Commentary
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6804101001 |
| Published date | 01 October 1968 |
| Date | 01 October 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Commentary |
Motoring Offences
The enforcement of motor car law brings an ever-greater load of
work to traffic and other departments. The return of motor vehicle
offences for 1967 shows that 1,491,214 offences were dealt with by
prosecution (a rise of 10 per cent. since 1966) and that, in addition
to an unspecified
but
huge number of verbal warnings, the police
issued 288,358 written warnings (an increase of 5.6 per cent.) and
776,274 fixed penalty notices-273,723 more than in the previous
year.
During 1967, a million more vehicles came on the road, bringing
the total registered to approximately 14m.
For
the first time, more
than a million people were prosecuted for motoring offences.
The return gives comparative figures for force areas but as the
reorganization of the structure of the Service was in process during
the period, these figures are not very meaningful in terms of present
application. Once the new structure of the Service has settled down,
say in two years' time, it will be possible to draw some valid con-
clusions. The smaller number of forces will make the business of
comparison considerably simpler and it will be easier to allow for the
factors which result in variations.
The inevitable reflection after studying the return is that whilst
the volume and variety of police work are building up at such a
rate the Service should not be denied the opportunity to recruit
accordingly.
Fines
The law is brought into disrepute when the penalties of the
courts are not enforced.
It
remains to be seen what kind of deterrent
the suspended sentence will prove
but
it is pretty clear that the fine
is having less and less effect simply because it so often remains
uncollected. The situation is so bad that no one really knows what
the total arrears amount to. Local figures are alarming: Glasgow
admits to about £100,000 for its Sheriff Court and Liverpool to
about £45,000 for its magistrates' courts.
It
is unfair to blame the court officials. They have so much work
to do that they very properly concentrate on what is most important
and most urgent. They are too few in number and though the fine
has become the most common penalty inflicted by justices of the
peace-over
a million people were fined for motoring offences in
1967-there
has been no commensurate increase in the staff re-
sponsible for collection.
October 1968 449
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