September 2025
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TfL is busy developing the next London Vision Zero Action Plan (LVZAP2). This will be a joint plan with the Metropolitan Police (Met), as was the first LVZAP. So AVZ has produced a few briefings summarising the progress by the Met and with traffic law enforcement, as well as opportunities for improvement. We focus on three offences key to reducing road danger:
- Speeding
- Careless driving
- Mobile phone use.
London speed enforcement latest update
Let’s start with the good news. By the end of June, the Met had begun enforcement of over 200,000 20 mph speed limit offences, out of a total of 377,000. This was the first time 20 mph speed limit offences accounted for over half (54%) of all speed offences in London, and was a big jump from the 38% share reported for 2024. This is important as 62% of those killed and seriously injured (KSI) in London occurred on 20 mph roads in 2024, including 66% of pedestrian KSIs and 76% cyclist KSIs.
Our briefing shows the share of speed limit offences by speed limit since 2018, along with KSIs by speed limit. In 2024, whilst 92% of KSIs were on 20 and 30 mph roads, only 58% of speed offences were. So we very much welcome the increase in the first six months of 2025.
London Vision Zero Enforcement Dashboard (LVZED)
We only know how many speeding offences were detected on 20 mph roads thanks to the LVZED[1]. And few police services have Enforcement Dashboards, so Transport for London (TfL) and the Met are to be credited with this transparency. But improvements to the LVZED have been outstanding for a number of years, including providing data on offences by borough so as to show where the enforcement is occurring. This was previously possible and has been called for by campaigners and councillors for too long.
We also highlight the problem with misleading data being given on public reported offences (i.e. Operation Snap) as the data provided combines both warning letters and Notices of Intended Prosecutions (NIPs). London has a very low sanction rate with public reporting and this should be tackled, not obscured.
Our briefing repeats our call for an annual report with data on completed offences. The LVZED provides preliminary data in a timely fashion but, given how many offences are later cancelled (47% of speeding offences in 2023), an end of year report with completed offences should be published.
How the Met compares to other police services with key offences
AVZ compared sanctions completed (both out of court and convicted at court), for 2023, as the Home Office has yet to publish data for 2024. The comparison was based on a per reported KSI basis. So how does the Met fare compared to other police services. Not as well as we had hoped. Out of 40 police services in England and Wales (some of the total of 43 services report jointly):
- Speeding – the Met ranked 16th, and would have needed to have enforced four times as much, and over one million more offences, to have been the best in the country.
- Careless driving – the Met ranked 13th and would have needed to have enforced over twice as much, over 8,000 more, to have equalled Essex.
- Mobile phone offences—the Met did better and was ranked 6th but still would have had to do three times as many, with another 17,000 more, to match the City of London Police.
AVZ will redo this comparison for 2024 when the Home Office publishes its data. The Met should have improved its ranking with speeding, but we worry the Met may fare worse with careless driving and mobile phone offences. The next LVZAP should ensure increased detection with these key offences.
Disqualifications for key offences—how London compares
Disqualification is the key sanction for reducing road danger as it stops unsafe drivers from driving, at least legally. So how does London compare with getting speeding drivers, careless drivers and drivers using their mobile phone off the road? Not so well unfortunately.
- Speeding – with less than 2% of those convicted at court banned, London ranked 18th whilst the leading force, Northamptonshire reported over 7% banned.
- Careless Driving – with less than 5% of those convicted at court banned, London ranked 27th whilst Durham reported over 19% banned.
- Mobile phone offences – with 2% of those convicted at court banned, London ranked 19th, with Kent reporting the highest share at over 11%.
And yes, we know police are not in control of who gets disqualified. This will be the decision of the magistrates and guided by the Sentencing Council. But increasing disqualifications was included as a national priority in the first LVZAP. And as our comparison shows, higher shares are being achieved in other areas. So, there could be more done at the local level to increase the bans given for extreme speeding, careless driving and mobile phone use.
Please read the briefings and see how other police services compare. Contact Amy@actionvisionzero.org for more information
[1] https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiMTMxMWM1ZjYtNTIxYy00OGQzLWFjYzItMmMyN2I3MzQ0YjQzIiwidCI6IjFmYmQ2NWJmLTVkZWYtNGVlYS1hNjkyLWEwODljMjU1MzQ2YiIsImMiOjh9
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