Traffic law
enforcement
Reducing road danger through enforcement.
KEY STATISTICS
Road crime is common with millions of offences sanctioned.
3.8m+
OFFENCES
Motoring offences sanctioned in 2024
81%
OUT OF COURT
Just one in five is prosecuted at court
1 in 2
NDORS
Half resulted in a National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme course
88%
SPEEDING
of sanctioned motoring offences were for speeding
There are fewer than 3,800 roads-policing officers.
WHY IT MATTERS
Deterrence depends on detection.
01
Deterrence depends on detection
- Although the Safe System approach prioritises designing in compliance, enforcement is a backstop.
- The risk of detection, and the perceived risk, has a greater deterrent effect than the severity of a sanction.
- Many more offences could be detected, if capacity was increased.
02
Walkers and cyclists are especially vulnerable
- In a collision with a motor vehicle, it is the cyclist or pedestrian who is most likely to be killed or seriously injured.
- Fear of speeding drivers deters cycling and walking.
- Compliance with the Highway Code’s Road User Hierarchy requires enforcement and education.
WHAT IS GOING WRONG
The current approach prioritises the wrong harms and lacks accountability.
Wrong priorities
- Traffic law enforcement is not a priority for senior police or the Home Office, with roads police expected to catch ‘real’ criminals.
- The ‘Fatal Four’ approach focuses more on offences affecting motor-vehicle users.
- There is widespread variation in enforcement across the 43 independent police services.
- Speeding remains endemic and is treated lightly by the justice system.
- A focus on roads police overlooks other options, including cameras, public and other police officers.
Lack of transparency and accountability
- No government agency publishes the total number of motoring offences sanctioned.
- Home Office data is published much later than Ministry of Justice data.
- Very few police services have local enforcement dashboards.
- There is no agreed method of evaluation or definition of what good enforcement looks like.
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE
Focus enforcement on reducing harm posed to others.
01
Focus on reducing harm
- Update priority offences to focus on harm posed to others, especially people walking and cycling.
- Include careless driving and red-light violations.
- Increase enforcement on 20 and 30 mph roads, where most pedestrian and cyclist KSIs occur.
02
Share responsibilities
- Share traffic law enforcement with other police officers, as in Sweden and Australia.
- Invest in community co-production of safer roads through better public-reporting and Operation Snap schemes.
- Explore decriminalising speeding with local authorities enforcing speed limits.
03
Increase transparency and accountability
- Introduce local enforcement dashboards with data on offences by speed limit.
- Publish data by speed limit and location.
- Clarify key performance indicators and how they will be monitored.
- Total motoring offences to be published by government.
AVZ ACTIVITY AND PROGRESS
Analysis and advocacy for enforcement that protects those most vulnerable.
- Analyse
Monitor Home Office and other government data, publish trends and compare police services on a per-KSI basis. - Advocate
Press for enforcement focused on people most vulnerable to road danger. - Expose gaps
Highlight omissions in policies and strategies, especially with speeding and careless driving. - Respond
Contribute to consultations including DfT’s 2026 Motoring Offences consultation and the 2020 Joint Roads Policing Review. - Coordinate
Produced the 2021 Police and Crime Commissioner road-danger-reduction manifesto with partner organisations.
EVIDENCE AND BRIEFINGS
Guidance, data and AVZ analysis on traffic-law enforcement.
HOME OFFICE STATISTICS
March 2026
Police powers and procedures: roads policing to December 2024
AVZ BRIEFING
2026
Total motoring offences sanctioned (2024)
See the stats
AVZ CONSULTATION RESPONSE
May 2026
DfT’s Motoring Offence Consultation
Read AVZ’s response
AVZ CONSULTATION RESPONSE
Sep 2020
Home Office, NPCC and DfT Roads Policing Review call for evidence
Read AVZ’s response
