One in eight speeding tickets cancelled

The RAC Foundation said the hundreds of thousands of fines cancelled each year nationally are evidence that the system for catching and prosecuting speeding motorists is not working.

Home Office data shows that Northumbria Police recorded 57,753 speeding offences in 2020-21.

Of these, 19,130 (33%) were dealt with by fixed penalty notices and 25,902 (45%) by speeding awareness courses, while 5,182 (9%) resulted in someone being taken to court.

A further 6,876 (12%) were dismissed – up from eight per cent the year before.

Among the reasons why offences could be cancelled are faulty or incorrectly calibrated speed cameras, a lack of resources to bring cases to court, or cloned vehicles carrying a false number plate, according to the RAC Foundation.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said it is important that the systems of detection and prosecution for speeding are robust but added: “The hundreds of thousands of ‘cancelled’ offences each year indicate they are not.

"At the very least it is an administrative burden the police could do without. The Home Office needs to start collecting data from police forces about these cancelled offences so we can understand where the problem lies.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “How the police deal with speeding offences is an operational matter and will be enforced at the discretion of the individual police force.

“Motorists must obey the speed limit, which is there to protect and benefit all road users.”