A motoring offence every 50 seconds

Company car drivers have been ticked off for their motoring habits, after new research found that they commit a driving offence every 50 seconds and racked up more than £7m in fines during 2012.

Leasing company Lex Autolease, which runs a fleet of 270,000 vehicles accounting for one in thirty of the UK's new car and vans registered this year, found that more than 121,000 motoring offences were committed by business drivers in 2012, a 10 per cent increase on last year.

Speeding and illegal parking were most common, making up two thirds of all offences. The number of offences committed in these categories rose sharply between 2011 and 2012, with a 12 per cent increase in speeding and a 13 per cent rise in parking infringements.

The research also showed that more company car drivers are using bus lanes to speed up their journey. The number of offences for bus lane infringements rocketed by 30 per cent between 2011 and 2012 and now accounts for 10 per cent of the total.

But the number of congestion charge fines incurred by drivers in a company vehicle fell by eight per cent since 2011, which suggests the majority of motorists are now aware of Transport for London's congestion charging scheme.

Ian Thomson from Lex Autolease said: "In general, company car and van drivers are under significant pressure to complete each journey as quickly and efficiently as possible and hit tight deadlines. Unfortunately this pressure can also have a negative impact on their driving behaviour."