Reports have come out to say that motoring offences have halved in the last decade which at first glance sounds like great news right? Well there is more than meets the eyes as it is now thought the more likely reason for this decrease is down to the lack of specialist road officers as opposed to improved driving. The total number of offences in England and Wales decresed from 4.3 million to 1.6 million between the years of 2004 and 2003 - the last year of which figures are available.
The Commons Transport Select Committee (CTSC) said that the number of convictions for causing death on the road has remained steady with 303 recorded in 2004 compared to 311 in 2014. But the CTSC has described the report as "significant" because they feel the report does not accurately represent the crimes that are actually occuring on the road. In 2005 there were 7,104 specialist officers but that figure to fell to 4,356 in 2014 so there could definitely be a connection there.
Committee chairwoman Louise Ellman said: "The fall in overall road offences does not reflect an improvement in driving.
"The Department for Transport says education, engineering and enforcement are key to road safety. One cannot exist without the other.
"The committee recommends research to determine whether the use of diversionary education courses for poor driving has produced the required deterrent effect."
This has resulted in the committee calling for more officers and better technology to catch offenders and the RAC are also keen for this situation to change with spokesman Pete Williams commenting: "The sharp decline in roads policing officers appears to be having the very unwelcome effect of leading to fewer people being caught for illegal activity. It stands to reason that if a law exists, it needs to be enforced effectively."
This news comes just a few days after it was reported that Met Police have not prosecuted anyone for smoking in a car with a child present.