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."