Britain's estimated 1m uninsured drivers face having their vehicles seized and destroyed under new measures announced today.
The proposals were outlined at the launch of an independent report into uninsured driving.
Accidents involving uninsured drivers cost over £200m a year. Law-abiding motorists have their insurance premium increased by £30 a year as a result.
Figures show that uninsured motorists are ten times more likely to have been convicted of drink driving. They are also six times more likely to have been convicted of driving an unsafe vehicle.
Ministers plan to:
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Give the police the power to seize and, in appropriate cases, destroy vehicles that are being driven uninsured
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Link the Vehicle Register and the Motor Insurance Databases, allowing police to know which vehicles on the road are uninsured
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Allow fixed penalties for people who ignore reminders that their insurance has expired
Better notification of when insurance expires, and automatic reminders to renew premiums are also under discussion.
Welcoming the report, Road Safety Minister David Jamieson said:
"The message to the small hard core of anti-social motorists who drive without insurance is clear- uninsured driving is unacceptable."
"That is why I have announced today that we plan to give the police the power to seize and destroy vehicles that are being driven illegally and to increase police powers to use new technology to make detection and enforcement more effective."
Home Office Minister Caroline Flint said the report, by Professor David Greenaway of Nottingham University, gives a "sensible way forward".
"We will work hard to take forward its recommendations," she said.
David Greenaway is Professor of Economics, and Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy, at the University of Nottingham.
