Drivers caught for infringements drop due to cops reduction: report

A dramatic drop in motoring offences on Britain's roads was Tuesday blamed on a massive reduction in the number of traffic cops patrolling the highways.

A report published by the House of Commons Transport Committee said in the decade from 2004, the number of detected traffic offences fell from 4.3 million to 1.62 million.

Over the same period, the number of specialized road policing officers has fallen from 7,104 to 4,356 in 2014.

Louise Ellman, who chairs the committee, said: "The fall in overall road offences does not reflect an improvement in driving. As the number of traffic police has fallen, so too has the number of road traffic offences detected."

She said latest figures show a 4 percent increase in the numbers killed on the roads in 2014, with the number of people seriously injured rising by 5 percent.

There has also been a rapid rise in the number of motorists caught for driving offences opting to take special education courses as an alternative to paying a fine and avoiding penalty points on their driving licenses.

Ellman's committee wants research carried out to determine whether diversionary education courses for poor driving has produced the required deterrent effect.

In 2010 almost 468,000 drivers opted to attend the courses, and latest figures show this now exceeds 1.3 million drivers.

The report also highlighted that more than one fifth of people seriously injured or killed on Britain's roads in 2014 were not wearing seatbelts. A driver being impaired by alcohol contributed to 8 percent of all fatal accidents.

On a global scale, Britain has an excellent road safety record, says the report, adding that according to latest World Health Organization figures, Britain has the seventh lowest number of road deaths across 182 countries surveyed. Endit