11th November, 2005
In the UK, tough new enforcement action to crackdown on uninsured drivers has been
unveiled by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling. From yesterday, police forces
across the UK can use automatic number plate recognition cameras to spot
and ultimately seize and destroy cars being driven without insurance.
The cameras are linked to a database which contains details of all vehicles
registered in the UK which are believed to be uninsured. The Transport Secretary
saw West Midlands police in action as they began the crackdown.
Alistair Darling said:
"Today we are sending out a very clear message to those who drive without
insurance - there is now no place to hide.
"The new powers to link up cameras and the insurance database will make it
far easier for police to tell if passing cars are uninsured and take action
against the driver.
"On top of these powers we are creating a new offence of keeping a vehicle
without insurance. This will be enforced through a new database of insurance
details which means that uninsured drivers don't even need to be on the road to
be caught."
"It is estimated that every law-abiding motorist pays an extra Ł30 a year
because of uninsured drivers. Drivers are rightly fed-up with those who flout
the law and we are determined to rid the roads of this small hardcore of
anti-social drivers."
Meredydd Hughes, Chief Constable of South
Yorkshire Police said, yesterday:
"The police service and the government are constantly striving to make our
roads as safe as possible for all road users. Evidence indicates that up to 10%
of vehicles on our roads are being used illegally and many of these will be
people who drive with no insurance. We know that people who don't insure their
vehicles, or indeed drive with no licence or test certificate are more likely to
be involved in other criminal activity, and in collisions. Collisions in which
people may be killed or seriously injured."
"The Operation that we are carrying out today will root out those motorists
who do not comply with the law by insuring their vehicles. The law exists to
protect all of us and we will not tolerate the minority of drivers who flout the
law showing no respect or concern for their fellow drivers. If you drive without
insurance, expect to be caught and brought to justice."
The new UK offence of keeping a vehicle without insurance, announced by the
Government in September, will mean that uninsured drivers can be caught before
they even take to the road.
Earlier this year the government gave the police new powers, to seize and
ultimately dispose of any vehicle being found driven uninsured.
Note:
1. There are an estimated 2 million vehicles being driven uninsured on
Britain's roads.
2. Once a vehicle suspected of being driven in the UK without insurance has been
stopped by a police officer it can be seized and removed from the road. The driver
will be required to bring proof of insurance to a police station. If the driver
still cannot produce insurance details then he/she will be prosecuted for
driving without insurance. Drivers have fourteen days to reclaim their vehicle.
After this time, the police are able to dispose of the vehicle.
3. The new regulations being taken up by the police from 10/11/05 are "The Disclosure
of Vehicle Insurance Regulations 2005 - SI 2005/2833", and were made under
powers provided in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
4. New proposals, tabled as amendments to the Road Safety Bill in September
2005, will make it an offence to be the keeper of a vehicle, the use of which is
not insured. This would apply to vehicles that were not declared as being off
the road through a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) and were not insured.
Additionally the proposals will:
* Provide for a new fixed penalty for people who ignore reminders that their
insurance has expired.
* Issue automatic reminders to those motorists who fail to insure their
vehicle when their previous insurance expires.
5. Underpinning these provisions is a wider set of actions which are
being developed with stakeholders:
* Concerted action by insurance companies to continue to improve accuracy and
timeliness of updates to the Motor Insurance Database.
* Ensuring that insurance documents make the expiry date of an insurance
policy clear and unambiguous so that no one is in any doubt when their insurance
expires.
* Ensuring that the Courts make best use of the sentencing powers and
penalties available to them.
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