9.1 Motor Vehicle Offences: Context ( Table 15)
9.1.1 Most motor vehicle offences are dealt with by means other than court proceedings. Table 15 shows the numbers of offences which were dealt with by various means for the period 1995/96 to 2004/05. Further information on offences recorded, alternatives to prosecution and offences proceeded against in court is given in sections 9.4 to 9.7. Stationary vehicle offences, mainly parking offences, for which police fixed penalty notices are issued, are not included in the figures for recorded offences. However, moving offences such as speeding offences which are dealt with via the police and procurator fiscal conditional offer system are included. Further details of fixed penalty notices issued for stationary vehicle offences are given in section 9.5.
9.1.2 Non-payment of a procurator fiscal or police conditional offer of a fixed penalty is usually followed by prosecution. Consequently there is an overlap between conditional offers made and offences proceeded against in court.
9.1.3 The number of licensed motor vehicles in Scotland increased by over a quarter (28 per cent) between 1995/96 and 2004/05 when it reached 2.4 million. The number of recorded offences per 1,000 licensed vehicles in 2004/05 was 171, the third highest annual figure in the last 10 years. There has been a general trend away from court proceedings against motor vehicle offences (number of charges proved in 2004/05 were over a fifth lower than in 1995/96) towards the use of alternatives to prosecution such as police and fiscal conditional offers of fixed penalties. The number of offences dealt with by these latter measures has more than doubled between 1995/96 and 2004/05.
9.2 Motor Vehicle Offences Recorded by the Police ( Table 16)
9.2.1 The number of motor vehicle offences recorded by the police in each of the years 1995/96 and 2000/01 to 2004/05 is shown in Table 16. These figures include offences in respect of which either the police or the procurator fiscal made a conditional offer of a fixed penalty (mainly moving vehicle offences). They do not include stationary vehicle offences (mainly parking and waiting offences) which are dealt with by the police or traffic wardens through the issuing of police fixed penalty notices. For information on stationary vehicle offences, see Section 9.5.
9.2.2 The total number of motor vehicle offences recorded in 2004/05 was 418,700, a decrease of 2 per cent on the 2003/04 total. In recent years, motor vehicle offences have generally accounted for a growing proportion of all crimes and offences recorded by the police: in 2004/05 they represented 39 per cent of the total compared with 34 per cent in 1995/96. Half of all motor vehicle offences recorded by the police in 2004/05 related to speeding offences.
9.2.3 The overall decrease between 2003/04 and 2004/05 was reflected in most offence categories, though increases were recorded for dangerous driving (up 6 per cent to 3,000), careless driving (up 9 per cent to 10,100), speeding in restricted areas (up 2 per cent to 123,900), other speeding (up 10 per cent to 86,600), traffic direction offences (up 4 per cent to 24,400) and seat belt offences (up 5 per cent to 29,700). Changes in the figures for individual offence categories may arise because of changes in the level of enforcement or police deployment.
Chart 9: Motor vehicle offences recorded by police in Scotland, 2004/05
9.3 Alternatives to Prosecution ( Tables 17 and 18)
9.3.1 In many instances, where the offence is of a more minor nature, the offender is not prosecuted in court. There are several alternatives to prosecution which are available in Scotland, the main ones for road traffic offences being the vehicle defect rectification scheme (introduced on 1 May 1984), under which drivers of vehicles are given a set period of time to repair their vehicle, and conditional offers of a fixed penalty which can be given by the procurator fiscal (introduced on 1 July 1983) or by the police (introduced on 1 April 1993).
9.3.2 During the late 1990s, over 30,000 offences were dealt with each year under the vehicle defect rectification scheme.
9.3.3 The number of conditional offers issued by the police in 2004/05 was 280,900, an increase of 22 per cent compared with 2003. Sixty-nine per cent of these offers related to speeding offences. Just under 11,000 conditional offers in 2004/05 were made in respect of the new offence introduced in December 2003 of driving while using a mobile telephone. A total of 9,800 reports to Procurators Fiscal in 2004/05 resulted in the acceptance of a conditional offer of a fixed penalty for moving vehicle offences.
9.3.4 Since the mid 1990s, an increasing proportion of the police conditional offers of a fixed penalty related to offences which had been detected automatically e.g. via a speed camera. In 2004/05, 83 per cent of offers made for speeding offences in restricted areas related to offences which had been detected automatically compared with 20 per cent in 1995. A similar increase was recorded for other speeding offences: the proportion of offers relating to offences which had been detected automatically increased from 27 per cent in 1995 to 82 per cent in 2004/05. The number of offences that are detected automatically will fluctuate according to the number of cameras that are in operation at any given time. The proportion of police conditional offers in 2004/05 for traffic direction offences ("jumping a red light") which had been detected automatically was 41 per cent.
Chart 10: Police conditional offers made for speeding offences: percentage where offence detected automatically, 1995-2004/05
9.4 Offences with a Charge Proved ( Table 19)
9.4.1 In 2004/05, the total number of individual motor vehicle offences with a charge proved in court was 72,000, a decrease of 8 per cent compared with 2003/04. For 47,400 persons, a motor vehicle offence was the main offence with which they were charged.
9.4.2 Decreases between 2003/04 and 2004/05 in the number of offences with a charge proved were recorded for most offence categories. Increases were recorded for dangerous driving (up 4 per cent to 1,200), other speeding (up 10 per cent to 10,700), construction and use offences (up 6 per cent to 3,000) and tachograph offences (up 24 per cent to 1,400). The total of 4,000 careless driving offences with a charge proved in 2004/05 included 28 offences recorded as having arisen from a fatal road accident.
