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10,000 insurance law breakers lose vehicles
10:11am Thursday 22nd May 2008
Comments (25)
MORE than 10,000 insurance dodgers have had their vehicles seized after being caught flouting the law in Hampshire.
Top of the range cars and high-performance vehicles are among those to hit the scrap heap and be crushed while others of high value have been sold.
Police have spent almost three years using new powers to seize vehicles from those caught driving illegally.
Today they warned that illegal motorists - thought to make up one in 20 drivers on our roads - would continue to be caught as they were putting the lives of law-abiding drivers at risk.
Many of those who had their cars taken did not have valid licences and have ended up before the courts.
Others have also been found to have a history of committing crime, particularly drink-driving or getting behind the wheel of an unroadworthy car.
Milestone Hampshire reached its crushing milestone after new legislation was brought in July 2005 that gave officers the power to remove vehicles from the roads.
Section 165 of the Road Traffic Act was introduced to clamp down on dangerous drivers and to prevent and detect criminality on roads.
Previously, police forces across England and Wales had no right to remove cars - but now drivers can also be prosecuted for offences.
Officers have targeted cars as well as lorries, motorbikes and mini-motos - with owners or drivers given 14 days to produce the correct documentation at a police station and reclaim their vehicle. Failing that they will be sold if they are of high value or crushed.
It currently costs £105 to release the vehicle and an additional £12 per day holding charge for every day that it is impounded at sites in Hampshire. The fees, set by the Government, are expected to rise later this year.
During the first year of the new law, 972 vehicles were taken off the streets in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. In 2006 some 3,492 had been taken off the streets and last year, 4,059 were removed.
John Martin, head of the constabulary's Contract Vehicle Recovery Scheme, said: "Un-licensed and uninsured drivers frequently cause distress and misery to others.
"Many of those who choose to drive without a licence or insurance are often found to be involved in other criminal activity.
"Those members of society who take a responsible attitude to licensing and insuring their cars will take some pleasure in knowing that the police will actively seek out those who choose not too and deprive them of their vehicles as well as prosecuting them for the offence.
"The power granted to police officers has been extremely effective and has been responsible for denying irresponsible drivers and criminals the use of the roads in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight."
By the end of April this year police had already seized 1,467 vehicles that included two Por-sches, 26 BMWs, three Subaru Imprezas, and 14 Mercedes.
By the end of the year they expect that figure to have exceeded 4,500.
When the legislation was first used in 2005 about 43 per cent of vehicles were reclaimed after being seized. That figure has risen to about 57 per cent.
Your Say YourThis is Hampshire
hulla, baloo says...
10:23am Thu 22 May 08
hmm, says...
10:29am Thu 22 May 08
hulla wrote:I would imagine you would want to look at the nationality of the driver (who probably claims not to be the owner)
Of the cars impounded and crushed, I wonder what the ratio is betwen the English and the foreign registered vehicles.
Keith Oftergrass, says...
10:35am Thu 22 May 08
How do the Police check they are taxed, MOT's and insured ?
Oh, I forgot....Portswood plod don't even bother with UK registered vehicles - just walk down any street and you'll find at least a couple with no road tax !
Johnny, Eastleigh says...
10:45am Thu 22 May 08
hmm, says...
10:55am Thu 22 May 08
Johnny wrote:Your names billy Mitchell not Johnny
I hope to God my Tax Disc doesn't come unstuck in this unseasonally hot weather, I would be devastated if they crushed my Purple Rover with Pink interior.
you, plonker says...
11:02am Thu 22 May 08
hmm wrote:Thought it was the cars, not the owners, that were crushed.
hulla wrote: Of the cars impounded and crushed, I wonder what the ratio is betwen the English and the foreign registered vehicles.I would imagine you would want to look at the nationality of the driver (who probably claims not to be the owner)
hmm, says...
11:23am Thu 22 May 08
you wrote:I understood the first time.
hmm wrote:Thought it was the cars, not the owners, that were crushed.
hulla wrote: Of the cars impounded and crushed, I wonder what the ratio is betwen the English and the foreign registered vehicles.I would imagine you would want to look at the nationality of the driver (who probably claims not to be the owner)
I was suggesting that not all foregin visitors drive cars from their home country
There is nothing to stop them buying a cheap banger and driving it around illegally. This is why i said we need statistics on the nationality of the drivers and not the cars seized
Wewullywinky, says...
