Disks may identify car insurance dodgers

Posted :01-02-2006

According to a new survey, British motorists are calling for the introduction of 'car insurance disks', enabling the police to identify and stop any vehicles not listed on the DVLA databse.

Uninsured drivers add an average of £30 to the premiums of those with insurance, according to a survey by Tesco Car Insurance.

Tesco found that two thirds of British drivers would support the introduction of mandatory insurance disks as the most effective means of cracking down on uninsured drivers.

The system is already a legal requirement in Italy, France and Ireland.

Allan Burns, head of Tesco Car Insurance, said: "While recent changes to the Road Safety Bill give the authorities more power to fine or even confiscate the cars of uninsured drivers, motorists are telling us that more needs to be done to actually identify these drivers on the road."

However, road safety minister, Stephen Ladyman has disagreed with the survey's consensus, claiming the best way to deter the one million drivers on the road without car insurance is simply to crush their vehicles.

Mr Ladyman said uninsured cars should "go into the crusher to teach people a lesson".

"There's a new offence introduced in the road safety bill which is to make being the owner of an uninsured car - if you haven't notified the DVLA that it's off the road - an offence," he added.


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