THOUSANDS more drivers have been caught committing motoring offences this year compared with last, under a new crackdown by Police Scotland.

In the first four months of the single force, the numbers of drivers caught for offences such as speeding and not wearing a seatbelt rose by almost 20,000 - a 34% increase on the same period in 2012.

Chief Constable Sir Stephen House has made road policing a key priority. However, officers have complained they are no longer able to use discretion and that targets to increase the number of people caught breaking the law on the roads is damaging relations with the public.

Sir Stephen has said the focus is road safety and, in the same four months of this year, figures show there was a 18% decrease in the number of people killed or seriously injured on Scotland's roads. Senior officers say more people are killed on Scotland's roads than as a result of crime.

A Freedom Of Information request by The Herald revealed the number of people reported for not wearing a seatbelt increased from 12,613 between April and July 2012 to 17,898 in the same four months this year. Those caught speeding rose from 25,781 to 36,715.

Overall, road traffic offences increased 19,947, going up from 58,570 to 78,517.

The number of people killed or seriously injured fell from 712 in April to July last year, against 585 this year.

Police would not reveal the total number of cars or drivers stopped by officers because they said it would "prove logistically very difficult to record every single instance where an individual has been stopped on Scotland's roads".

Brian Docherty, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said targets were a real concern for frontline officers.

"We don't know whether the number of people killed or seriously injured has been reduced because of the police, or different conditions or better weather," he said. "The fact pro-active policing has been done on the roads and that there is this kind of outcome is a good sign, but my big concern is why and where are we getting these big increases in road traffic offences from?

"We have members with concerns they are being given targets. Statistics can tell us anything we want, but we need to know whether the most dangerous roads are being targeted or whether this is just about collecting numbers in new housing estates."

A spokesman for Brake, the road safety charity, welcomed the pro-active work of the police.

He said: "Road crashes are needless, ending lives too soon and leaving behind traumatised and broken families to pick up the pieces. The work of Police Scotland, and specialist traffic police, is vital to preventing these kinds of tragedies.

"Police enforcement plays a vital role in deterring risky driving, as well as taking drivers who repeatedly put others in danger off the road. There is clear evidence that rigorous enforcement, alongside tough penalties, helps to reduce traffic offending and reduce casualties."

Superintendent Iain Murray, the force's head of road policing, said: "Communities consistently tell us road safety is one of their top concerns and we have listened to that in shaping our policing response.

"We are continuing to build our dedicated trunk roads patrol group across the country, matching specialist resource to the right place at the right time.

"Evidence has shown that regular risky and illegal drivers do not acknowledge the risk they present, or view their own actions as illegal or having any real social impact.

"A recent study stated almost three quarters of all drivers admitted to risky driving behaviour in the last 12 months and more than half of those admitted to illegal behaviour in relation to speeding, mobile phones and seatbelt use.

"There is a common perception amongst offenders that offences are committed by others, but not by themselves. Our job is to challenge these perceptions and make people aware that offending behaviour will be dealt with.

"While the reduction in people killed on our roads is welcome, it is important to recognise the tragedy that still lies behind them. There is still a lot of work to be done.

"Reducing road casualties and fatalities is one of the 'five golden threads' of policing in Scotland and, as such, every officer is now focused on improving road safety in our commun­ities. Police Scotland remains committed to working with partners to influence road user behaviour, make Scotland's roads safer for everyone and help to meet the Scottish Government's 2020 casualty reduction targets."