Penalties imposed ( Tables 20-22)
9.4.3 In 2004/05, an estimated 80 per cent of all motor vehicle offences proceeded against resulted in the charge being proved or accepted. A fine was the most common penalty: 79 per cent of offences proved or accepted resulted in a fine, 13 per cent resulted in an admonition and 3 per cent resulted in a custodial sentence.
9.4.4 While 3 per cent of all motor vehicle offences with a charge proved or accepted in 2004/053 resulted in a custodial sentence, the corresponding proportion was higher for driving while disqualified (35 per cent), dangerous driving (20 per cent) and drunk driving (4 per cent).
9.4.5 In relative terms, admonishment was used more frequently for the offences of driving a motor vehicle without a current test certificate (46 per cent), driving licence offences (31 per cent), insurance offences (22 per cent) and failing to stop after an accident (20 per cent).
9.4.6 In addition to the main penalty imposed, 32 per cent of offences resulted in an outright disqualification or disqualification under the 'totting up' procedure (this is a procedure by which drivers who obtain 12 or more penalty points for offences committed within a three year period are disqualified from driving). A further 46 per cent of offences resulted in endorsement of penalty points on the driver's licence. Thirty-seven per cent of disqualifications were for drunk driving and a further 30 per cent were for failing to have third party insurance. This latter category also accounted for 27 per cent of all endorsements issued. For speeding offences endorsement is obligatory in all but exceptional circumstances and is generally given with a fine.
Fines
9.4.7 Excluding the small number of cases where no separate figure was available, the average fine given in 2004/05 for motor vehicle offences which resulted in a fine was £182. Twelve per cent of fines were for £50 or less while 12 per cent were in excess of £300. Unsurprisingly, the heaviest fines were imposed for more serious types of offences: the average fines for dangerous driving, drunk driving offences and driving while disqualified were £415, £367 and £336 respectively. The total amount of fines imposed by Scottish courts for motor vehicle offences in 2004/05 was estimated to be £10.4 million.
Disqualifications
9.4.8 In 2004/05, a total of 23,100 motor vehicle offences resulted in the offender being disqualified from driving. Of those offences for which a separate period of disqualification was identifiable, 10,600 (46 per cent) resulted in disqualification for more than 12 months, including 101 which led to disqualification for life and 554 which resulted in the offender being disqualified until they had retaken their driving test.
9.4.9 Seventy-three per cent of disqualifications for over three years were imposed for drunk driving or driving while already disqualified. Dangerous driving and failure to insure against third party risks accounted for a further 13 per cent and 11 per cent respectively of disqualifications of this length.
9.4.10 For those offences for which a determinate period of disqualification was given, the average period of disqualification in 2004/05 was 20 months. However, for the offence of driving while disqualified the average period imposed was 40 months.
9.5 Police Fixed Penalties for Stationary Vehicle Offences ( Tables 23 and 24)
9.5.1 To enable the offender to discharge liability for prosecution for stationary vehicle offences such as unlawful parking or failure to display a valid vehicle excise licence (road tax disk), the police and traffic wardens may issue fixed penalty notices. In 2004/05, a total of 106,000 such notices were issued, 26 per cent fewer than in 2003. Much of the decrease in the number of fixed penalty notices issued in recent years reflects the decriminalisation of parking infringements in City of Edinburgh, Glasgow City and Perth & Kinross, Aberdeen City, Dundee City and South Lanarkshire council areas, in October 1998, October 1999, October 2002, March 2003, April 2004 and February 2005 respectively.
9.5.2 In 2004/05, over two-thirds (69 per cent) of all fixed penalty notices issued by the police were for parking and waiting (including clearway) offences, with failure to display a valid excise licence accounting for nearly all of the remainder.
9.5.3 The proportion of cases in 2004/05 in which the fixed penalty was paid was 65 per cent. In 16 per cent of cases an automatic fine was registered and in the remaining 18 per cent of cases no further action was taken.
9.6 Civil Penalty Charge Notices for Parking Infringements ( Tables 25 and 26)
9.6.1 Under revised arrangements, most parking infringements in the City of Edinburgh, Glasgow City, Perth & Kinross, Aberdeen City, Dundee City and South Lanarkshire council areas have been dealt with as a civil matter, as from October 1998, October 1999, October 2002, March 2003, April 2004 and February 2005 respectively.
9.6.2 The total number of penalty charge notices for parking infringements issued in 2004/05 by those councils which operate these civil penalty schemes was 513,700, a decrease of 9 per cent compared with 2003. Revenues from these notices and from vehicle removals totalled £14.4 million in 2004/05.
9.6.3 In 2004/05, City of Edinburgh (44 per cent) and Glasgow City (37 per cent) accounted for the great majority of penalty charge notices issued for parking infringements.
9.7 Other Offences Related to Motor Vehicles ( Table 27)
9.7.1 Certain crimes related to motor vehicles are not included within the group of motor vehicle offences in the SEJD classification of crimes and offences. These are causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs and reckless driving (common law).
9.7.2 In 2004/05, the police recorded 21 crimes of causing death by dangerous driving, and 2 crimes of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs.
9.7.3 In 2004/05, 25 persons were convicted where the main offence was causing death by dangerous driving and 4 by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs. Custodial sentences were passed in all but two of these cases (with an average sentence of 53 months for causing death by dangerous driving and 39 months for causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs). No convictions were recorded for 2004/05 with reckless driving (common law) as the main offence.