What Can You Be Fined For?
15 November 2024 | 
Andy Moody
Driving is an essential part of daily life for many, and unfortunately, that sometimes means dealing with fines or even penalty points. Our temporary car insurance ensures you’re always covered, but it’s important to stay aware of potential causes of fines while on the road.
While penalties for speeding, drink driving, and dangerous driving are well-known, there are many lesser-known reasons for fines. It’s also worth brushing up on what can invalidate your insurance, as driving without valid cover is illegal. To help you stay road-safe and fine-free, we’ve collated a list of unexpected reasons drivers might face fines.
Over Packing the Car Fines
When it comes to carrying things in your vehicle, overpacking could land you a £100 – £2,500 fine and invalidate your insurance. When Christmas shopping, it’s easy to overstuff the car to get everything in, but drivers could face a fixed penalty for over-filling the car, exceeding the weight limit or obstructing the view of the road. It’s worth noting that decorating your car at this time of year could also risk obstructing your vision!
In serious cases, the possibility of being banned from driving or receiving three points on your licence is possible if your car is deemed to be being driven in a dangerous condition. This can in turn invalidate your vehicle insurance and ruin Christmas!
Wear Appropriate Footwear
Rule 97 of the Highway Code states that footwear should not prevent you from driving in a safe manner. If you’re wearing thick boots to keep your feet warm, you may endanger yourself and other drivers, risking points on your licence and a £100 fine! Bring a spare pair of driving shoes with you if you plan on wearing thick boots during the day.
Don’t Drive with a Dirty Number Plate
With the colder weather during this time of year, snow and ice can cover up your number plates. Your number plate is an important feature for Police to ascertain when and where it’s registered and insured, so it needs to be visible at all times! Under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, drivers who have dirty, obstructed or hard-to-read licence plates could face a fine of up to £1,000. Save yourself the financial headache, and take a few minutes to scrub any snow, ice or dirt from your plates!
Driving Without De-Fogging or De-Icing Windows
A well-known winter driving hazard is that lower temperatures can obstruct your windows with ice and fog. Even if you’re in a rush, you should never start driving if your windows and mirrors are iced over or risk fogging up while on the move. The same goes for letting your windows fog up while driving. The dangers are clear—not being able to see can lead to accidents and may result in a fine of up to £2,500, three penalty points, and even a driving disqualification.
Always allow your car to acclimatise to the heating before setting off on a cold day. There’s nothing more unnerving than starting your journey, only for your windows to fog up completely while you’re on the road.
Leaving Your Engine Running to Warm The Vehicle
It’s tempting to leave your vehicle running for a few minutes in the morning before jumping in for a cosier drive, but this is actually illegal under Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Idling causes air and noise pollution, which is why this is a chargeable offence, with those offending at risk of a fixed penalty notice of £20 or penalty charges of £40-80. Similarly, leaving your car running while you head inside is a great way to attract thieves – and doing so could invalidate your insurance, making it a very expensive demist!
Use the Correct Headlights
With reduced visibility during this time of year, using the correct headlights is essential. If you use low-level lights in an area with poor visibility you can receive a £50 fine and put yourself in danger of not seeing ahead of yourself clearly. Be safe and use the correct headlights when it gets hard to see outside.
Never Sleep in Your Car While Drunk
It’s common to celebrate at this time of year, and the celebrations often involve alcohol! If you are drunk and in need of a place to sleep, never opt for your car. Sleeping in your car under the influence can result in a £2,500 fine, even if you never even touch the wheel! Call a cab or ask a sober friend to drive you and your car home instead, our designated driver insurance can sort you out in these scenarios.
Fines for Splashing People With Puddles
With more snow, ice and rain at this time of year, more and more puddles will pop up on the road. Any scrooge deliberately driving through a puddle to splash a pedestrian faces a fine of up to £5,000 and three points on their licence. Being a pedestrian who gets splashed is a day ruiner, so don’t do it and risk a hefty fine ruining your day too.
Leaving Snow on Your Roof Could Lead to a Fine
Having snow on your roof is not a crime in itself – but snow can easily fall onto your windscreen, or fall off of your vehicle into the path of another driver. This could result in accidentally breaking the law, with a charge for ‘driving without due consideration’ resulting in three points in your licence and a £100 fine or educational course.
Fine for Running Out of Fuel
Fuel gauge roulette is never a good idea, especially when visibility is reduced and roads are icy. According to the Highway Code (rule 97) before setting off, drivers must ensure they have enough fuel for their entire journey. Breaking down and causing an obstruction to traffic because your car is running on empty can result in a £100 fine and/or points on your licence.
