While increasing numbers of uninsured drivers are being caught by police, there is a long way to go before the problem is eradicated.
The recent crackdown from authorities on uninsured drivers has proved a resounding success, the British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) has claimed.
According to the body, a quarter of a million vehicles belonging to the criminals have been seized since the introduction of the Serious and Organised Crime Act in 2005 - which allowed police access to the motor insurance database for the first time. However, Biba also admitted that much work remained to be done, with as many as two million uninsured drivers still on the road.
Figures from car insurance provider Direct Line, released last month, showed that accidents involving this group kill around 200 each year. Uninsured drivers are also ten times more likely than others to have a drink driving conviction and six times more likely to be driving in an unsafe, dilapidated vehicle.
Graeme Trudgill, Biba technical and corporate affairs executive, said: "The Police can now stop a vehicle on the road side and can see whether it’s insured or not, and they now have powers to seize that vehicle at the road side. Since they’ve had these powers they have confiscated about a quarter of a million vehicles."
He added: "We have a strong will to do something about…uninsured drivers [who] kill a lot of people. There is a lot of cost for the insured motorists out there and we really want to see that sorted out."
