1

Motoring Offence Statistics

for Northern Ireland

1st May 2019 – 30

th April 2020

Date of Publication:

25th June 2020

Frequency:

Monthly

Issued by:

PSNI Statistics Branch

Lisnasharragh

42 Montgomery Road

Belfast

BT6 9LD

PSNI Statistics

02890 650222 Ext. 24135

statistics@psni.police.uk

From 1st May 2019 to 30th April 2020, there were

43,801 detections for motoring offences in Northern

Ireland, a decrease of 15% on the 51,522

detections recorded in the previous 12 months.

The largest offence group recorded was insurance

offences with a total of 7,291 detections. This was

a decrease of 11% on the number recorded in the

previous 12 months.

The highest speed detected by PSNI officers in the latest 12 months was 127mph, on the Moneynick Road, Randalstown.

Speeding offences accounted for 16% of all

detections, a decrease of 1,171 on the number

detected from May 2018 – April 2019.

One in five motoring offences was detected in

Belfast City District from 1st May 2019 – 30th April

2020.

There has been 2% increase in the number of drink

drug driving offences when compared with previous

12 months and an 11% increase on 5 years ago.

2

Contents

1. Things you need to know about this release

2. Summary

3. Trends

4. Age and Gender

5. Offence group

6. Policing District

7. Further Information

We welcome user feedback on these statistics. This can be sent to the email address on the cover page or by

contacting us at the telephone number provided.

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Motoring offence statistics for Northern Ireland are collated and produced by statisticians seconded to the Police

Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

PSNI Official Statistics documentation is available on the Official Statistics section of the PSNI website.

Coverage

This report provides statistics on the number of motoring offences detected by police in Northern Ireland from 1st

May 2019 – 30th April 2020. It does not include any detections by the NI Road Safety Partnership. Figures

relating to such detections through the Partnership can be accessed via the following link – NI RSP.

The range of disposals covered includes those offences dealt with by means of a fixed penalty notice (FPN),

speed awareness course and referral for prosecution. Statistics Branch developed the functionality to report on

prosecution referrals in 2017, at which point the figures were validated and reported back to 2011. Quality

concerns due to the introduction of different information systems prevented any further back dating of the figures.

This report presents the most recent motoring offence statistics based on figures that were extracted on 22nd

June 2020. Referred for prosecution figures from 1st January 2018 onwards remain provisional and therefore

subject to amendment. The information is also available in tabular format in the accompanying spreadsheets on

the PSNI website.

Background information and details of the offences included in each offence grouping (Section 6) can be found in

the Motoring Offence User Guide on the PSNI website. Please note the figures refer to the number of offences

and not the number of persons detected as a person can be detected for more than one offence.

National Statistics Status

National Statistics status means that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and

public value, and as producers, it is our responsibility to maintain compliance with these standards.

These statistics were designated as National Statistics in March 2020 following a full assessment against the

Code of Practice.

Uses of the statistics

Uses of the statistics, based on user engagement, information requests and satisfaction survey feedback include

policy making and policy monitoring, performance monitoring, and public interest, by a range of users including

PSNI, Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs), media and academics.

More detail can be found in the Motoring Offence User Guide which can be accessed via the motoring offences

statistics web page on the PSNI website.

Related statistics

Sources of motoring offences data for other domains include An Garda Síochána - Republic of Ireland and

England and Wales. Related statistics include Injury road traffic collision statistics and NI Road Safety

Partnership statistics.

1. Things you need to know about this release

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Table 1 shows that, over the last 12 months:

The number of motoring offences detected fell by 15% to 43,801.

Non endorsable fixed penalties decreased by 20%.

Endorsable fixed penalties decreased by 12%.

Offences referred for prosecution fell by 15%.

Table 1 Number of motoring offences by disposal type, 1st May 2018 – 30th April 2020*

Number and Percentage

1st May 2018 - 30

th

April 2019 1st May 2019 - 30th

April 2020 Change over last 12 months

Number %

Endorsable Fixed Penalty 12,514 11,012 -1,502 -12

Non Endorsable Fixed Penalty 7,521 6,038 -1,483 -20

Referred for Prosecution 30,148 25,665 -4,483 -15

Speed Awareness Course 1,339 1,086 -253 -19

Total 51,522 43,801 -7,721 -15

*Figures are provisional and subject to change.

