Mobility • Safety • Economy • Environment Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use A review Dr Adam Snow Liverpool Hope University October 2017 The Royal Automobile Club Foundation for Motoring Ltd is a transport policy and research organisation which explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users. The Foundation publishes independent and authoritative research with which it promotes informed debate and advocates policy in the interest of the responsible motorist. RAC Foundation 89–91 Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HS Tel no: 020 7747 3445 www.racfoundation.org Registered Charity No. 1002705 October 2017 © Copyright Royal Automobile Club Foundation for Motoring Ltd Mobility • Safety • Economy • Environment Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use A review Dr Adam Snow Liverpool Hope University October 2017 About the Author Dr Adam Snow is a lecturer in criminology at Liverpool Hope University. His research expertise lies in the field of road traffic, road safety and parking enforcement. He has produced research reports for a variety of organisations that are involved in parking enforcement and road traffic regulation. His most recent work involved examining (with colleagues from the University of Birmingham) public perceptions of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal's online case management system. His research examines public expectations and experiences of regulation and punishment, and the perceived legitimacy of such enforcement systems. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Professor Sally Kyd of Leicester University and Dr Helen Wells of Keele University for their support in getting the project off the ground and their helpful comments throughout the process. The author and the RAC Foundation would like to thank the peer reviewers for their helpful comments on drafts of the report. The author would also like to thank the RAC Foundation, and in particular Elizabeth Box, for funding this research and providing support throughout the project. Disclaimer This report has been prepared for the RAC Foundation by Dr Adam Snow (Liverpool Hope University). Any errors or omissions are the author’s sole responsibility. The report content reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of the RAC Foundation or those who offered a peer review or comments on the draft report. i Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use – A review www.racfoundation.org ii Contents List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................v Foreword .............................................................................................................................vi Executive Summary ............................................................................................................viii 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Automation .................................................................................................................... 5 2 A History of Automated Motoring Punishment – Streamlining Enforcement Procedures ....... 7 2.1 The motor car and driver ............................................................................................... 8 2.2 Changing procedures to deal with problematic motoring ............................................. 10 2.3 Increasing automation of the punishment process ....................................................... 12 2.4 Parking and decriminalisation ...................................................................................... 13 2.5 Road traffic enforcement post-1991 ............................................................................ 15 3 Automated Enforcement – Current Practice .............................................................................19 3.1 Police automated enforcement .................................................................................... 19 3.2 Local authority automated enforcement ....................................................................... 30 4 Automatic Enforcement – the Future .................................................................................. 43 4.1 Legislative analysis ...................................................................................................... 44 5 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix A: Police Service Strength – Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Road Traffic Officers 2012–15 ............................................................................................................................ 61 Appendix B: Percentage of Camera-Enforced Fixed Penalty Notices by Police Force Area .............................................................................................................. 63 Appendix C: Schedule 3 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 ....................................... 69 References ........................................................................................................................ 73 A note on statistical sources .............................................................................................. 82 i Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use – A review www.racfoundation.org ii List of Figures Figure 2.1: Court prosecutions, in England and Wales, for fixed penalty notice (FPN) offences for the first ten years of FPN operation ..................................................................11 Figure 2.2 On-the-spot penalties and summary proceedings issued for motoring, 1960–91 .............................................................................................................................16 Figure 2.3: Total fixed penalty notices, parking charge notices and prosecutions for motoring offences/regulations, 1986–2011 .........................................................................17 Figure 3.1: Total fixed penalty notices issued each year, and the proportion that were issued by way of camera enforcement ................................................................................22 Figure 3.2 Comparison of the number of fixed penalty notices issued for speeding and the number of speed awareness courses attended ......................................................24 Figure 3.3 Total fixed penalty notices issued for speeding, and the percentage that are enforced by a camera ...................................................................................................25 Figure 3.4: Rate of fixed penalty notice issue and awareness courses attended (‘What’s Driving Us’) for the offence of neglecting traffic lights .............................................28 Figure 3.5: Percentage of red-light offences that are enforced by a camera ........................29 Figure 3.6: Total Penalty Charge Notices issued for bus lane and moving traffic violations in Greater London, year ending March .................................................................32 Figure 3.7: Total bus lane Penalty Charge Notices issued outside Greater London and total issued by councils adopting bus lane powers year ending March .........................33 Figure 3.8: Proportion of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued, and those issued by automated means ..........................................................................................................33 List of Tables Table 3.1: Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) road traffic police officers ........................... 26 Table 3.2: Reduction in the number of FTE road traffic officers in Devon and Cornwall and Essex and the changing proportion of camera detected offences ............................... 26 Table 3.3: Fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and awareness courses for red-light running ......... 27 Table 3.4: Neglect-of-traffic-light offending in Devon and Cornwall and Essex police force areas ........................................................................................................................ 30 Table 3.5: The number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued by MEV-using local authorities, 2009–10 ......................................................................................................... 35 iii Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use – A review www.racfoundation.org iv Table 3.6: MEV-issued Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) (as a percentage of total), Greater London Authorities, March 2009 to March 2013 ................................................... 36 Table 3.7: MEV-issued Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) in England and Wales (excluding Greater London), March 2009 to March 2013 ................................................... 37 Table 3.8: MEV-issued Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) and the % MEV-issued, 2010–13 ............................................................................................................................ 38 Table 3.9: Automated enforcement in local authorities ....................................................... 39 Table 3.10: Total of all Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued by local authorities who had use of MEVs from 2009 ....................................................................................... 40 Table 4.1: Current fixed penalty notice offences that are capable of automated enforcement .....................................................................................................................