Men are more likely to complain about motoring fines The research, for Saga Motor Insurance* shows that men over 50 are almost twice as likely (16%) to say they've been the unfair victim of a speeding fine than women (9%) and 50% more likely to feel they've wrongly received a parking ticket (men, 27% and women, 18%).
Overall, two fifths of people feel they've been the unfair victim of a parking ticket while one in ten motorists say they were victim of an unfair speeding fine.
Apathy and fear of conflict
Overall, some 40% of motorists do not bother to complain and the most common reason for men was because they were afraid of costs involved while women did not know where to start.
Being afraid of conflict tops the list of reasons why motorists haven’t challenged a garage for poor servicing or repairs.
Women are the most likely to put on a brave face and complain to a garage (men 13% vs women 18%).
In fact, women over 50 appeared to be considerably more successful than men when complaining to garages for poor servicing and repairs (women, 23% and men, 17%).
Challenging fines
People are the most confident when challenging parking tickets as almost a third (30%) of motorists admitted to challenging unwanted parking tickets while only one in 20 motorists complained about a speeding fine.
Challenging fines and tickets seems to pay off as one third of over 50s (men, 33% and women, 31%) who challenged a parking ticket believed they were successful.
Complaining could save motorists a considerable amount of money as the government intends to increase speeding fines to a whopping £90 while parking tickets range from £40 to £130.
Potholes
Pothole damage is more prevalent in the South and in Scotland with one in five people surveyed saying they have suffered damage caused by a pothole in each of these regions. However, of the one in six UK motorists who have suffered such damage only one in 17 people have been successful when complaining to the relevant people.
Wales - it's not fair!
Regionally, Wales is the capital of unfair parking and speeding fines with 23% saying they have unfairly received a speeding fine and 27% saying they have been victim of an unfair parking fine.
A quarter (26%) of Londoners say they have received a parking fine unfairly and 44% have challenged them.
Chief Executive, Saga Services, Roger Ramsden said: “Unfortunately the research doesn’t prove if men are better drivers than women, but it does show that men feel more hard done by when things don’t go their way.”
Getting help
More than half of over 50s agreed that if they had access to a service that helped them draft letters to challenge these issues then they would be more likely to complain to the relevant people.
Saga offers motorists access to a series of 'off the peg' legal documents covering a range of incidents that include challenging a motor trader over a faulty vehicle to contesting parking fines. This service is free to customers with motor legal protection.
*Research carried out on behalf of Saga by YouGov amongst 2133 adults between 21st-23rd March 2012