Figure 1 Comparisons of disposal types for motoring offences between 1st May 2018 – 30th April 2019 and

1st May 2019 – 30th April 2020

Note that not all detections in the most recent months will have been processed at this time, particularly those referred for

prosecution.

12,514 11,012

7,521 6,038

30,148

25,665

1,339

1,086

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

1st May 2018 - 30th April 2019 1st May 2019 - 30th April 2020

Endorsable Fixed Penalty Non Endorsable Fixed Penalty Referred for Prosecution Speed Awareness Course

2. Summary

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The number of motoring offences had been steadily decreasing over a 8 year period from a total of 79,796 recorded in 2011 to 48,418 recorded in 2019 (see figure 2).

Figure 2 Number of motoring offences by disposal type: 1st January 2011 – 31st December 2019

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

FPNs Discretionary Disposals Speed Awareness Course Referred for Prosecution

Discretionary disposals removed as an

alternative method of disposal for

dealing with traffic offences on 31st July

2016

Discretionary Disposals introduced during

2011 as an alternative method of disposal

for dealing with traffic offences

3. Trends

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Figure 3 Number of motoring offences by age: 1st May 2019 – 30th April 2020

Figure 3 shows that those aged 30-49 years old accounted for over two fifths of motoring offences detected between 1st May 2019 and 30th April 2020, followed by those aged 18-29 (35%). Almost all (99%) of the unknown ages refer to non endorsable offences, which can be issued in the absence of the offender and do not require licence details to process, for example parking offences.

Males accounted for almost 8 in 10 of all motoring offences detected between 1st May 2019 and 30th April 2020.

1,340

15,441

17,997

6,529

901 1,593

Under 18 18-29 30-49 50-69 70+ Age Unknown

4. Age and Gender

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Table 2 Number of motoring offences by gender, age band and offence group

1

1st

May 2019 – 30th

April 2020*

Number

Gender Age

Total Female Male Other /

Unknown Under 18 18-29 30-49 50-69 70+ Age

Unknown

Breach of signs & signals 71 208 17 5 70 91 51 12 67 296

Careless driving 940 2,808 2 99 1,271 1,410 776 189 5 3,750

Construction & use2 207 1,562 2 81 1,007 440 176 15 52 1,771

Dangerous driving 148 1,161 2 64 653 436 138 20 0 1,311

Drink or drug driving 562 2,397 2 32 911 1,408 557 53 0 2,961

Driving licence 553 2,916 1 119 1,333 1,576 385 57 0 3,470

Driving whilst disqualified 83 854 0 82 301 465 85 4 0 937

Failing to stop / remain / report collision 500 1,988 0 97 932 946 386 124 3 2,488

Fraudulent use / declaration 23 212 2 4 74 112 29 5 13 237

Insurance 1,248 6,040 3 231 2,958 3,242 764 94 2 7,291

L & R driver3 230 1,223 5 118 690 505 129 16 0 1,458

Miscellaneous 59 560 1 36 276 250 50 6 2 620

Mobile phone 643 2,780 0 12 765 1,849 734 63 0 3,423

Non motor vehicle 1 28 1 3 16 8 3 0 0 30

Parking 627 878 67 1 105 91 39 4 1,332 1,572

Pedestrian 4 64 0 5 32 21 8 2 0 68

Seatbelt 179 675 0 11 272 384 166 20 1 854

Speeding4 2,034 5,059 1 123 2,426 2,958 1,439 147 1 7,094

Vehicle TADA5 / tampering 111 1,067 0 198 540 387 50 3 0 1,178

Vehicle test certificate 698 2,292 2 19 809 1,418 564 67 115 2,992

Total 8,921 34,772 108 1,340 15,441 17,997 6,529 901 1,593 43,801

* Figures are provisional and subject to change. 1 Please note an offence group is made up of many individual offences. For the full list of offences and groups see the motoring offences section of the PSNI website.

