See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAVID CHURCHILL Published: 11:25 BST, 28 May 2026 | Updated: 11:37 BST, 28 May 2026
Drivers were hit with a record 5.6 million penalty points on their licences last year - likely fuelled by the rise of 20mph speed limit zones.The total, equivalent to more than 15,000 points daily, was up from 5.4 million in 2024, 4.86 million in 2023 and 4.5 million in 2022.Figures obtained by the Daily Mirror showed motorists committed offences ranging from speeding and mobile phone use behind the wheel to insurance and careless driving breaches.Drivers clocked speeding by the legion of cameras across the country accounted for the largest number of offences.Speeders got 3 million penalty points on smaller roads, with another 730,000 issued for motorway speeding, today's figures show.Motorists driving without insurance got 475,000 points in total, while those using a phone behind the wheel accounted for 230,000 points.The figures, released by the DVLA under Freedom of Information laws, cover drivers receiving between one and 11 points for offences. Three-point penalties were the most common punishment.There were 1.53 million incidents resulting in motorists receiving points in 2025, up from 1.32 million two years earlier.Separate figures released last month revealed nearly one million drivers received points on their licence last year, up 32 per cent from 678,367 in 2022. This excluded offences on motorways.At the time, experts partly blamed the blanket roll-out of 20mph zones across parts of Britain, with growing numbers of motorists complaining that they are often introduced on roads where they are not needed and can be hard to stick to or have confusing signage.More than a sixth of British roads now have a 20mph speed limit – 39,000 miles of the nation's 246,500-mile road network, according to the transport consultancy Insight Warehouse.Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at The AA, said: ‘The advancement of camera technology is helping police forces catch people breaking the law.‘Be it speed cameras, or new AI cameras that can detect people not wearing their seatbelt, or using a hand-held mobile phone, drivers should remember there is a chance they'll be caught.’
