It has been revealed today that the UK are needlessly being caught out by police for broken car back lights.
The research used the Freedom of Information Act to gain the data from all policing constabularies within the UK. The forces were asked how many Fixed Penalty Notices and Roadside Prohibition Notices they had given out during the 1st November 2016 to 31st October 2017.
Of the 49 police constabularies who were contacted, 29 responded with the full information, eight didn’t answer the request and 12 don’t hold the information required.
From the 29 police forces who answered the request, there were 8,323 Fixed Penalty Notices and Roadside Prohibition notices, which averages out at 287 per constabulary.
The place where most of these notices were handed out was in West Yorkshire, which handed out a total of 3727 over the time period. This is followed by Norfolk Constabulary which gave out 631 and North Wales police with 587.
There was a higher number of Fixed Penalty Notices given out compared to Roadside Prohibition Notices.
According to the RAC, a Fixed Penalty Notice is an administrative alternative to prosecution before the magistrates’ court which includes a fine and, in most cases, penalty points too. You will be issued a notice on the spot or through the post from the police. If you accept guilt, pay the fine or collect the points, you will avoid a court summons, but if you challenge it you will have to appear in court.
According to the government, a Roadside Prohibition Notice is defined as a prohibition which is issued to prohibit further use of the vehicle until the fault has been rectified and full compliance with roadworthiness and weight standards are achieved.
Dominic Whitecross says: “It’s interesting to see how many people are getting caught when it comes to the simplest of car issues. Obviously, it can’t be helped if the light is broken via a collision or if the light bulb was to go out whilst on route to your destination.
“However making sure you have a working backlight on your car is probably one of the easier car maintenance issues to resolve. Getting a friend or family to have a quick look at your back light regularly will help combat this problem. Alternatively, it may be simpler, if you’re struggling to maintain your existing vehicle, to purchase a new car”.
