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Police seize 6,000 cars
9:06am Tuesday 16th October 2007
MORE than 6,000 vehicles being driven without insurance or by unlicensed drivers have been removed from the roads of Thames Valley since new powers were introduced a year ago.
The powers were introduced in February 2006 under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 as a pilot scheme and proved so successful they were rolled out to roads policing officers in October. Since October 2006, 6,130 vehicles have been seized.
When a driver is stopped by an officer, the vehicle details are checked on the Police National Computer (PNC). If records show the vehicle is uninsured or the driver is unlicensed, the vehicle is immediately seized and impounded.
The owner then has the choice of signing away the ownership of the vehicle to police, who will arrange its disposal or they can return to a police station with valid insurance and driving licence and pay a £105 seizure charge and a storage charge of £12 a day in cash to reclaim the car within 14 days. If this is not done the vehicle will be disposed of.
Roads Policing Officers can also issue a fixed penalty notice for no insurance which costs £200 and carries 6 penalty points.
Supt Mick Doyle, head of the Roads Policing Department, said today: "The sheer numbers of cars seized show how determined officers are to get unlicensed and uninsured drivers off the road.
"Evidence from a range of sources show uninsured and unlicensed drivers are more likely to have a collision and less likely to have other valid documentation for their vehicle, such as a MOT or Vehicle Excise License. For the law abiding road user, these drivers push up their insurance premiums by on average £30 a year.
"Anyone driving without a licence or insurance should be aware that Thames Valley Police can and will seize your car and you will have to pay penalties, sometimes higher than the cost of insurance, to get it back."
Your Say YourOxford
Hunt, oxford says...
11:03am Tue 16 Oct 07
why should only by chance checked vehicles be removed, all without proper MOT car insurance and road tax should be removed from public roads
Roger, Oxford says...
11:50am Tue 16 Oct 07
1. It is impossible to have a taxed but uninsured vehicle.
2. Untaxed (and hence uninsured) vehicles are instantly recognisable because there is no tax disc.
3. Anyone can drive anyone else's vehicle without being 3rd party uninsured!
Tax and 3rd party insurance are both compulsory, so surely it makes sense to collect the fee for both at the same time?
J, oxford says...
1:13pm Tue 16 Oct 07
3. Anyone can drive anyone else's vehicle without being 3rd party uninsured!
Does that mean if someone steals your car and crashes it, your insurance premium will go through the roof as you'll pay for all the damage to the other person's car, you'll also have to pay for all your own car damage out of your own pocket, and the person driving can't be nicked for driving without insurance?!?!
billythekid, 057-934 says...
2:50pm Tue 16 Oct 07
Roger, Oxford says...
4:22pm Tue 16 Oct 07
Does that mean if someone steals your car and crashes it, your insurance premium will go through the roof
Not in Australia - compulsory 3rd party insurance is personal insurance - ie it covers hospital bills/compensation for personal injury, not damage to property. You don't have a "personal" premium either, everyone pays the same.
There is of course the disadvantage that some people will choose not to buy 3rd party property insurance and therefore if you get hit by them then you must sue for the damage but more likely your own insurance will pay and sue the other driver on your behalf, with no effect on your premium. However that's no different to the current situation here where people drive without insurance.
If someone steals your car you don't pay for damage to other vehicles - either the theif does or their own insurance does, or they do. And there's no need to nick anyone for driving without insurance - just nick them for theft and criminal damage!
Karen, says...
5:01pm Tue 16 Oct 07
Well done TVP.
anon, wallingford says...
1:14pm Wed 17 Oct 07
Good to see so many scumbags off the road......but no matter what system is in place there will always be people ignoring the rules with fake documents and the like.
ANON, Bicester says...
12:43pm Mon 22 Oct 07
rays, says...
3:35am Wed 24 Oct 07
billythekid wrote:No,he should be £200 fined, 6 points in the driving license and then shot.
anybody breaking the law should be shot....then congestion would be reduced!!!
I think we should ban the use off all private motor vehicles-in favor of bicycles,skates running,walikng and public transport-reducing the number of uninsured drivers and carbon footprint and congestion charge TO ZERO
adam casey, high wycombe says...
12:25am Wed 12 Dec 07
i am 20 years old and got stoped by the police in my fathers car on 08/12/07 in maidenhead town near to wear i live for no reason at all i was parked at the side of the road waiting for a friend who i had to drop some keys of to for work. i had my fathers car siezed off me by the police for not being able to prove at the side of the road that i had insuance. which i do. i then also got a fixed endorsment for no incurance which is 6 penlty point and a £200 fine. i was told by the traffic officer at the side of the road that once the doccuments were produced to the police station of my choice the ticket would be void! i was also told by the traffic officer that i was lieing about having insurance because i could not remember the name of the company who i was insured with. i also got my father who owned the car to speak to him on the phone, and told the police officer he would come and collect the car with all his documentation i.e insurance, MOT .....ect. so the car would not get siezed. they would not let my father do this.(WHY?) so i had to pay £105 release fee to get the car back once i had produced my documents. also when i produced my documents at the police station to prove i was innocent and driving with incurance i was told beacuse it was a fixed penalty the only way to avoid getting a £200 fine and 6 penatly points on my licence was by going to court! so now i have to have a day off work to go to court just to prove my innocence. ALL OF THIS BECAUSE I COULD NOT REMMEMBER WHO I WAS INSURED WITH! (i dont have the best memory!) this has been a complete inconvinence for me and my father and a waste of time. i would of agreeed with the idea of this law until this happened to me. how would you like this done to you when you know you are total innocent but being called a lier bye the police! i wish my incurance was in my windscreen at the time!
Zahida Arif, Coventry says...
2:21am Sun 10 Aug 08
alex, clifton nottingham says...
4:33pm Tue 19 Aug 08
chris, bicester says...
2:21am Wed 20 Aug 08
I thought we had to keep them on us all the time
Adrian, Didcot says...
9:45am Fri 22 Aug 08
Your sayYourOxford
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J, Oxford says...
9:41am Tue 16 Oct 07
Great work by the police though! It's about time these uninsured muppets were taken off the roads, although I think it should have a much stiffer penalty as a deterant.
It would be a great way to reduce the number of drivers on the road and ease congestion!