Police seize 1000 cars without insurance in Milton Keynes

You can drive but you can’t hide. Police in the UK are getting much tougher on motorists who drive without insurance. Soon we won’t be able even to think about driving illegally without the law being on to us.

Staggering statistics revealed this week show that in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas in the last 12 months, the police have seized over 1000 vehicles that were not correctly insured. This has come as a result of tougher measures by the government that have been steadily improving over the last 5 years. Police officers can now fine drivers up to £200 and issue up to 6 penalty points on the spot. After that, the vehicles are taken off the road and it costs the motorist up to £100 to reclaim their vehicle or the police crush it.

Inspector Paul Winks, head of the Thames Valley’s Roads Policing Department said, “People who drive without insurance and proper driving documentation are already displaying a poor attitude towards their own driving and other motorists.”

This isn’t the first time there have been a large number of cars seized that don’t have the correct insurance. In December 2006, more than 850 vehicles were removed from the road in the Lothians and Scottish Borders area. Many of these cars were then either sold or destroyed, as the owners couldn’t pay either the toll to have them returned (around £105) or the daily charge (£12) while they were being held by the police. This surge was prompted by a revising of the Road Traffic Act in June 2006 and the police officers in the area have been amazed at the new bill’s impact.

The ball began rolling with these measures back in November 2005 when the then Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling, introduced number-plate recognition for uninsured vehicles and special cameras to spot those cars which aren’t insured. He highlighted how the problem affects everyone by saying, “It is estimated that every law-abiding motorist pays an extra £30 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.”

Darling’s plans have lasted beyond his spell as Transport Secretary and those that are out there now, trying to break the law, are paying the price.

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