Company vehicle drivers racked up £11.1m in fines and penalties during 2015, a substantial increase over previous years, according to data from leasing company Lex Autolease.æ Three years ago, the figure had been just £7m. £5.6m in fines for parking and £1.1m for bus lane infringements were issued during the year, increases of 39 per cent and 58 per cent respectively over the figures from 2012. The £11.1m total for company drivers was an increase of 17 per cent over 2015, with almost half of the charges being relatively minor traffic offences such as stopping in a box junction, with 25,000 drivers taking up £4.2m worth of fines. The new findings were taken from 317,000 company vehicles, and have already sparked some debate as to whether the rise in less serious traffic offences is simply due to greater enforcement from local authorities. Company car drivers committed 53,231 offences in 2015 than in 2014, with the overall figure a total of 198,186.æ This was a rise of more than a third when compared to 2014: a substantially higher increase than had been seen in previous years (three per cent between 2012-13 and 17 per cent in 2013-14). The charges accounted for 17 per cent of offences during 2015, with nearly 35,000 drivers falling foul of the new payment systems. It's believed that a lack of driver awareness has cost businesses around £474,497 in fines in the first year of the new systems, with the cost to businesses having increased by 58 per cent in the last three years. Guy Mason, the head of fleet operations at Lex Autolease, said: 'The enormous jump in year on year increases for both the number of offences committed and the value of fines incurred should be of real concern. 'Our data suggests a clampdown on motoring offences that might have been considered minor in the past, with increased investment in bus lane cameras and traffic wardens by local authorities meaning company car drivers should no longer feel they can simply 'get away with' so-called minor misdemeanours. 'Though more than three quarters of the offences committed are classed as 'minor' traffic infringements, the financial impact of such offences is far from minimal and it is clear that businesses need to do much more to change the driving habits of employees. 'The economic impact of investing in driver training should be incentive enough for businesses to meet this challenge head on.î The frequency of more serious driving offences, such as speeding or driving whilst using a mobile phone, were also revealed as part of the survey.æ Offences like these amounted to just 22 per cent in 2015, but this was a nine per cent increase over the 43,636 offenses in the previous year. Mr Mason added: 'While businesses do undertake driver education programmes, such as Drivetech, the fact remains that more than 43,000 company car drivers committed motoring offences which are typically more serious in nature. 'This calls into question the safety of employees and other road users, as well as raising concerns about the possibility of drivers receiving penalty points on their license or even a driving ban _ hindering their ability to do their job.î
