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Driving Offences: Cycling

Volume 472: debated on Thursday 21 February 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many cyclists, broken down by (a) sex, (b) age group and (c) police area were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted of going through a red traffic light in each of the last five years for which information is available; (186394)

(2) what the average fine was for a cyclist convicted of going through a red traffic light in each of the last 10 years.

Information held by my Department cannot separately identify cyclists from other road users who have been prosecuted under various statutes that cover “going through a red traffic light”.

The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts for offences that cover “going through a red traffic light”, by gender, age group (under 18 years, and 18 years and over), and police force area in England and Wales for the years 2002 to 2006 can be found in the following tables 1 and 2.

The average fine given to those convicted of offences which cover “going through a red traffic light” in England and Wales for the years 1997 to 2006 can be found below in table 3.

Table 1: Number of persons under the age of 18 years proceeded against at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts, for offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 35 and 36, by gender, and police force area, in England and Wales, for the years 2002 to 20061, 2, 3, 4

Defendants

2002

2003

2004

Prosecuted

Found guilty

Prosecuted

Found guilty

Prosecuted

Found guilty

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

10 to 17

Avon and Somerset

Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire

Cheshire

1

1

City of London

Cleveland

Cumbria

2

2

1

1

Derbyshire

Devon and Cornwall

Dorset

Durham

Essex

Gloucestershire

Greater Manchester

1

1

Hampshire

1

1

Hertfordshire

Humberside

1

1

Kent

Lancashire

Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

Merseyside

Metropolitan Police

1

1

1

Norfolk

North Yorkshire

Northamptonshire

Northumbria

1

3

1

11

8

Nottinghamshire

South Yorkshire

Staffordshire

Suffolk

Surrey

Sussex

Thames Valley

Warwickshire

West Mercia

West Midlands

West Yorkshire

Wiltshire

Dyfed-Powys

Gwent

North Wales

South Wales

England and Wales

3

2

7

1

5

1

13

9

Defendants

2005

2006

Prosecuted

Found guilty

Prosecuted

Found guilty

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

10 to 17

Avon and Somerset

Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire

Cheshire

City of London

Cleveland

Cumbria

1

1

2

2

Derbyshire

Devon and Cornwall

Dorset

Durham

Essex

Gloucestershire

Greater Manchester

Hampshire

Hertfordshire

Humberside

3

2

1

1

Kent

Lancashire

Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

Merseyside

Metropolitan Police

1

1

Norfolk

North Yorkshire

Northamptonshire

Northumbria

5

3

4

1

Nottinghamshire

South Yorkshire

Staffordshire

Suffolk

Surrey

Sussex

Thames Valley

Warwickshire

West Mercia

West Midlands

1

1

West Yorkshire

Wiltshire

Dyfed-Powys

Gwent

North Wales

South Wales

England and Wales

9

6

9

6

‘—‘ = Nil.

1 These data are on the principal offence basis.

2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have

been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to

ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

3 Statute: Road Traffic Act 1988 sections 35 and 36. Offence description: Offences connected with bicycles: neglect of traffic directions.

4 Data from the court proceedings database cannot separately identify offences related to “going through a red traffic light” from other offences

for neglect of traffic directions under the Traffic Act 1988 as they are grouped together.

Source:

Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Ministry of Justice

Table 2: Number of persons over the age of 18 years proceeded against at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts, for offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec 35 and 36 by gender and police force area, in England and Wales, for the years 2002-061, 2, 3, 4,

Defendants

2002

2003

2004

Prosecuted

Guilty

Prosecuted

Guilty

Prosecuted

Guilty

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

18 and over

Avon and Somerset

2

2

Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire

Cheshire

2

1

1

1

City of London

3

3

2

1

Cleveland

Cumbria

6

5

1

1

1

1

Derbyshire

Devon and Cornwall

Dorset

Durham

Essex

1

1

1

1

Gloucestershire

2

2

Greater Manchester

2

2

4

4

1

1

Hampshire

2

1

2

2

Hertfordshire

Humberside

1

1

Kent

1

1

Lancashire

1

1

Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

2

2

Merseyside

Metropolitan Police

4

4

7

3

5

3

2

2

Norfolk

North Yorkshire

1

1

1

1

Northamptonshire

Northumbria

2

1

2

2

4

4

Nottinghamshire

South Yorkshire

Staffordshire

Suffolk

Surrey

Sussex

Thames Valley

3

2

1

1

Warwickshire

West Mercia

West Midlands

West Yorkshire

Wiltshire

Dyfed-Powys

Gwent

North Wales

South Wales

England and Wales

16

14

26

4

21

4

21

1

20

1

Defendants

2005

2006

Prosecuted

Guilty

Prosecuted

Guilty

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

18 and over

Avon and Somerset

1

1

1

1

Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire

1

1

9

5

9

5

Cheshire

City of London

3

3

1

Cleveland

Cumbria

1

1

1

1

Derbyshire

Devon and Cornwall

Dorset

Durham

Essex

Gloucestershire

1

1

Greater Manchester

2

2

Hampshire

1

1

3

3

Hertfordshire

1

1

Humberside

1

1

1

1

2

1

Kent

Lancashire

1

1

Leicestershire

Lincolnshire

Merseyside

1

1

Metropolitan Police

2

2

9

6

Norfolk

1

1

North Yorkshire

1

1

Northamptonshire

1

1

Northumbria

9

7

4

4

Nottinghamshire

1

1

South Yorkshire

Staffordshire

1

1

Suffolk

Surrey

Sussex

1

1

1

Thames Valley

1

1

1

1

Warwickshire

West Mercia

1

1

West Midlands

1

1

West Yorkshire

Wiltshire

Dyfed-Powys

Gwent

North Wales

South Wales

England and Wales

25

1

23

1

39

7

33

7

‘—‘ = Nil.

1 These data are on the principal offence basis.

2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

3 Statute: Road Traffic Act 1988, sections 35 and 36. Offence description: Offences connected with bicycles: neglect of traffic directions.

4 Data from the court proceedings database cannot separately identify offences related to “going through a red traffic light” from other offences for neglect of traffic directions under the Traffic Act 1988 as they are grouped together.

Source:

Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Ministry of Justice

Table 3:The average fines given for persons convicted of offences for “going through a red traffic light” in England and Wales for the years 1997 to 20061, 2, 3, 4, 5Average fines (£)199727199830199940200038200140200249200335200432200542200641 1 These data are on the principal offence basis.2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.3 Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.4 Statute: Road Traffic Act 1988 sections 35 and 36. Offence description: Offences connected with bicycles: neglect of traffic directions.5 Data from the court proceedings database cannot separately identify offences related to “going through a red traffic light” from other offences for neglect of traffic directions under the Traffic Act 1988 as they are grouped together.Source:Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform–Ministry of Justice .