The government is to give wider access to the Motor Insurance
Database to enforcement agencies to clamp down on uninsured
drivers.
Road safety minister Jim Fitzpatrick said new measures will make
it an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle - rather than just to
drive when uninsured - making it easier to catch uninsured drivers
and keep them off the roads.
Fitzpatrick said, "The selfish minority of drivers who refuse to
insure their cars push up premiums for other motorists and kill or
injure thousands of people each year.
"Increased police powers already mean more than 400 uninsured
vehicles are seized every day but these tough new measures will
leave uninsured drivers with nowhere to hide."
Under the new system:
- The DVLA will work in partnership with the insurance industry
to identify uninsured vehicles
- Motorists will receive a letter telling them that their
vehicle appears to be uninsured and warning them that they will be
fined unless they insure it within a set period
- If the keeper fails to insure the vehicle they will be given a
£100 fine
- If the vehicle remains uninsured - regardless of whether the
fine is paid - it could then be seized and destroyed.
The government has already given the police powers to seize and
destroy vehicles being driven uninsured, along with improved access
to the Motor Insurance Database to enhance their capability to
detect uninsured driving by using automatic numberplate recognition
(ANPR) equipment.
Police removed around 150,000 vehicles in 2007, more than 400 a
day.