A government proposal to increase the charge for fixed penalty notice by £30 has met with disapproval by over half of motorists in an IAM survey.
The proposals will see the charge increased from its current rate of £60 to £90 if they are realised.
Fixed penalty notices are handed out for a number of driving offences, including jumping red lights and speeding.
The changes are intended to top up the fund for victims of crime and witnesses by £30m.
51 percent of drivers questioned in the survey (1129 respondents) said they disagreed with the measures, while 35 percent backed the proposal. 28 percent felt strong opposition to the proposal while a further 13 percent said they couldn’t reach a definitive decision on the matter.
Commenting on the results of the research, IAM chief executive Simon Best said:
“While funding victims of crime is laudable, the real aim of fines for motoring offences should be deterrence. We want to stop people breaking the law. Having an income that relies on dangerous driving won’t help reduce crashes. There is a strong case for this money to be spent on road safety.”
80 percent of drivers felt that the money raised from fixed charge notices would be better directed towards improving road safety as opposed to victim support.
The same percentage of drivers also feels that the move would lessen car owner’s faith in enforcement measures, such as safety cameras.
Drivers gave a variety of responses when they were asked which factors would deter them from bad driving. 48 percent cited ‘the fear of the consequences in terms of causing death or injury to myself/my passengers or other road users in the result of an accident’.
The large majority, 68 percent, said ‘enforcement – the likelihood I will get caught’, while 42 percent said it was ‘the severity of the punishment if I was caught’.
