A new system to
tackle uninsured driving moved a step closer today as Road Safety
Minister Mike Penning laid the final regulations in Parliament.
Under Continuous Insurance Enforcement it will be an offence to
keep an uninsured vehicle, rather than just to drive when uninsured.
The regulations laid today will allow the DVLA to take action
against those who ignore warnings to get their vehicle insured.
Mike Penning said:
"Uninsured drivers injure 23,000 people each year and
add £30 to every responsible motorist’s premium so we need to do
everything we can to keep them off the roads.
“These new powers will help us to take targeted action while
freeing up police time to deal with the hard core of offenders.”
Under the new system:
The DVLA will work in partnership with the Motor Insurers’
Bureau 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 take action.
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 clamped, seized and destroyed. The
regulations laid in Parliament today would give the DVLA the
powers to take this action.
The vehicle will only be released when the keeper provides
evidence that the registered keeper is no longer committing an
offence of having no insurance and the person proposing to drive
the vehicle away is insured to do so.
Vehicles with a valid Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) will not
be required to be insured.
It is planned for the first insurance advisory letters (which
warn individuals that they appear to be uninsured) to be sent at
the end of June following a publicity campaign to raise awareness
of the CIE scheme.
The Motor Insurance Database (MID) will be used to identify
registered keepers of vehicles that appear to have no insurance.
All drivers can check their vehicle is recorded on the MID for
free - visit www.askMID.com.
Notes to Editors
1. Latest estimates are that around 4% (around 1.4 million) of
GB motorists drive uninsured. The penalty for driving without
insurance is a maximum fine of £5,000 and 6-8 penalty points.
Around 242,000 offenders are convicted for uninsured driving every
year. Currently every responsible motorist pays an average £30
each year within their premiums to cover crashes involving
uninsured and untraced drivers. It is also estimated that
uninsured and untraced drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000
every year. 2. Measures already introduced in the Serious
Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 gave police improved access to
the Motor Insurers’ Bureau database and powers to seize vehicles.
In 2009 around 180,000 vehicles were seized. 3. The Road Safety
Act 2006 provided the primary powers for a new offence of being
the keeper of a vehicle which does not meet insurance
requirements. The offence of keeping a vehicle with no insurance
came into force on 4 February 2011 commenced by the Road Safety
Act 2006 (Commencement No. 6) Order 2011. 4. Supporting
regulations which provided for exceptions to the offence came into
force at the same time in the Motor Vehicles (Insurance
Requirements) Regulations 2011). This instrument makes exceptions
to that offence, provides that liability to conviction for the
offence may be discharged by paying a fixed penalty of £100 and
provides for the disclosure of information in connection with
enforcement. 5. The Motor Vehicles (Insurance Requirements)
(Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal) Regulations 2011 will allow
persons authorised by the Secretary of State for Transport to fix
an immobilisation devise (clamp) to vehicles where it is believed
that an offence has been committed, and to remove and dispose of
vehicles in relation to the offence of keeping a vehicle with no
insurance. It also prescribes the release fee (£100) before the
vehicle is released and the evidence individuals have to
demonstrate in order to secure the release of the vehicle. 6. The
Road Safety Act 2006 (Commencement No.7) Order 2011 is also made
which will provide the mode of prosecution and specify the
penalties for the new offences of interfering with or removing an
immobilisation notice or device (clamp), and falsely displaying a
disabled persons badge with the purpose of avoiding enforcement
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