§ Lord Swinfenasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the procedure for recovering fixed penalties levied on foreign motorists caught on speed cameras; and what proportion of such fines is paid. [HL2915]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe fixed penalty system is not used for enforcement purposes in the case of foreign drivers whose vehicles are filmed by speed cameras. Where traffic offences have been detected by cameras, the option to pay a fixed penalty instead of being summonsed to appear in court cannot be offered by post to drivers until they have been traced by the police with the aid of records held at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. As the police do not have ready and easy access to other countries' vehicle and driver records, it is not practicable to issue fixed penalty notices to foreign drivers who are detected by speed cameras. There is also no facility for endorsing foreign driving licences with penalty points. Other considerations are relevant, such as the short time many foreign drivers are here before returning abroad and the difficulty, if no resident United Kingdom address exists, of taking effective enforcement action when there is no response to the police's initial notification of an alleged offence.