The Home Office has decided to double the fine for drivers or passengers who don’t wear a seatbelt, or car owners who try to doctor their number plates.
The fine for not wearing a seatbelt was just £30, but it was decided that this wasn’t enough of a deterrent. Now the on-the-spot fine will cost £60 for anyone stupid enough to be caught without their belt on.
Motorists who try to disguise or change their number plates will now be fined £60. This increase follows police concerns that more and more car owners are trying to hide their number plates to avoid detection by speed and red-light cameras.
Personally I don’t think they’ve taken it far enough and the fines should be at least twice the new values. Mind you, it doesn’t really matter how much the Home Office increases the fines – it won’t make a difference without more police patrols on the roads to enforce the rules.
The new fines came into effect on 30th June.
