
figures for camera and police enforcement of speeding offences is
given below:
Code:
Action 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
By police 554500 571300 496700 421700 304200 322400 464000
By camera 336700 403800 498600 699400 1014600 1235500 1784500
Total 891200 975100 995300 1121100 1318800 1557900 2248500
From these figures, there can be no doubt that there has been a significant
increase in the use of speed cameras as a means of detecting
speeding motorists. In part, this is the result of the new funding
mechanisms introduced in the Vehicle (Crimes) Act 2001. There also
appears to have been some decline in police action in catching speeding
motorists since 1999. However, it is also important to note that police
action has itself increased over the last two years: by 5% between
2001 and 2002 and by 43% between 2002 and 2003. The latter increase
parallels a comparable increase of 44% in camera activity between
the same years.
I am drafting an FOI to expand the top line of this to see how much is "police camera action" as opposed to "proper" traffic policing. In particular, I want to see a line for other motoring offences - careless driving charges brought by police without involving an accident (ie, just as a result of normal policing)