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Ease off the pedal! Speeding revealed as the most common offence

Ease off the pedal! Speeding revealed as the most common offence

Friday 25 August 2017

Ease off the pedal! Speeding revealed as the most common offence

Friday 25 August 2017


Speeding offences represent 20% of all offences committed on the island in the past five years.

That's followed by common assaults which amount for about 14%.

According to figures released under a Freedom of Information request traffic regulations are being flouted more than any others with seven out of the 10 most common offences being traffic related.

Figures released following an Express FOI request show that over the past five years only three of the 10 most common offences qualify as criminal offences, common assault, larceny and malicious damage, as per Home Office accounting principles. The remaining offences are categorised as traffic offences. Combined together, criminal offences represent 26.5% of all offences. 

 The 10 most common offences are:

  • Speeding
  • Common assault
  • Defective vehicle offences
  • insurance offences
  • Driving whilst using mobile phones
  • Driving without due care and attention
  • Driving licence offences
  • Malicious damage
  • Seat belt offences
  • Larceny

Although speeding is still the most common offence, and has been for the past five years, the numbers have dramatically fallen. In 2012, 1,345 speeding offences were recorded, but there were only 597 last year.

Common assaults have also become less frequent in the past two years after experiencing a five-year high in 2015 with 747 cases. In 2016, there were only 577 and so far this year 377 have been reported.

As for defective vehicles, frequent campaigns and roadside checks by the police do not seem to have had an effect. The numbers have been fluctuating since 2012 between 415 and 708. So far this year 481 people have been caught at the wheel of a defective vehicle meaning that the total by December could be over last year's total of 507 if the trend continues.

Consumption of alcohol did not seem to play a part in most cases. Of all 25,306 offences committed in the past five years, "obvious alcohol involvement" was observed in only 6.54% of cases. It is most frequently observed In cases of common assault with a third of suspects intoxicated. It needs to be noted though that the police do not automatically carry out breathalyser tests or take blood samples when an offence is committed, unless it is a motoring offence.

The highest recorded level of alcohol in a sample of breath is 172 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath, nearly five times the legal limit of 35. In samples of blood, the highest recorded level was 257 milligrams in 100 millilitres, over three times the limit.  

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