Speeding fines double as experts claim it is just a way of raising money

The number of motorists disqualified or convicted of speeding is thought to have reached more than two million last year, experts who blame a law change that lets police keep the money raised by fines say.

Recent figures released by the Home Office for 2000 showed that more than one million drivers were prosecuted in England and Wales, raising more than £44m in fines.

Since those figures were compiled, at least 14 police forces have been allowed to keep most of the revenue raised through fixed penalty notices as a financial incentive under the "netting off" scheme, introduced in 2001. The money would otherwise have gone to the Treasury.

Motoring organisations fearthe number of convictions will have more than doubled in 2001 with little impact on safety. "The number of people losing their licences through speeding convictions has been going up dramatically over the last few years," Brian Gregory of the Association of British Drivers, which sits on the Government's Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said.

"Yet it appears to have little or no affect on the number of casualties, which are also rising... The target set by the Home Office is three million [tickets] a year with speed cameras covering the whole of the UK. With just under 30 million licence holders in the UK, one in 10 will get a speeding ticket every year."

The Association of Chief Police Officers and the Government's Transport Research Laboratory claim speed is the most important factor in serious road accidents, killing 3,409 and injuring 38,000 in 2000.

Their experts estimate speed is a significant factor in a third of all road crashes – a figure they use to support the proliferation of automatic speed cameras at a rate of about 15 systems a week.

However, a recent survey by Autocar magazine found that 73 cameras are on the UK's 50 safest roads but only 18 are on the 49 most dangerous routes.