Police issue 4,700 M20 speeding fines, but none to drivers of foreign registered vehicles

The news comes after French officials stated in January that the EU’s Cross-Border Enforcement Directive no longer applies to the UK post-Brexit.

As a consequence, drivers of vehicles registered in Britain are no longer sent fines for offences detected by roadside cameras in the EU. The same also applies in the other direction; drivers using vehicles registered in the EU are not sent fines for speeding in Britain.

However, should road police in either the UK or EU catch a driver speeding, on-the-spot fines can still be administered – regardless of the vehicle registration.

As the Daily Telegraph reports, the aforementioned EU directive dates back to 2015. However it wasn’t until 2020 that the UK took part and began sharing information about offences caught on speed cameras.

Back in the summer of 2019, before the UK were part of the EU directive, a loophole also emerged whereby police were unable to fine drivers of foreign registered vehicles who were caught speeding by speed cameras.

At the time, Inspector Daryl McGrath from Kent Police’s roads policing unit told The Telegraph:

The legislation as it stands does not allow UK police forces to prosecute foreign drivers who are suspected of committing a speeding offence in the UK when caught speeding by camera. The reason is that in the UK, whoever was driving the vehicle at the time of an alleged offence, is liable for prosecution. In some, EU countries, the registered keeper of the vehicle is liable even if they were not driving at the time. Under EU legislation, dating from 2017, UK police forces can request the registered keeper’s details if they are a foreign national but we cannot establish who was driving the vehicle at the time. This is what we would require under UK legislation to secure a prosecution for a speeding offence.

Responding to Kent Online’s request this week, a police spokesperson explained that fines are not being handed out to drivers of foreign registered vehicles as they cannot be identified:

There was no requirement for foreign vehicles to be registered with the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). As such the driver cannot be identified.

In the case of on-the-spot-fines, the police have nonetheless issued “roadside deposit” notices to drivers that did not hold a satisfactory UK address. Such fines have resulted in so-called “ghost licences” being created.

Kent Police Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Faulconbridge told Kent Online how the system works:

There were 36 instances where speeding offences were detected and on-the-spot fines were then issued during the time the contraflow was in place. Drivers without a UK address can have points placed on a ‘ghost’ UK driving licence by the DVLA, meaning they can be banned just like any other driver if they receive enough points when driving within the UK.

Meanwhile, Heidi Skinner, Logistics UK’s Policy Manager for the South, told the local newspaper of how important it is for drivers to stay within the legal speed limits:

Road safety is of paramount importance and all drivers must drive carefully and within the legal speed limits; drivers from outside the UK are no exception. Logistics UK urges all those using the UK’s roads to adhere strictly to the given speed limits to help keep our roads safe for all users.

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Photo credit: David Dixon / Geograph UK