Crusher awaits drivers without car insurance Crackdown on irresponsible drivers hailed by police force
ASQUEAL of tortured metal signals the end of a Fiat Stilo as it is reduced to a flattened wreck by a fearsome hydraulic car crusher.
A Renault Clio follows the same fate – and, one by one, others are lined up for the crusher.
This is now fate of many cars owned by motorists who drive without insurance or a licence. The cars can be crushed or sold at auction if the owner cannot prove they have the relevant documentation or cover within seven days.
This week police warned the crackdown will continue.
The force has confiscated an average of 250 cars every single week since April 2016.
Around 95 per cent of the 12,296 vehicles seized across the West Midlands during the last year were for driving without insurance, with 68 per cent being scrapped or auctioned off.
Those caught driving without insurance also face at least six points on their licence, a £300 fixed penalty notice or substantial fine if the matter is pursued through the courts.
Superintendent Dean Hatton, from the Central Motorway Police Group, said: “Driving an uninsured vehicle is a criminal offence and the public quite rightly expects us to enforce the legislation.
“We do this in partnership with other organisations such as the DVLA Bureau.
“We are also trying to educate the public about the risks and consequences they face of not being insured.
“We want to get across a clear message that not being insured to drive is unacceptable, illegal and unfair on those who properly insure their vehicles.”
To help catch uninsured drivers the force uses automatic number plate recognition cameras that scan thousands of plates an hour to help officers identify vehicles driven without cover.
Each number plate image is fed into a computer system which can check the details of the vehicles against various databases, including the Police National Computer and information held by both the DVLA and MIB.
More than £750,000 has been raised through the auction and scrapping of vehicles over the last four years, and the cash is reinvested into policing initiatives.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: “I introduced police powers to seize and destroy uninsured vehicles as a Road Safety Minister back in 2004.
“This was in answer to the menace of uninsured drivers, who are often in untaxed and unsafe vehicles. I know that the vast majority of law-abiding motorists will welcome this action by West Midlands Police because they are sick of paying the price for uninsured drivers.” and Motor Insurers’