10 Million Penalty Points – Drivers Beware!

The Great British Speed Trap – 10 Million Penalty Points and Counting!

Have you noticed it lately? The roads feel slower, the signs look stricter, and the cameras are multiplying like roadside mushrooms after a rainstorm. Suddenly, even the most careful motorists are finding themselves on the wrong side of the law – or rather, the lens.

According to the latest DVLA data obtained by Co-op Insurance, British motorists collected 9.61 million penalty points in 2024, up from 8.55 million the year before. That’s a 12% surge in just one year, and more than triple what it was in 2021. Back in 2011, the figure sat at a modest 1.4 million.

Somehow, in the space of a decade, we’ve gone from “slow down, mate” to “you’re nicked” – and the nation’s roads have become one giant, blinking, beeping speed-camera grid.

The Numbers Don’t Lie – But They Might Mislead

Here’s the official progression:

• 2021 – 2.8 million penalty points
• 2022 – 7.3 million
• 2023 – 8.5 million
• 2024 – 9.6 million

That’s a 243% increase in three years.

The most common offences? Speeding on public roads and motorways, followed by driving uninsured.

And here’s the thing – those points stay on your licence for up to 11 years. Collect 12 points in three years and you’re banned for at least six months. You can take a Speed Awareness Course, but only once every three years.

So with millions already having used that option, it’s no surprise so many are now collecting points instead of PowerPoint slides.

More Cameras Than Christmas Lights

AA President Edmund King calls the rise “worrying”, but not because the nation’s turned into Fast & Furious: Croydon Drift. The real reason? Cameras now catch 96% of speeding offences.

That’s not policing – that’s automation with attitude.

There are fixed cameras, mobile cameras, average-speed cameras, community-funded cameras – a veritable army of lenses all waiting for the slightest twitch of your right foot.

The result? People who’ve never had a ticket in 20 or 30 years suddenly finding themselves branded “speeders” for doing 23mph in a freshly reduced 20 zone.

And let’s be honest – modern cars don’t help. They’re quiet, smooth and insulated. The mildest flex of your ankle can add 3–5mph before you even realise it.

20mph Limits – Or 20mph Traps?

This is where most first-time offenders are being caught.
What used to be a perfectly safe 30mph road is now 20mph, and the change often comes with little warning and less logic.

Even a marginal slip – 22 or 23mph – can now mean a £100 fine and three penalty points.

Let’s remember, roads are engineered for heavy vehicles. The argument that 23mph damages the tarmac is absurd when HGVs weighing 44 tonnes travel the same surfaces daily.

Yet somehow, the mildest human error is being treated like dangerous driving.

The Economics of Enforcement

Here’s where it gets spicy. Each fixed penalty notice averages £100. Multiply that by millions of fines and you’re looking at close to £1 billion in annual revenue.

Officially, that money funds road-safety initiatives.
Unofficially, it’s the most dependable income stream councils have outside of parking.

And when a new 20mph sign appears, swiftly followed by a camera, it’s hard not to suspect a steady cashflow strategy rather than a safety crusade.

It’s no wonder people feel they’re being trained not to think or read the road, but simply to obey the sign and pay the fine.

Where Are the Police?

I remember when you’d be pulled over and given a stern talking-to – a wagged finger and a warning that stayed with you longer than any £100 fine.

That human judgement is gone. Cameras don’t care whether you were overtaking a tractor, avoiding a pothole, or simply adjusting your stereo.

They don’t forgive. They don’t understand context.
They just flash, fine, and feed the system.

The Cultural Shift – From Drivers to Data Points

This isn’t just about speeding. It’s about the slow erosion of driver trust.

Driving once symbolised freedom. Now it feels like a risk assessment with wheels.
People tell me, “I don’t drive much anymore – I’m scared of getting caught.”

That’s not safety. That’s road paranoia.

Somewhere along the line, we stopped seeing mobility as empowerment and started framing it as sin. The message has shifted from “Don’t speed” to “Don’t drive at all.”

For journalists like me, keeping a clean licence isn’t just good sense – it’s survival. But the more I drive, the more I sense how ordinary, law-abiding motorists are being made to feel like outlaws.

The War on Motorists

Sound familiar? Because this feels like the latest chapter in the ongoing War on Motorists.

ULEZ zones, congestion charges, parking permits, 20mph zones – and now, the great camera crusade.

Every year brings new restrictions, new costs, new reasons to feel like driving is an act of defiance.

You’re no longer a “motorist”. You’re a polluter, a liability, a revenue stream.

“Vision Zero” and “Net Zero” sound noble – but how about a little Zero Tolerance for Nonsense?

Britain already has some of the highest motoring costs in Europe, the most complex tax systems, and now a road network that feels like it’s actively trying to catch you out.

It’s exhausting. And people are finally starting to notice.

The Real Irony

Over-enforcement doesn’t make roads safer – it makes people cynical.

When drivers believe the system’s rigged, they react badly. They brake-slam at cameras. They stare at dashboards instead of traffic. They drive distracted by fear, not guided by awareness.

And that’s the real paradox: a system built to protect people is now making them worse drivers.

Real road safety comes from education, design and empathy – not constant surveillance and punishment.

You can’t automate common sense. And you certainly can’t fine your way to safer roads.

Let’s be clear: speeding kills – reckless, careless driving deserves enforcement.
But 23mph isn’t dangerous. 78mph in a modern, stable car isn’t reckless.

Technology should assist good driving, not criminalise it.

We need a smarter, more balanced approach – one that treats drivers as partners in safety, not as prey for profit.

Until then, keep your eyes on the road… and maybe on the nearest lamppost, because odds are, it’s watching you back.

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