National campaign targets uninsured drivers

Roads policing officers in Kent are warning motorists that they will seize their car if it is not insured as they take part in a national campaign.

Between Monday 15 November and Sunday 21 November 2021 officers will focus on uninsured vehicles whilst carrying out road checks and patrols as part of Op Drive Insured.

A casualty every 20 minutes

In the UK each year 130 people are killed and 26,000 suffer injury after being involved in a collision with an uninsured or untraced driver. This equates to one casualty every 20 minutes. Additionally one in every five collisions on the country's roads involve an untraced or uninsured driver.

Roads Policing Chief Inspector, Craig West said:

‘The use of uninsured vehicles causes an increased risk of harm to our communities.‘In the event of a collision with an uninsured driver the costs often fall to the law-abiding motorist involved who may lose their no claims bonus and have to pay their insurance excess out of their own pocket.‘In addition to the financial implications those who drive uninsured are often linked to other criminality and we are keen to get these vehicles off of our road network.‘Roads policing officers seize uninsured vehicles on a daily basis and can find out quickly if a car has insurance. When we seize a car it risks being crushed and the driver will be issued with six points and a £300 fine.‘Our message is simple, if your vehicle is not insured - don’t drive.’