Thirty years after the first Gatso camera was installed in the UK to catch speeding motorists, new figures reveal the sites catching the most drivers. In 12 months, 1.74 million speeding offences were captured by cameras across the UK, with drivers forking out a staggering £45.7 million in fines.
That’s according to new Freedom of Information data obtained by Confused.com from 36 of the 46 police forces in the UK. The FOI request asked UK police forces how many prosecutions were made against drivers caught speeding.
However, of the 1.74 million motorists that were caught, only 457,232 drivers were forced to take a £100 fine and 3 penalty points on their licence. Instead of a fine, 698,115 drivers opted to take a speed awareness course. This typically costs around £100 for enrolment, but means the participant doesn’t get any penalty points. The worst offending drivers could be taken to court and get an even more severe punishment, with fines potentially as a percentage of their salary.
