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The system of controlling and dealing with traffic offences is studied with reference to a tribunal in 1990 and the same method is again used in an evaluation of road safety policy in 2000 in studying six tribunals. The positions, expectations and practices of the various actors are studied in terms of their actual actions and their argumentations. Ten years after its definition, the illegal practice of abandoning the legal pursuit of offenders is a frequent occurrence and in contradiction with stated policies. The persistence of this and the analysis of effective legal process attests to the incapacity of the system to evolve. This conclusion as well as international comparisons favour the adoption of automated systems of control and of administering sanctions.