Thousands of speeding offences in Hampshire are cancelled amid fears the system is failing

The concern has been raised by the RAC Foundation after it was revealed that one in nine speeding fines in the county were scrubbed.

The charity’s analysis of Home Office data showed that Hampshire Constabulary recorded 65,356 speeding offences in 2020-21.

Of these, 18,749 (29 per cent) were dealt with by fixed penalty notices and 32,333 (49 per cent) by speeding awareness courses, while 7,305 (11 per cent) resulted in someone being taken to court.

However, a further 6,944 – 11 per cent – were dismissed, a slight rise from 10 per cent the year before.

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Among the reasons why offences could be cancelled are faulty or incorrectly calibrated speed cameras, a lack of resources to bring cases to court, or cloned vehicles carrying a false number plate, according to the RAC Foundation.

Across England and Wales, 17 per cent of all speeding offences were cancelled last year – an increase from 13 per cent in 2019-20.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said it is important that the systems of detection and prosecution for speeding are robust.

But he added: ‘The hundreds of thousands of “cancelled” offences each year indicate they are not.

‘At the very least it is an administrative burden the police could do without.

‘We urge the Home Office to start collecting data from police forces about these cancelled offences so we can understand where the problem lies.’

But Conor Curtis, Hampshire Constabulary’s summary justice unit manager, insisted the cancellation of speeding offences was not due to ‘police failing or a systemic issue’.

He said: ‘The figures released by the Home Office indicate that a proportion of Hampshire-based motorists have had their speeding offences either cancelled or rescinded through the national fixed penalty notice system.

‘There are a variety of reasons why these offences may be cancelled, these could include evidence coming to light to suggest no offence has taken place through to the fact that a driver has been found to be untraceable, meaning we could not legitimately take action, despite exhausting relevant lines of enquiry to identify the motorist.

‘The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has played a significant part in these offences being cancelled or rescinded and can be attributed to the cause of the one per cent increase in 2020-21 from the previous year. This was primarily due to restrictions impacting on driver awareness course provision and an increased workload in the court system.

‘As such, we do not believe this to be a case of police failings or a systemic issue.

‘This is a timely reminder that driving above the speed limit can have devastating consequences with a quarter of fatalities due to speeding or inappropriate speeds for the road areas and or conditions.

‘A speed limit is exactly that – a limit, not a target.’

The number of speeding offences also fell in Hampshire, down 27 per cent from 89,315 in 2019-20, making it the lowest number since comparable records began in 2012-13.

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