Police seized almost double the amount of uninsured vehicles last year compared to 2006 - with the owners of expensive cars being the worst culprits.
Motoring organisation the AA said that there was a growing number of top-of-the-range cars that were being seized in operations and this was because owners could not afford to insure them or simply chose not to.
It suspected that many drivers elected not to insure their vehicles because they thought they would be less likely to be stopped.
The total number of cars seized rose from 78,000 in 2006 to 150,000 in 2007, with 40 per cent of cars seized not reclaimed.
Of these 45,000 unclaimed vehicles, some were crushed and others sold at auction.
The AA also said that claims for accidents with uninsured drivers were down from 36,340 in 2006 to 34,239 in 2007.
It added that the trend of uninsured cars was changing due to the increased use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras by the police.
AA president Edmund King said: “The more widespread use of ANPR cameras means that the net is closing in on uninsured motorists.
“Some motorists feel that driving a top-of-the-range car means they are less likely to be stopped,” he added.
“This may have been true a few years ago but the camera does not discriminate.
“However, some villains are trying to stay one step ahead of the chase by using foreign number plates to try to avoid detection.
“We need to increase the checks on foreign registered vehicles. Plates from a left-hand drive eastern European country on a right-hand drive car are often a sign.”
ANPR cameras are now fitted as standard in many police patrol vehicles. The device automatically scans the road ahead and alerts officers to uninsured vehicles or those fitted with false UK plates.
The AA is warning that uninsured drivers are turning to the new ruse of using foreign number plates.
By Henry Carpenter
3 Comments
Word of advice, just arrest all drug dealers driving around in their Lambourghinis and Ferraris, because i guarantee there not insured!
One of the bugbears about speed cameras is that they catch people who are basically law-abiding, but who stray a little over the speed limit, whilst they never catch the un-registered who are typically also un-licenced and un-insured too.
I’m pleased to see that more of these individuals are being caught by ANPR, but I wonder if the huge sums of money raised by speed cameras are to any extent being spent on ANPR? If not, why not?
it’s a joke when insurance company’s advertise on tv to say free cover if you get injuried by an uninsured motor,where are the police each end of the EP have police checking number plates,by the end of the week at least between 50 and 100 motorists without tax mot insurance on mobiles drunk etc, would be up before the courts,plus the roads would be safer for us law-abibing taxpayers etc etc.