More than 11,000 uninsured vehicles seized in one year
Police have seized more than 11,500 cars from uninsured drivers over the last 12 months, new figures have revealed.
The vehicles were recovered from roads in the West Midlands and can be impounded and destroyed under current police powers.
It comes as the force launched a clampdown on uninsured drivers.
According to figures revealed in a report to the region’s Strategic Policing and Crime board, West Midlands Police seized 11,550 cars in 2016/17.
The figure includes 268 vehicles that were seized in one week alone in October 2016, and comes ahead of the force’s No Insurance Week of Action, which is due to start on October 16.
The report says that 47 per cent of the vehicles recovered for no insurance had been spot checked by traffic or motorway patrol officers.
The region’s Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, who introduced powers to seize and destroy uninsured vehicles when he was a road safety minister in 2004, said: “This was in answer to the menace of uninsured drivers, who are often in untaxed and unsafe vehicles.
“I know that the vast majority of law-abiding motorists will welcome this action by West Midlands Police as they are sick of paying the price for uninsured drivers.” WMP works closely with the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) to tackle uninsured drivers. The MIB shares its database of uninsured vehicles on a weekly basis, which enables police forces to target enforcement against vehicles that are known to be uninsured.
The force says that although it doesn’t have the resources to investigate a vehicle every time it flags up on an automatic number plate recognition camera, officers do have the power to seize and destroy vehicles that are stopped.
Earlier this month the MIB revealed that accidents involving uninsured drivers have increased for the first time since 2004.
Over the last year claims have gone up by 10 per cent to reach 12,000.
The rise bucked the trend of a steady decrease in claims every year from 2004-2016.
Ashton West, chief executive at the MIB, said the figures highlighted the devastating impact of uninsured driving on communities and families.
