Written question asked by David Amess (Conservative) on Monday, 9 February 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 11 February 2009. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 23 February 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Driving Offences

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times police cars exceeding relevant speed limits have been detected by speed cameras in each police force area in each of the last five years; and how many and what proportion of such detections resulted in (a) a prosecution, (b) a caution, (c) no further action and (d) words of advice from a senior officer.

Answer: The information requested is not collected centrally.The law on speeding offences applies to police officers as it does to the general public. The police can however claim exemption from speed limits in the circumstances set out in section 87, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. This provides that speed limits do not apply to vehicles being used for an emergency service purpose if observing the limit on that specific occasion would hinder such use. In the event of dispute, it would be for the courts to decide if the exemption was properly claimed or a speeding offence committed.Within the constraints of the legislation, the use of the speed limit exemption is an operational matter for the police. The police will take into account the need on each specific occasion to reach an emergency scene as quickly as possible and to preserve road safety. Police have been convicted or offered fixed penalties for speeding when on duty, but there is no evidence that they are routinely acting inappropriately.

Secondary information