Courts gave 99 per cent of offenders an average £362 fine on top of a ban last year — but the average cost of car insurance is now £485. Experts want sentencing guidelines reviewed to cut the record number of 149,299 drivers convicted — up four per cent on the year before and 63 per cent higher than 2012. Currently their car can be seized, they face a £300 fixed fine and get six penalty points, or go to court and face an unlimited fine and ban. David Spencer, Centre for Crime Prevention research director, said: “It’s ludicrous for the fine to be lower than the cost of insuring a car. And Jonathan Nudds, 28, of Bradford, West Yorks, got 16 months for dangerous driving and four for no insurance after a high-speed chase.

Source: Daily Mirror September 28, 2019 16:52 UTC