Last year saw dangerous driving convictions increase by a dramatic 29% with data from the DVLA showing around 5,179 motorists received bans in 2016; that’s 1,173 more than in 2015. Could this be a result of police cracking down on any dangerous driving? New speeding laws have also recently been introduced to try and deter drivers from driving over the speed limit – see our article for more information.
So which age range received the most driving convictions? If you thought young drivers then you’d be wrong. According to the figures that have been revealed by ASUS (Tech firm and Dashcam makers), young adults between the ages of 26 and 35 are more likely to be disqualified than any other age group with 30% of all female convictions in this age range. The statistics also showed that 87 percent of the banned drivers were male, which is a 1 percent increase from the previous year (2015). In general, the statistics show that women are ‘safer’drivers than men.
These rising convictions for dangerous driving are likely to have an impact on all motorists in general. Experts have predicted that the average car insurance premium will rise above £800 which means these driving convictions will make insurance more expensive for everyone.
Jon Parmar, country manager at ASUS, said: ‘Irrelevant of age, gender or how long a license has been held, more drivers are having their licenses taken away for dangerous driving than ever and the numbers are staggering.’
He believes that dash-cams/ helmet-cams should be a requirement from the moment people first pass their driving test. Drivers need to have their own safety in mind when in a vehicle and the use of dash-cams would deter anyone from driving dangerously.
North Wales Police are currently using dash-cam footage to penalise motorists filmed driving dangerously.
Anyone with footage of motorists driving recklessly in the region can upload their video to the police and fill out a short description. An officer then reviews the content and issues a penalty notice where necessary, as they would to a driver caught speeding. The driver can appeal, though it would mean an appearance in court; since the operation was launched over 100 videos have been sent to police with 80 penalties being handed out.
At Connect we can cover drivers with driving convictions. So call today on 01782 280280 or click here to access our online quotes forms.
Sources: The Daily Mail: Dangerous Driving Convictions Increased