Suburb worst in UK for uninsured drivers

[Trevortt]

A Bradford suburb has been shamed as the worst in the country for motorists driving without insurance, new figures have revealed.

Nearly two-thirds of car owners in the Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Thornbury areas do not have valid insurance, according to a national survey.

The BD3 area appears top of a national postcode breakdown of vehicles being driven or parked illegally, with 61 per cent of motorists driving without insurance – more than six times the national average.

Two other city postcodes also make the top ten list of shame published by the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) yesterday.

Half of all drivers (51 per cent) in the BD8 postcode, which includes Girlington, Manningham and Lower Grange, were found to be uninsured, making it the sixth worst in the country.

In Frizinghall and Heaton (BD9) almost 39 per cent of vehicles did not have insurance, ranking it tenth.

Neil Drane, a spokesman for MIB, warned insurance dodgers that the organisation was working closely with police forces to crack down on the menace of illegal drivers.

He said: “We have been working with the police to provide them with the capability to be able to target areas using greater technology and intelligence.

“As a result, police forces in the UK have taken 350,000 vehicles off the road to date over the last couple of years with 40 per cent getting crushed or disposed of.

“There is plenty of activity going on to catch people who own uninsured cars.”

Uninsured drivers kill 160 people, injure 23,000 and cost more than £500m each year in the UK, said Mr Drane. They also add £30 per year to every honest motorist’s annual premium.

However, the number of claims involving accidents with uninsured drivers has reduced by nearly ten per cent, he said.

“Progress is being made in the fight against uninsured driving, though there is much still to done to rid the UK of this dangerous and illegal practice,” he said.

Earlier this year, the Telegraph & Argus exclusively revealed that 57 per cent of motorists in BD3 were uninsured.

A major purge was started in February as part of a month-long crackdown across Yorkshire. Police used Automatic Number Plate Recognition equipment to identify uninsured vehicles which were then seized.

Following the publication of the latest figures yesterday, a West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We take seriously the issue of uninsured drivers.

The main proactive way of combating uninsured vehicles is through the use of Automatic Numberplate Recognition.

“It monitors all passing vehicles and flags up any without insurance.

These are then double-checked and the vehicle is stopped, and if no valid insurance is produced the vehicle will be seized.

“The owner of the vehicle then has seven working days to produce valid insurance, if they don’t the vehicle will either be crushed or sold at auction to regain the costs.”

To check your vehicle is on the Motor Insurance Database, visit askmid.com.

Source

Been saying this for years, do you honestly believe some 18 year old asian or black male can afford to drive a lamorgini or porsche.

Also, those areas mentioned above are highly asian, black or ethinically populated, and people wonder why i am sick to death of them! THIS IS WHY!

Police should use their powers to check every vehicle in those areas and give harsh punishments for drivers caught with no license, insurance or tax, i am sick of paying for eveyone else!