Don’t Drive with Bald or Low-Pressure Tyres
The legal limit for tread on tyres is 1.6mm and unfortunately, there’s a fine for ‘bald tyres’ that are thinner than this. As a result, tyres below that depth can lead to a fine of up to £2,500 per tyre – and even three points on your licence. If every tyre’s bald, you could be facing a bill for up to £10,000! Additionally, all four tyres should be at the correct pressure (which you can usually find on the sticker inside the driver’s door). It is especially important to make sure your tyres are meeting the standards at this time of year, with icy roads increasing the chances of losing grip.
Fines for Using Your Phone or SatNav
Ever wondered whether you can (legally) use your phone as a sat nav whilst driving? Sorry to disappoint you… but holding any type of device that’s receiving data when you’re driving – even if you are sat in traffic – is a major no-no and you could receive 6 penalty points and a £200 fine for doing so.
Plus, if you’ve had your licence for less than two years, you could be banned from driving altogether. It is of course okay to set your phone running to operate as your navigation before you drive home for Christmas, but if you’re messing with it whilst driving, that’s when you could face a fine.
Disclose Pre Existing Medical Conditions
Driving with an existing medical condition (that appears on this list) and not informing the DVLA could land you with a hefty £1,000 fine. DVLA estimates there are more than 1m motorists on the road with an undisclosed health issue – make sure you’re not in that group.
You’ll Be Fined for Obstructing Emergency Services
Christmas time sees more emergency calls than any other time of year, making the roads even more hectic. When you see the flashing lights and sirens of emergency services approaching you, it’s your responsibility to ensure you’re not blocking their way. This can sometimes be difficult but you should always safely make an effort to move out of the way, allowing the response teams to easily make their way through. If you make no effort to move and delay the response time of the emergency services you could be putting lives at risk. If you don’t make an effort to move and end up obstructing them you could also face a fine of up to £5,000.
Pets Must Be Restrained
The Highway Code says dogs have to be ‘suitably restrained’ whilst they are in the car, and failure to do so could land you with a fine of up to £5,000! Dogs shouldn’t be able to freely move around the car, both for their safety and the driver’s. Ideally, dogs should be in a crate, carrier or harness. If they are in the boot, dog guards should be in place so they can’t jump through to the front. If you’re taking your dog home for Christmas, or heading out for a festive walk, make sure they’re properly restrained.
The Rules Around Sunglasses Whilst Driving
Sunglasses are important to prevent glare from hindering your vision whilst on the roads, especially as the sun tends to sit lower in the sky during this time of year. However, if you wear them at the wrong time they could cost you dearly. You should never drive in sunglasses outside of daylight hours, and doing so could result in a fine of up to £2,500 as you’re compromising how clearly you can see the road and your surroundings.
Dutch Reach Rules
The Dutch Reach method for opening car doors has been a recommendation of The Highway Code since Jan 2022. It encourages drivers and passengers to check for cyclists, walkers and other traffic before opening car doors, by using the opposite arm to the door when opening. In case of an accident, you won’t be fined for not opening your door following the Dutch Reach method, but you could face a fine of up to £1,000 for ‘Car Dooring’ which is an offence.
Fines for Not Supervising Learner Drivers Properly
There are many rules for supervising a learner driver, and one of them is not being on your mobile phone whilst doing so. Just like if you were driving, if you are caught on your phone whilst supervising a learner you could face a £1,000 fine. So, the next time you help out with some driving practice make sure you are paying full attention. It’s particularly important to set a good example to learners during this time of year, with roads being more dangerous than usual.
Not Concentrating on the Road
This shouldn’t come as an unexpected fine, but being deemed to not be concentrating on the road whilst driving could land you with a £5,000 fine. Playing Christmas tunes too loudly, wearing headphones and turning around to talk to passengers in the back could all be viewed as limiting your concentration on the road. So when driving, limit distractions in the car to ensure your concentration is never jeopardised, as it’s not just a fine you would be risking, but also an accident.
Fines for Not Reporting Hitting an Animal
During Autumn, there tends to be more deer on the road. Hitting an animal with your car is seen as the same as any traffic collision and it must be reported to the police. Failure to do so could see you being fined up to £5,000. Interestingly though this only applies to a handful of animal types including deer, dogs, horses, cattle, donkeys, sheep, pigs and goats. Whilst you may not be fined for not reporting hitting other animals like cats, deer or badgers, it is still advisable to report the incident.
Whenever you’re driving you should always strive to be safe and that means having full visibility of your surroundings and staying focused on the road. Whilst some of these fines might seem surprising, ensuring you comply with the law will only mean you’ll be driving more safely – protecting your wallet and your life.
Whilst we can’t help you avoid all these fines, we can help you get comprehensive cover in under two minutes, so you can always be insured whether you’re driving home for Christmas, borrowing a car or need insurance for driving practice, our temporary insurance options are here for you.
