Police mount national operation to tackle uninsured driving in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire Police is getting behind Operation Drive Insured, the first ever campaign to promote motor insurance enforcement.
Operation Drive Insured is a national campaign targeting motorists who drive whilst uninsured.Operation Drive Insured is a national campaign targeting motorists who drive whilst uninsured.
Operation Drive Insured is a national campaign targeting motorists who drive whilst uninsured.

The campaign, which runs until Sunday, has been organised by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) and the National Roads Policing Intelligence Forum to put the national spotlight on the issue of uninsured driving and its impact.

Chief Inspector Phil Vickers, lead officer for roads policing with the East Midlands Operation Support Services which serves Lincolnshire and three other counties, said: “Targeting uninsured drivers is a daily business for police officers in Lincolnshire and across the East Midlands.

“Those who choose to drive without cover impact on the vast majority of drivers who have insurance, in terms of increased premiums and probable misery when they are involved in collisions.

“We will be making full use of the automatic number plate technology, together with information from the public, to trace and stop those motorists who are driving without insurance.”

Uninsured drivers risk seeing their vehicles seized, as well as a £300 fine, six points on their licence and, ultimately, the crushing of their vehicle.

About 3,000 vehicles a week are expected to be seized in the UK this year as police tackle uninsured driving, with MIB figures showing the estimated number of uninsured drivers to have dropped from two million in 2005 to one million now.

Neil Drane, head of enforcement services at MIB, said; “By working in partnership and collaborating in this way, we are determined to reduce uninsured driving numbers in the UK.

“This is in part due to police powers to seize vehicles that were introduced in 2005, as well as writing to all drivers where doubt exists that they have insurance as part of Continuous Insurance Enforcement since 2011.

Police are also running public awareness campaigns, however, this figure is still too high and is a burden on all honest motorists.”