Drivers in Bristol 'the worst' for licence penalty points

More than 2.5 million drivers across England and Wales currently had at least three points on their driving licences, with Bristol officially having the worst drivers, with 6.8% of the population having at least three penalty points on their licences.

That’s according to the latest DVLA data analysed by car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk.

More than 60,000 drivers registered in the BS postcode area, which is made up of 47 postcode districts covering Bristol and surrounding areas, still had points on their licences having committed at least one recent motoring offence, the data showed.

Over 14,279 are multiple offenders, with at least six points on their licences.

These figures were supported by speed camera data obtained from local police forces, which showed that the two most active speed cameras in the UK are on the M32 to Bristol and between Bristol junction 19 and 20 on the M4.

Additionally, twice as many drivers were caught speeding in the Avon and Somerset Constabulary -which covers the Bristol area - than in any other police area between June 2016 and May 2018.

Slough and Halifax had the next highest number of car drivers with at least three penalty points on their licences as a percentage of population, both with 6.4%.

Motorway.co.uk noted Slough was close to the M4, which is used frequently by commuters to and from London.

Across England and Wales, 2.69 million drivers currently had at least three points on their licences, and 11,090 had at least 12 points and were likely serving an automatic ban.

Almost 80,000 drivers had nine penalty points on their licenses, which meant 79,463 drivers were one more motoring offence away from receiving an automatic ban.

Motorway.co.uk said it obtained the most up-to-date data on penalty points by postcode across England and Wales from the Driving Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request made in February.

The courts endorse driving licences with penalty points if a driver is convicted of a motoring offence, with drivers disqualified if there were 12 or more points on their licence.

“Almost two million people currently have at least three points on their driving licence - that’s not just a staggering number of people who have committed a motoring offence, it’s also a nice little cash generator for the government in the form of fines,” said Motorway.co.uk director Alex Buttle.

“A large number of these fines will have been incurred for speeding, and in particular speeding on motorways.”

Buttle did pose the question that while the statistics suggested otherwise, could Bristol and Slough drivers really be more dangerous than drivers from elsewhere.

“Rather than being ‘boy racer’ districts, one has to ask if the prevalence of a high number of main roads and speed cameras in these areas is a main contributing factor to the higher number of offences seen.

“It was perhaps not surprising to see most Greater London areas at the very bottom of the list for motoring offences as anyone who has spent time on main roads in the capital will understand the opportunity to break the speed limit is minimal with most main roads highly congested during peak hours.”