Week of action to tackle uninsured drivers
Published 17 January 2020
Police Scotland’s Road Policing Division will be carrying out a week of action next week targeting uninsured drivers.
The campaign, which will run between Monday 20th and Sunday 26th January, is a week of enhanced enforcement activity to seize uninsured drivers’ vehicles and tackle associated offences.
Any driver found without insurance is likely to have their vehicle seized, get six penalty points on their licence, a £300 fine and could also possibly face a court prosecution.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) estimate that one person in the UK is injured every 20 minutes in a collision caused by an uninsured or untraced driver.
In Scotland in 2019, Police Scotland seized 7,029 uninsured vehicles.
The MIB estimates there to be around 40,000 uninsured motorists in Scotland, with Glasgow being the worst affected area. Other hotspots for uninsured driving can be found in Aberdeen, Falkirk, Inverness, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Edinburgh.
Head of Road Policing Chief Superintendent Louise Blakelock said: “We work closely with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau throughout the year to tackle uninsured drivers who often pose a risk to other road users as offenders aren’t motivated to display safer behaviour or meet basic legal requirements.
“Additionally, uninsured motorists are more likely to have links to wider crime and are often found to be driving while disqualified or without a valid driving licence. A number of drivers are also detected driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and the dangers of this are well known.
“If you have no valid insurance, you have no legal right to be on the road and we will continue to take action against those who break the law and put other road users at risk. I would also ask the public to continue to report drivers who are believed to not have insurance so we can take action.”
Anna Fleming, Chief Operating Officer at MIB said: “Uninsured drivers pose a significant threat to the safety of all road users and we are committed to making roads safer and fairer for all. We will continue our longstanding partnership with Police Scotland to make sure all motorists are insured and to make driving without insurance socially unacceptable.”
Alastair Ross, Head of Public Policy for Scotland at the Association of British Insurers said: ““There’s no excuse for driving without car insurance – it’s irresponsible, illegal and the consequences can be severe. Uninsured driving could get you a criminal conviction which could make it more difficult to access affordable insurance in the future. And if you get into an accident, you'll likely have to pay for damages."
