Safe Speed Forums

Shadow Transport Secretary Alan Duncan has welcomed new measures to curb uninsured motoring - but has protested that Government action is long overdue.

Road Safety Minister Stephen Ladyman has unveiled proposed changes to the Road Safety Bill - which is currently before Parliament - designed to make it illegal to own an uninsured or unregistered motor vehicle.

Under the planned crackdown, police will have a duty to identify and prosecute uninsured motorists, using a database of all registered vehicles in the UK. "The vast majority of motorists are rightly fed up with the small hardcore of anti-social motorists who drive without insurance. These new measures will mean that there is no hiding place for uninsured drivers," Mr Ladyman said.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr Duncan stated: "We have said for a long time that action against uninsured drivers is overdue. We welcome this announcement by the Government although we will await the detail to see how effective it will be."

He declared: "Statistically, uninsured drivers are a far more serious threat to road safety than those otherwise law-abiding motorists that are caught fractionally above the limit by a speed camera.

"Hopefully this latest announcement is the first step towards the Government taking a more sensible approach to road safety enforcement. Perhaps now they will stop relying on speed cameras - which cannot catch uninsured drivers - and abandon their policy of cutting traffic police numbers."