Which Unwanted Driving Distinction Does Glasgow Hold?

Wed 11th Dec 2019

Drivers in Glasgow are guilty of one major driving offence more than any other city in Britain according to new data published this week.

The Scottish city is responsible for more than 10 per cent of England, Scotland and Wales’ traffic light offences, with a whopping 13,373 prosecutions since 2016 according to figures released by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Either drivers north of the border are in more of a hurry, or the Scottish police are better at catching offenders, as Edinburgh comes second on the list of red light prosecutions, with 8,022 offences in the last four years.

Top 20 worst offending postcode areas since 2016 

1. Glasgow: 13,373

2. Edinburgh: 8,022

3. Nottingham: 5,775

4. Bristol: 5,048

5. Cardiff: 4,942

6. Sheffield: 2,925

7. Leicester: 2,781

8. Motherwell: 2,596

9. Liverpool: 2,520

10. London South Western (SW): 2,410

11. Southend-on-Sea: 2,305

12. Manchester: 2,239

13. London South Eastern (SE): 2,157

14. Greater London: 2,137

15. Birmingham: 1,851

16. Doncaster: 1,729

17. Brighton: 1,707

18. Essex (CM), including Chelmsford, Billericay, Braintree and Stanstead: 1,704

19. North London: 1,659

20. Kilmarnock: 1,611

Source: Select Car Leasing FOI request to DVLA for data covering April 2016-October 2019

Mark Tongue of Select Car Leasing who gathered the data suggests that the high incidence of red light offenders in Scotland may be because they have a higher number of red light cameras than anywhere else in the UK.

“Glasgow has around 50 speed and red-light cameras, a relatively high figure compared with other cities, which may explain why it is the red-light jumping capital,” Tongue said.

“But driving habits and behaviours also play a significant part and motorists can hardly blame a camera if they get caught ploughing through traffic when they should be coming to a standstill.

“Few motorists enjoy being stuck at lights, not least at night when there is little other traffic around and you're in a rush.

“But the law is there to be followed and not broken.

“By jumping a red traffic light or being a so-called 'amber gambler', drivers are creating a very real threat of death to other road users and pedestrians.”