Hundreds of thousands of speeding fines handed out to British drivers in Europe every year could become a relic of the past after Brexit saw UK motorists exempted from agreements governing motoring offences on the continent.
Britain’s departure from the EU means the bloc’s cross-border enforcement directive no longer applies to UK drivers.
Under that agreement, signed by the UK in 2017, foreign police forces could request information about drivers caught breaking driving rules. However, the end of the transition period saw Britain leave the enforcement directive, meaning an “end to of sharing information about drivers who are caught on speed cameras”, the Daily Express reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In practice, says The Times, this means that owners of British-registered vehicles “will no longer be sent fines” after they have left the country in which the offence took place. It also means that “British police will not be able to dispatch fines to European motorists caught by speed cameras or committing other offences in the UK”, the paper adds.
More than 444,000 British motorists were fined for offences filmed by roadside cameras in France alone last year, ahead of Belgian drivers with 295,899, Spaniards with 262,012 and Germans on 249,291. France stands to lose up to €60m (£53.4m) in unpaid British motoring fines a year, according to Caradisiac, a specialist French motoring site.
The French government is keen to negotiate a new bilateral agreement with Britain that will allow fines to be sent from one country to the other. But The Times says that French officials “fear that Britain will drag its heels” over a future arrangement.
If Britons are thinking about speeding while holidaying abroad, they should be aware they can still be issued with on-the-spot penalties. In France, drivers “travelling at 50km/h or more above the speed limit they can also have their vehicle seized”, The Telegraph adds.
-
Trump reignites Jan. 6 furor by awarding military honors to killed rioterIN THE SPOTLIGHT With military funeral honors for Ashli Babbitt, the president makes good on campaign promises designed to animate his political base while relitigating history
-
'Is it OK to be happy when the world is falling apart?'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Will online age checks doom internet freedom?Today's Big Question Or do they protect children from harm?
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
The France-Indonesia push for an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solutionTalking Points Both countries have said a two-state solution is the way to end the Middle East conflict
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
What does the Le Pen verdict mean for the future of French politics?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Convicted of embezzlement and slapped with a five year ban on running for public office, where does arch-conservative Marine Le Pen go from here — and will the movement she leads follow?
