Drivers could be in for an expensive year as data suggests drivers are on track to shell out £2.15bn in parking charges and traffic fines.
The prediction is based on the number of requests already made to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by public and private authorities for details of vehicle owners when drivers have been caught breaking the rules or terms and conditions in private land.
Transmitting this information allows them to issue penalty charge notices (PCNs) and traffic fines to drivers, and allows private companies to generate parking charges.
After the third quarter of the 2023/24 financial year, the DVLA has been asked to provide 30 million instances of driver details, Carwow revealed.
Registered private companies and local authorities are on track to issue more than £2 billion in penalty notices to drivers this year, according to new research.
The estimated total cost of fines and charges is based on the average quarterly volume of driver information queries and an average amount of fines and charges of £92.50.
Parking fines and charges are expected to cost drivers £915 million, accounting for almost half of all penalties.
These include parking charges issued by private companies, PCNs issued by local authorities and toll road operators.
The latest investigation by online car swapping marketplace Carwow explored the DVLA’s Keeper At Date Of Event (KADOE) database to reveal the scale to which authorities are approaching the agency to collect information from drivers. vehicle owners.
Registered private companies and local authorities have increased their requests for driver data by two-thirds since 2020, resulting in a whopping 62 percent increase in fines.
Councils can request information from this database for free, while private companies pay £2.50 each time they want to locate a motorist.
This means the DVLA will collect £25.8 million from vehicle owner claims alone this year.
Transport for London has issued the biggest increase in vehicle custody requests from local authorities, says Carwow.
In the 2018/19 financial year, TfL submitted just under 700,000 applications to obtain DVLA records.
This figure increased by 529 percent in 2022/23 to 4.4 million.
TfL has imposed fines worth an estimated £359 million so far in 2024, 17 per cent of the total projection for the financial year, the investigation found.
Registered private companies and local authorities can request information from the DLVA database to obtain contact addresses of vehicle owners who have violated their rules.
Iain Reid, of Carwow, said: ‘It is clear from the number of requests for vehicle owner data made year on year that registered private companies and public authorities are clamping down on parking and traffic infringements. transit.
‘The introduction of clean air zones and ultra-low emissions zones in recent years is likely to play a major role in the increase in fines.
‘Figures have been rising in line with the introduction and further expansion of ULEZ in London, and with the introduction of Clean Air Zones in cities in December 2023, fines are likely to reach record levels.
‘As multiple new laws have come into effect regarding clean air zones, we encourage all drivers to spend more time planning their route, checking the rules of the roads they are entering, and whether their car is in compliance or No.
‘We tend to become complacent in the areas where we drive most frequently. Therefore, staying alert to new signs and regulations can save you time and money. Otherwise, you could get caught.
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