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 One
A year ago today, on the 21st August 2007 officers of Fife Constabulary commenced a programme of vehicle seizures as part of our commitment to Safer Neighbourhoods. New legislation allows for vehicles that are found to be uninsured or if drivers do not hold the required driving licence they can be seized where appropriate. As a result, over the last twelve months 1231 vehicles have been recovered from the roadside by police contractors of which 322 have been scrapped after owners failed to claim their vehicles. 851 vehicles were returned to owners after they produced valid insurance or the necessary driving licence to take the vehicle away but only after they paid the recovery cost of £117. 28% of the seizures involved young drivers 25yrs and under. The remaining 58 vehicles are part of the current administration of the scheme and have yet to come up for disposal. Inspector Davy Houston, Deputy Head of the forces Road Policing Department said of this highly succesful initiative " Fife is committed to Safer Neighbourhoods and many of these vehicles are the very ones that we don't want on the roads of our local communities. The numbers driving whilst uninsured means that this is a tactic that we will continue to exercise" *Around two million motorists drive without insurance every year. The cost of uninsured motoring is that uninsured drivers are responsible for 160 deaths each year. More than 40% of these involve young people. Uninsured drivers are ten times more likely to have been convicted of drink driving. More than half of uninsured drivers are under 29yrs of age. The Motor Insurers' Bureau has to deal with around 24,000 injury claims every year caused by uninsured drivers. *Figures taken from the MIB (Motor Insurers' Bureau) 2007 Annual Report & Accounts |
