FEWER of us are being caught for driving offences, with the number of detections falling by 9 per cent last year according to PSNI statistics, writes William Scholes.
Speeding was the biggest single group, accounting for 6,958 offences from a total of 40,335 dealt with by means of a fixed penalty notice, speed awareness course or referral for prosecution. The highest top speed recorded by police was 140mph, double the limit, on the M1 at Craigavon.
It is worth noting that the Road Safety Partnership - essentially the vans with cameras that are parked at roadsides across the north - detected almost nine times more speeding offences - 61,876 - than the PSNI.
The PSNI detected almost as many insurance offences, 6,751, as it did speeding offences. The figures were recorded between December 1 2022 and November 30 2022.
Ian Wilson, managing director of CompareNI.com said it was encouraging to see the number of overall road offences decrease.
"However, it is shocking to see that insurance is the second highest motoring offence, accounting for a third of all recorded offences on our roads in the past 12 months," he said.
“Insurance is a legal requirement and the consequences of driving without it are severe and costly. Those caught driving without adequate insurance can face six penalty points, disqualification of driving and a fine of up to £200.
“At a time when the cost of living is so high, nobody wants to be paying more than they have to for their insurance.
"Three points on a licence can mean 5 per cent more on a premium every year for the four years an infringement stays on the licence, six points can push up fees by about 25 per cent.”
More than 40 per cent of those detected by the PSNI for insurance offences were aged under 30.
There was a 32 per cent fall in mobile phone offences, which suggests that tighter legislation around in-car phone use and awareness-raising campaigns about the dangers of driving while distracted by a phone have had a positive effect. More than half of those caught for phone offences were aged between 30 and 49.
Policing districts shadow council areas, and the PSNI figures show that Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon was the worst area for motoring offences in Northern Ireland, with 354 offences per 10,000 people.
Antrim and Newtownabbey district council was the second highest with 339 per 10,000 people, closely followed by Newry Mourne and Down with 303 and Mid Ulster with 298.
Ards and North Down recorded the lowest rate, with 134 offences per 10,000 people.