2 Construction & use offences include defective tyre, defective exhaust, excess noise, incorrect form of registration mark and no number plate.

3 The offence 'L or R driver exceeding 45mph limit' is included in the speeding offence group. L and R driver = Learner driver and Restricted driver

4 This does not include drivers detected for speeding through the Northern Ireland Road Safety Partnership.

5 Vehicle TADA = Vehicle taking and driving away

5. Offence group

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Table 2 shows that the largest offence group recorded was insurance offences with a total of 7,291

detections, accounting for 17% of all detections for motoring offences. This was a decrease of 11% on

the number recorded in the previous 12 months.

Despite a decrease of 1,171 during the most recent 12 month period, speeding offences was the second

largest offence group, accounting for 16% of the total (see table 2).

The highest speed recorded by PSNI officers in the latest 12 months was 127mph on the Moneynick

Road, Randalstown.

In the latest 12 months, the NI Road Safety Partnership detected over 6 times more speeding offences

than the PSNI (48,740).

Over half of those detected for mobile phone offences were age 30-49.

Over a fifth of all female detections were for speeding offences.

There has been 2% increase in the number of drink drug driving offences detected when compared with

the previous 12 months and an 11% increase on 5 years ago.

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Table 3 Number of motoring offences by month and offence group1, 1st May 2018 – 30th April 2020*

Number and Percentage

May 2019

Jun 2019

Jul 2019

Aug 2019

Sep 2019

Oct 2019

Nov 2019

Dec 2019

Jan 2020

Feb 2020

Mar 2020

Apr 2020

May 2019 -

Apr 2020

May 2018 -

Apr 2019

Change over last 12 months Number %

Breach of signs & signals 15 35 15 43 28 34 33 34 25 26 5 3 296 405 -109 -27

Careless driving 362 374 348 344 333 377 361 334 315 293 187 122 3,750 4,675 -925 -20

Construction & use2 129 145 132 154 110 214 192 138 148 178 124 107 1,771 1,780 -9 -1

Dangerous driving 132 124 129 141 108 116 103 107 109 83 55 104 1,311 1,758 -447 -25

Drink or drug driving 297 246 231 293 265 263 263 343 231 200 161 168 2,961 2,906 55 2

Driving licence 321 317 321 322 303 340 292 281 294 271 206 202 3,470 4,224 -754 -18

Driving whilst disqualified 96 97 91 84 87 101 76 59 83 59 53 51 937 1,126 -189 -17

Failing to stop / remain / report collision 275 249 228 281 207 212 235 275 171 150 129 76 2,488 2,901 -413 -14

Fraudulent use / declaration 25 17 26 26 21 22 25 15 19 17 9 15 237 290 -53 -18

Insurance 663 672 688 628 609 695 640 571 613 515 487 510 7,291 8,148 -857 -11

L & R driver3 121 143 145 132 97 162 145 85 107 95 92 134 1,458 1,518 -60 -4

Miscellaneous 60 64 67 73 46 51 53 49 44 41 29 43 620 687 -67 -10

Mobile phone 336 264 345 340 299 344 272 224 265 308 255 171 3,423 4,069 -646 -16

Non motor vehicle 1 6 1 1 1 4 5 5 0 0 3 3 30 29 1 3

Parking 112 96 153 100 163 243 159 124 153 130 78 61 1,572 1,773 -201 -11

Pedestrian 6 6 12 8 3 4 3 7 10 2 3 4 68 80 -12 -15

Seatbelt 70 81 121 69 51 80 85 54 63 75 56 49 854 1,081 -227 -21

Speeding4 678 517 769 597 673 772 576 332 675 613 432 460 7,094 8,265 -1,171 -14

Vehicle TADA5 / tampering 162 86 101 121 96 89 102 110 116 72 64 59 1,178 1,242 -64 -5

Vehicle test certificate 321 330 308 238 296 303 309 245 296 159 128 59 2,992 4,565 -1,573 -34

Total 4,182 3,869 4,231 3,995 3,796 4,426 3,929 3,392 3,737 3,287 2,556 2,401 43,801 51,522 -7,721 -15

* Figures are provisional and subject to change. 1 Please note an offence group is made up of many individual offences. For the full list of offences and groups see the motoring offences section of the PSNI website.

