Those aged 50-59 received the most driving penalties last year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, speeding was the most common offence.

It’s also seems that southerners appear to be the worst offenders.

Offensive behaviour

There were more than 1,140,000 driving convictions issued over a year, from June ’23 to June ’24.

While there are a wide range of offences drivers can be prosecuted for, generally they result in  penalty points on their licence, accompanied by fines.

In more extreme cases, a driver can be taken to court and even banned from driving altogether.

Uswitch car insurance recently carried out research to determine the worst offenders, including which age groups are convicted the most, as well as which area of the UK the most offences occurred.

The age  factor

Age Group

No. of Endorsements

50-59

241,940

40-49

238,450

30-39

233,094

20-29

158,713

60-69

149,375

70-79

66,712

80-89

20,195

15-19

13,655

90-99

1,104

100+

5

In practice

The age groups who committed the most offences were 40-59, with the top overall ages being convicted all falling into the 43-55 age category, including ages: 43 (25,292), 51 (24,890), 52 (25,574), 53 (24,934) and 55 (24,751).

Drivers aged 50-59 accumulated 219,531 offences in total for speeding, accounting for 91% of all offences they committed.

Assuming the highest number of penalty points were issued for each offence, this equates to 1,317,186 points.

Additionally, the majority of offences took place in England, with 88% (1,008,118) of all offences in the UK happening there.

The top region was South East England with 165,034 convictions, followed by Greater London at 140,555.

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Leoni Moninska, from Uswitch insurance addresses frequently asked questions around driving offences.

What is the most common driving offence?

“Recent Uswitch research uncovered that the most common driving offence is exceeding the statutory speed limit on a public road (SP30), with 768,061 convictions in total between June 2023 – June 2024 across the UK.”

How many penalty points can I have?

“The impact of the number of penalty points accumulated depends on the length of time a driver has held their licence. For new drivers, if six or more points are accumulated within the first two years after passing the test, their licence will be revoked. For all other drivers, if 12 or more points are issued over 3 years they will be disqualified from driving. In this case, a court decides how long the ban lasts for but starts at a minimum of 6 months.”

How do I get rid of penalty points?

“Once convicted of a driving offence, there’s no way to remove the points from your licence until they expire. Expired points will be removed automatically, however if you can still see points that should have been removed you can contact the DVLA. Since penalty points can remain on your record for up to 11 years[5], it’s important to drive sensibly and safely and familiarise yourself with the highway code as well as all punishable offences.”

Find out more at Uswitch car insurance.