Tough new powers to tackle uninsured drivers

Plans to crack down on the menace of uninsured drivers were confirmed by Road Safety Minister Paul Clark today.

The 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.

Paul Clark said: "Each year uninsured and untraced drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000, and uninsured driving costs law-abiding motorists more than £400m in extra premiums.

"We've already taken action to force this irresponsible minority off the roads -increased police powers mean more than 400 uninsured vehicles are seized every day. But these tough new measures will catch anyone who is keeping an uninsured vehicle, leaving them 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.

Vehicles with a valid Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) will not be required to be insured.

Uninsured driving adds around £30 a year to every motorist's insurance premium - amounting to more than £400m a year in additional premiums. It is also estimated that uninsured and untraced drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000 every year.

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 Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment. Police removed around 150,000 vehicles in 2007 - more than 400 a day.

Last year a new offence of causing death by driving while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured was introduced.

The Department for Transport today published the results of its consultation on how the scheme will operate. Regulations will now be drafted, with the powers expected to come into force in the next financial year.