11:23am Thu 22 May 08
A law-abiding driver, says...
11:56am Thu 22 May 08
Mr E, Eastleigh says...
2:13pm Thu 22 May 08
Mmmmm, here, there, everwhere says...
2:14pm Thu 22 May 08
Kite flier, Park says...
2:24pm Thu 22 May 08
hulla, baloo says...
3:04pm Thu 22 May 08
Mmmmm wrote:Read the report, and you will find they do.
ummmm, would it not make sense to sell the high end cars at auction instead of crushing them? Put the money back into the police force? Or is that too sensible a solution to the problem.
K, Soton says...
3:07pm Thu 22 May 08
Mmmmm, here, there, everwhere says...
3:35pm Thu 22 May 08
hulla wrote:ah there it is, many thanks
Mmmmm wrote: ummmm, would it not make sense to sell the high end cars at auction instead of crushing them? Put the money back into the police force? Or is that too sensible a solution to the problem.Read the report, and you will find they do.
Must have been mislead by the headline.
Jules, Southampton says...
5:12pm Thu 22 May 08
Amused, says...
5:23pm Thu 22 May 08
Keith Oftergrass wrote:You check the tax by looking in the bottom right corner of the windscreen of a vehicle, there is a simple way of discovering a fair amount of info from the disc, but I won't bore you. You check Insurance & MOT by calling up Control who advise you in seconds whether any is held. Not really sure where you think the 'DVLC' database comes in?
Round my was most cars have Polish number plates, so presumably aren't on the DVLC database. How do the Police check they are taxed, MOT's and insured ? Oh, I forgot....Portswood plod don't even bother with UK registered vehicles - just walk down any street and you'll find at least a couple with no road tax !
wontee, soton says...
6:59pm Thu 22 May 08
The Web MIB database is useful as you can check the insurance status of a vehicle
that you have a legitimate interest in .
paul b, says...
7:47pm Thu 22 May 08
Im sick to death of these scum
amused, says...
8:05pm Thu 22 May 08
wontee wrote:Sounds like amateur half hour to me
I think Keith means the Web DVLA database. On this you can check minor details including road tax status. The Web MIB database is useful as you can check the insurance status of a vehicle that you have a legitimate interest in .
wontee, soton says...
8:19pm Thu 22 May 08
I think that that's an offence.
R Butt, No says...
9:52pm Thu 22 May 08
K wrote:Insurance for young uns might be high but it's not supposed to be ralational to the driver's vehicle but to everyone's person and property. It's a fact of life unfortunately that the younger the driver the more likely the incident (I won't say accident...). Of course, that doesn't address the point that a £250 fine is enough to deter. I'm not entirely sure that a life ban would do that.
£250 is nothing compared to an 18 yr old lad's £1,500 car insurance plus tax, plus MOT etc! It's no surprise people are breaking the law!
R Butt, Yes says...
9:55pm Thu 22 May 08
K wrote:Bum...
£250 is nothing compared to an 18 yr old lad's £1,500 car insurance plus tax, plus MOT etc! It's no surprise people are breaking the law!
Insurance for young uns might be high but it's not supposed to be relational to the driver's vehicle but to everyone's person and property. It's a fact of life unfortunately that the younger the driver the more likely the incident (I won't say accident...). Of course, that doesn't address the point that a £250 fine isN'T enough to deter. I'm not entirely sure that a life ban would do that.
BOYCIE, SOUTHAMPTON says...
11:25pm Fri 23 May 08
THE POLISH PERSON'S BUY OLD BANGERS CHEAP SO IF THEY GET CAUGHT AND TAKEN THEN IT IS JUST CHEAPER TO BUY ANOTHER.....
End of the road
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hmm, says...
10:19am Thu 22 May 08
If some low life gets caught in his £250 fiesta with not insurance tax mot licence etc, he gets his car crushed, points on his licence and a small fine.
He wont have a licence or drives around with no insurance or anything like that in the first place so taking the small fine is cheaper than doing everything legit
As for people with High end cars, they just pay the small fine and carry on regardless
Its all nonsense aimed at punishing the average Jo on the street and not the actual problem makers