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THE SPEEDING DRIVER: WHO, HOW AND WHY?
STOPPED BY THE POLICE
8.26 Drivers were asked 'Have you ever been stopped by the police for exceeding the speed limit?'. Overall, male drivers (39%) had been stopped by the police for exceeding the speed limit significantly more often that had female drivers (15%) as shown in Table 8.9.
Table 8.9: Percentage of drivers ever stopped by the police for speeding by sex and age group
[Cell %s] | 17-20 | 21-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-69 | 70+ | Total | p for Age | p for M v F |
M | 18 | 26 | 40 | 51 | 48 | 43 | 34 | 39% | .001 | .000 |
F | - | 10 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 15% | .027 | |
8.27 Within both male and female drivers there were statistically significant differences between age groups. Half (51%) of male drivers currently aged 40-59 had been stopped, at some point in their driving career. 1 in 5 female drivers (22%) currently aged 30-49 had been stopped by the police for speeding.
8.28 For both male and female drivers, the larger the engine capacity of the car they were currently driving, the more likely they were to have ever been stopped by the police for speeding. Table 8.10 shows the proportions for drivers of small engined cars (up to 1.3 litres), medium (to 1.6 litres) and larger engined cars (above 1.6 litres). The elevation with engine size in the proportions who had been stopped by the police was statistically significant for both males (p for chi-square comparison .000) and females (p = .006).
Table 8.10: Percentage of drivers ever stopped by the police for speeding by engine size of current car and sex
[Cell %s] | - 1.3L | 1.3 - 1.6L | > 1.6L | P for chi-square |
M | 26 | 31 | 53 | .000 |
F | 9 | 20 | 18 | .006 |
8.29 Those who had been stopped were asked 'What happened the last time you were stopped for speeding?' Table 8.11 gives the responses, in descending order of frequency.
Table 8.11: What happened the last time you were stopped by the police for speeding?
| % |
Fined | 53 |
Points on licence | 49 |
Received warning | 28 |
Received a conditional offer / fixed penalty ticket | 25 |
Charged | 21 |
Breathalysed | 17 |
Police checked parts of the car | 12 |
Told to take licence / insurance to a police station | 8 |
Something else | 3 |
No response | 3 |
Too early to say | 1 |
Don't know | 0 |
8.30 Half of those stopped for speeding by the police had been punished for speeding (Fined: 53%; points on licence: 49%).
Flashed by a speed camera
8.31 Drivers were asked 'How many times have you been flashed by a speed camera at all in the past three years?'. Table 8.12 gives the distribution, separately for males and females.
Table 8.12: Number of times flashed by speed camera in past three years by gender
[Column %s] | Male | Female | Total |
0 | 77 | 85 | 81 |
1 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
2 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
>4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
8.32 Significantly more male (23%) than female drivers (15%) in this sample had been flashed by a speed camera in the previous three years. Fewer males but as many females had been flashed by a speed camera in the past three years as had been stopped by the police for speeding during their driving career.
8.33 Table 8.13 gives the proportions in each age group who had been flashed for speeding.
Table 8.13: Percentage flashed by speed camera in previous three years by age group and gender
| 17-20 | 21-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-69 | 70+ | Total | p for Age | p for MvF |
M | 15 | 25 | 31 | 24 | 30 | 18 | 10 | 23% | ns | .002 |
F | 3 | 21 | 24 | 17 | 9 | 8 | | 15% | .003 | |
8.33 The differences among the age groups for the male drivers were not statistically significant, while those for the female drivers were, for whom the highest incidence was the quarter (24%) of female drivers between the ages of 30-39 who achieved a level of detection equivalent to the average level for male drivers. The figures for the youngest (17-20) and older (50+) female drivers were substantially lower.
8.34 Respondents who had been flashed were asked 'What happened the last time you were flashed by a speed camera?' Table 8.14 gives the responses.
Table 8.14: What happened the last time you were flashed by a speed camera?
| % |
Nothing, didn't hear anything about it | 81 |
Received a conditional offer / fixed penalty ticket | 17 |
Too early to say | 1 |
Something else | 1 |
Was charged with a more serious offence | - |
No response | 1 |
Don't know | 0 |
8.35 23% of Scottish male drivers and 15% of Scottish female drivers have been flashed by a camera for speeding in the past three years. Only 1 in 6 (17%) of those flashed received a speeding ticket the last time they were detected speeding. For 4 in 5 of these (81%) the last time they were flashed, nothing happened.
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