UK drivers are paying £25MILLION more in fines than five years ago as most-pinged areas are revealed
MOTORISTS are paying out millions in fines each year - but do you live in one of the UK's worst areas for driving offences?
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that Brits are paying out more in driving fines than ever before.
Wessex Fleet has found out which areas of the UK are paying the biggest average fines.
It asked 42 local police forces across the UK and used government statistics to find out how much had been collected in fines for driving offences.
It discovered that some 435,845 people received a fine for driving offences in 2020.
And they're shelling out more than ever before for their driving faux pas.
In total, Brits paid of £25.2million MORE in fines in 2020 than they did in 2015.
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And the average fine has gone up by £58 to a meaty £341 per offence.
These figures may get even worse, after councils were given more powers to hit motorists with fines for minor offences.
Almost 300 councils in England, which already have responsibility for enforcing parking offences, are now able to apply for the powers to dish out fines to motorists.
A revamped Highway Code, which was introduced in January, has also changed a number of road rules, bringing confusion for some motorists.
Under a new road hierarchy, cyclists and pedestrians take precedence over drivers.
And more fines and penalties are not the only cost that drivers are grappling with.
Petrol prices have reached a new high this week, with the cost of filling up a typical family car now an eye-watering £90.
The area is closely followed by Northamptonshire and the West Midlands, where averages fines are £428 and £413 respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, drivers in Norfolk are paying the least in fines at £271.
Motorists in Dyfed-Powys pay an average of £276.
The reason the amounts vary is because the fine you get depends on your offence.
For example, the typical fine for dangerous driving in the UK was £690 in 2020, according to Wessex Fleet.
The second biggest average fine was for the offence of failing to supply information as to the identity of a driver when required.
With a typical penalty of £676, some 72,862 motorists were hit with this offence in 2020.
Other types of fine included in the research include having defective vehicle parts, failing to stop or provide information after an accidents, and vehicle insurance offences.
Here are the areas with the biggest average driving fines:
- Warwickshire - £467
- Northamptonshire - £428
- West Midlands - £413
- Wiltshire - £391
- Northumbria - £386
- Staffordshire - £380
- Derbyshire - £370
- Lincolnshire - £369
- Avon and Somerset - £368
- Leicestershire - £367
And here are the areas with the lowest average driving fine
- Norfolk - £271
- Dyfed-Powys - £276
- South Wales - £280
- Sussex - £292
- Suffolk - £297
- Nottinghamshire - £308
- North Wales - £310
- Essex - £311
- Cheshire - £322
- West Mercia - £324
We've previously looked at how much speeding fines are in the UK.
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Plus, here are all the fines of up to £2,500 that drivers risk for breaking rules under the new Highway Code.
And these are the fines for drink driving in the UK and well as the rules around using a phone while driving explained.
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