2 Construction & use offences include defective tyre, defective exhaust, excess noise, incorrect form of registration mark and no number plate.

3 The offence 'L or R driver exceeding 45mph limit' is included in the speeding offence group. L and R driver = Learner driver and Restricted driver

4 This does not include drivers detected for speeding through the Northern Ireland Road Safety Partnership.

5 Vehicle TADA = Vehicle taking and driving away

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Figure 4: Number of motoring offences by Policing District: 1st May 2018 – 30th April 2020

Figure 4 shows that almost one in five motoring offences was detected in Belfast City District followed by a further 15% in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon district.

Mid and East Antrim was the only district to see an increase in detections when compared with previous 12 months.

10,198

4,318

2,042

4,919

7,728

4,196

3,166

4,258 4,177

2,607

3,802

111

8,636

3,132

1,570

4,305

6,447

3,404

2,656

3,491 3,409 2,930

3,760

61

Belfast City Lisburn &Castlereagh City

Ards & NorthDown

Newry, Mourne& Down

Armagh City,Banbridge &

Craigavon

Mid Ulster Fermanagh &Omagh

Derry City &Strabane

Causeway Coast& Glens

Mid & EastAntrim

Antrim &Newtownabbey

Unknown

1st May 2018 - 30th Apr 2019 1st May 2019 - 30th Apr 2020

6. Policing District

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Figure 5: Rate of motoring offences per 10,000 population1 aged 16+ by Policing District: 1st May 2019 – 30th April 2020

1 Population figures sourced from Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Service (NINIS), based on mid-year population estimates for 2018.

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A User Guide providing detailed information on the motoring offences statistics is available on the PSNI website.

PSNI Official Statistics documentation is available on the Official Statistics section of the PSNI website.

Referred for prosecution

Police led prosecutions for motoring offences occur when the offence is of a serious nature and has no

corresponding fixed penalty or where multiple offences have occurred or where the alleged offender wishes to

have the matter(s) heard at court. Where an offending driver has already accumulated a number of penalty

points, to the extent that a driving disqualification is now in scope, such cases must be heard at court and will

consequently also be subject of a prosecution.

Fixed penalty notices

Fixed penalties originated as an administrative way to deal with simple parking offences without referring such

matters to the courts. Such was its success that it was identified as an efficient way to deal with minor road traffic

offences and was expanded to encompass these matters in the mid-1980s. With the introduction of penalty

points for traffic offences, the scheme was expanded to incorporate endorsable and non-endorsable offences.

Non-endorsable offences - meaning those which don’t result in points on your licence incur a fine of £30. Fines

for endorsable offences are £60 and three points. More serious offences such as driving without insurance can

incur fines of up to £200 and six points. Other fixed penalty offences include No MOT (£60) or Vehicle Excise

License (£60). Fine collection and revenue reporting are managed by the NI Courts Service.

The full list of offences and groups are published on the motoring offences section of the PSNI website.

Speed awareness courses

Speed awareness courses were introduced in Northern Ireland in 2010. Drivers, depending on the speed at

which they were detected, may be offered an opportunity to attend a speed awareness course as an alternative

to penalty points. The course which is available at eight locations throughout Northern Ireland and delivered and

managed by an appointed contractor must be attended within a period of 120 days from the date of detection.

Certain restrictions apply to who can qualify for the speed awareness course option.

Revisions

Figures for 2019 were finalised in March 2020. Figures from January 2020 onwards are currently provisional and

subject to ongoing quality assurance and minor amendment, primarily due to the time taken to process all

offences, particularly those referred for prosecution or completing a speed awareness course.

To demonstrate the scale of revisions, updated figures are provided in the table below:

Revision to January - March 2020 figures

Last Month This month Change

publication publication Number %

Endorsable Fixed Penalty 2,578 2,675 97 3.8

Non Endorsable Fixed Penalty 1,376 1,369 -7 -0.5

Referred for Prosecution 4,662 5,258 596 12.8

Speed Awareness Course 180 278 98 54.4

Total 8,796 9,580 784 8.9

7. Further Information