FOI 859/25

Request

I'd like to make a request regarding information on drivers being fined for not wearing their seatbelt in your area.

Specifically, I'd like to request information on the following:

1. How many drivers in total were fined for not wearing a seatbelt in your district in the last 12 months/in the previous 12 months up until your most recent data set?
2. How many drivers between the ages of 17 and 29 were fined for not wearing a seatbelt in your district in the last 12 months/in the previous 12 months up until your most recent data set?
3. The number of casualties caused by drivers not wearing a seatbelt in your district in the last 12 months/in the previous 12 months up until your most recent data set?
4. The top 3 months where you reported the highest numbers of drivers being fined for not wearing a seatbelt in your district in the last 12 months/in the previous 12 months up until your most recent data set?

Response

Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.    

Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires South Wales Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: 

(a) states that fact,

(b) specifies the exemption in question and

(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

In relation to your particular request, the following exemption applies:

Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.

We have consulted with our Motoring Unit who confirm that 1,274 fines were issued to drivers for not wearing a seatbelt whilst driving in the last 12 months.

We estimate that it would take approximately 2 minutes to individually interrogate each of these occurrences on our crime and incident recording system (Niche RMS) in order to ascertain the ages of the drivers.

We therefore estimate that it would take in excess of 42 hours to answer question 2 of your request.

It is estimated that the cost of providing you with the information is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the "appropriate level" as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.

In the case of the police service, the appropriate limit is £450 which has been calculated to equate to a total of 18 hours of work.

If any part of the request exceeds the fees limit then Section 12 applies to the whole request.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a refusal notice.

Excess cost removes the forces obligation under the Freedom of Information Act, however under Section 16 – Duty to provide advice and assistance, an authority is required to offer an applicant the opportunity to redefine their request within the cost limit. If you were to remove question 2, we may be able to assist with the rest of your request.