Government and industry to crack down on '1 million' uninsured drivers

The Department for Transport has announced plans to crack down on drivers who do not have motor insurance cover.

The British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) estimates that there are over 1 million uninsured drivers on the roads in the UK, and that incidents involving these illegal drivers add £30 to £40 to each private motor policy.

A report from Professor David Greenaway on the issue of uninsured driving has set out a number of ways in which the problem could be dealt with. These include:

• Seizing and, where appropriate, crushing cars
  
• Increasing fines for uninsured drivers - which currently average just £150
  
• Improving the flow of information to the Motor Insurance Database
  
• Using technology such as automatic number plate readers (ANPRs) to identify uninsured drivers.

Transport Minister David Jamieson said, 'We know that law-abiding motorists are fed up with paying the price for the small, hard core of anti-social motorists who drive uninsured, often in untaxed or unsafe vehicles'.