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MP WELCOMES CRACK DOWN ON UNINSURED DRIVERS

Coventry North East MP, Bob Ainsworth has welcomed the participation of West Midlands Police in a new operation launched yesterday (8 November 2005) to use new powers to crack down on uninsured drivers.

The new powers will allow police forces to use automatic number plate recognition cameras linked to databases of uninsured vehicles to instantly spot and ultimately seize and destroy cars being driven without insurance.

The new regulations being taken up by police are “The Disclosure of Vehicle Insurance Regulations 2005”, and were made under powers provided for in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

There are an estimated 2 million vehicles being driven uninsured on Britain’s roads and it is estimated that every law-abiding motorist pays an extra £30 a year in higher premiums because of uninsured drivers.

Those who drive uninsured vehicles are 6-9 times more likely to be involved in a collision and they are less likely to have roadworthy vehicles – and so represent a very real and very serious risk to other road users.

Bob Ainsworth said:

“Uninsured drivers are a risk to others and are freeloading at the expense of the law-abiding majority.

“We need these laws to be enforced to stamp out what is an escalating problem”.