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Fleet managers' admin burden for handling drivers' fines looks set to double with the introduction of new legislation allowing councils across England to use CCTV to ticket driving infringements.
Changes under the Traffic Management Act will see authorities outside of London from 31 March being allowed to issue tickets on the back of CCTV footage alone. Previously only traffic wardens and police could issue tickets outside London.
This could see the amount of parking fines issued by local authorities double if they follow the trend in London - the only area currently allowed to use CCTV for driver penalties.
The fears come after GE Fleet Services released new figures detailing the fines issued to its fleet in the past year. The majority come from London authorities - six out of the top 10 issuing bodies are based in the capital.
The AA's president Edmund King backed the fears: "Our concern with camera enforcement is that it shows no degree of flexibility. We have already seen fines increase over the last 10 years. Obviously.the level of fines could well increase."
GE Fleet Services figures showed the highest non-London authority is Gwent in Wales, down in sixth place with 354 fines issued. Congestion charging London and Transport for London occupy the top two slots with 3510 and 526 fines respectively.
"We would recommend that people appeal against the fines as the majority of appeals are accepted," advised King. "The more people that dispute the fines, the more pressure is put on the local authorities to get the system right."
This could pose a problem for fleet managers however, as the time and financial cost incurred by the increased amount of appeals may mean the processis not worthwhile.
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