| MOTOR
VEHICLE OFFENCES IN SCOTLAND, 1997 |
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| 1.
Introduction |
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| 1.1 This
bulletin presents statistics on motor vehicle offences
recorded by the police in Scotland and motor vehicle
offences proceeded against in Scottish courts. It also
analyses information on alternatives to prosecution and
the issue of fixed penalty notices for stationary vehicle
offences. |
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| 1.2 Figures
are generally quoted to the nearest 100 in the text but
are given precisely in the tables. Details of the terms
used in this bulletin are given in the Annex. |
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Chart
1a Motor vehicle offences recorded by police in Scotland,
1997
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Chart
1b Fixed penalty notices for stationary vehicle offences
in Scotland, 1997
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| 2. Key Points |
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- The total number of
motor vehicle offences recorded by the police in
1997 was 331,000, an increase of 8 per cent
compared with 1996 and 36 per cent of all crimes
and offences recorded by the police.
- In 1997 the number of
tachograph etc offences recorded more than
doubled to 8,400, while there were also marked
increases for speeding in restricted areas (up 20
per cent to 60,600), lighting offences (up 20 per
cent to 24,900) and seat belt offences (up 14 per
cent to 28,300). Decreases were recorded in the
number of offences of dangerous and careless
driving (down 6 per cent to 16,300), drunk
driving (down 5 per cent to 11,200) and driving
while disqualified (down 3 per cent to 4,200).
- In 1997 the police
made 123,600 conditional offers of a fixed
penalty, 300 fewer than in 1996.
- An estimated total of
24,000 offences were dealt with by the vehicle
defect rectification scheme in 1997, marginally
below the 1996 total of 24,600.
- Of those speeding
offences which were subject to a police
conditional offer in 1997, the proportion that
were automatically detected increased to 36 per
cent for offences of speeding in restricted areas
and to 45 per cent for other speeding offences.
- The number of motor
vehicle offences proceeded against in court in
1997 was 98,900, marginally above the 1996 total
of 98,500 but more than 10 per cent below the
annual average recorded between 1987 and 1995.
The number of persons proceeded against for at
least one motor vehicle offence was 64,600, 1 per
cent more than in 1996.
- For 87 per cent of
offences proceeded against in 1997, the charge
was proved or accepted. A fine was the most
common penalty, imposed for 81 per cent of
charges proved or accepted. In addition to the
main penalty imposed, 27 per cent of convictions
for offences resulted in disqualification from
driving and a further 37 per cent in an
endorsement of the offender’s driving
licence.
- A total of 438,700
fixed penalty notices were issued for stationary
vehicle offences in 1997, 69 per cent of which
were for illegal parking and 22 per cent for
failing to display a road tax disk.
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| 3. Motor Vehicle Offences: An
Overview (Table 1) |
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| 3.1 Most
motor vehicle offences are dealt with by means other than
court proceedings. Table 1 shows the numbers of offences
which were dealt with by various means for the period
1987-1997. Further information on offences recorded,
alternatives to prosecution and offences proceeded
against in court is given in sections 4 to 7. Stationary
vehicle offences, mainly parking offences, for which
police fixed penalty notices are issued, are not included
in the figures for recorded offences. However, moving
offences such as speeding offences which are dealt with
via the police and procurator fiscal conditional offer
system are included. Further details of fixed penalty
notices issued for stationary vehicle offences are given
in section 8. |
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| 3.2 Non
payment of a procurator fiscal or police conditional
offer of a fixed penalty is usually followed by
prosecution. Consequently there is an overlap between
conditional offers made and offences proceeded against in
court. |
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| 3.3 Between
1987 and 1997, the number of licensed vehicles in
Scotland increased by 28 per cent to over 2 million. Over
the same period, the number of motor vehicle offences
recorded by the police increased by a similar proportion,
33 per cent. There has been a general trend away from
proceeding against offences in court (down 10 per cent
between 1987 and 1997) towards alternatives to
prosecution such as the vehicle defect rectification
schemes or police and fiscal conditional offers of fixed
penalties, which dealt with more than double the number
of offences in 1997 than ten years previously. |
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| 4. Motor Vehicle Offences Recorded
by the Police (Table 2) |
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| 4.1 The
number of motor vehicle offences recorded by the police
in each of the years 1992 - 1997 is shown in Table 2.
These figures include offences in respect of which either
the police or the procurator fiscal made a conditional
offer of a fixed penalty (mainly moving vehicle
offences). They do not include stationary vehicle
offences which are dealt with by the police or traffic
wardens by means of police fixed penalty notices (mainly
parking offences). For information on stationary vehicle
offences see Section 8 and Tables 11 - 14. |
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| 4.2 The
total number of motor vehicle offences recorded in 1997
was 331,000, an increase of 8 per cent on the 1996 total.
This reversed the decreases recorded in 1995 and 1996,
bringing the total back up to just over the previous peak
of 330,700 recorded in 1994. In 1997 motor vehicle
offences represented just over one third (36 per cent) of
all crimes and offences recorded by the police. |
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| 4.3 Changes
in the number of motor vehicle offences recorded can
arise largely as a result of changes in the level of
enforcement or police deployment, including the impact of
national campaigns in relation to issues such as seat
belt, drunk driving and speeding offences. For example,
the increase of 14 per cent between 1996 and 1997 in the
number of seat belt offences is believed to be in part
due to the continued effects of a national seat belt
campaign. The number of tachograph etc offences recorded
more than doubled to 8,400, while there were also marked
increases for speeding in restricted areas (up 20 per
cent to 60,600) and lighting offences (up 20 per cent to
24,900). In 1997 there were decreases in the number of
offences recorded for dangerous and careless driving
(down 6 per cent to 16,300), drunk driving (down 5 per
cent to 11,200) and driving while disqualified (down 3
per cent to 4,200). |
