They can seize on the spot, no courts etc, and the cars will be sold if high value or scrapped
10,000 insurance law breakers lose vehicles By Jenny Makin Comment | Read Comments (25) End of the road End of the road
MORE than 10,000 insurance dodgers have had their vehicles seized after being caught flouting the law in Hampshire.
Top of the range cars and high-performance vehicles are among those to hit the scrap heap and be crushed while others of high value have been sold.
Police have spent almost three years using new powers to seize vehicles from those caught driving illegally.
Today they warned that illegal motorists - thought to make up one in 20 drivers on our roads - would continue to be caught as they were putting the lives of law-abiding drivers at risk.
Many of those who had their cars taken did not have valid licences and have ended up before the courts.
Others have also been found to have a history of committing crime, particularly drink-driving or getting behind the wheel of an unroadworthy car. advertisement
Milestone Hampshire reached its crushing milestone after new legislation was brought in July 2005 that gave officers the power to remove vehicles from the roads.
Section 165 of the Road Traffic Act was introduced to clamp down on dangerous drivers and to prevent and detect criminality on roads.
Previously, police forces across England and Wales had no right to remove cars - but now drivers can also be prosecuted for offences.
Officers have targeted cars as well as lorries, motorbikes and mini-motos - with owners or drivers given 14 days to produce the correct documentation at a police station and reclaim their vehicle. Failing that they will be sold if they are of high value or crushed.
It currently costs £105 to release the vehicle and an additional £12 per day holding charge for every day that it is impounded at sites in Hampshire. The fees, set by the Government, are expected to rise later this year.
During the first year of the new law, 972 vehicles were taken off the streets in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. In 2006 some 3,492 had been taken off the streets and last year, 4,059 were removed.
John Martin, head of the constabulary's Contract Vehicle Recovery Scheme, said: "Un-licensed and uninsured drivers frequently cause distress and misery to others.
"Many of those who choose to drive without a licence or insurance are often found to be involved in other criminal activity.
"Those members of society who take a responsible attitude to licensing and insuring their cars will take some pleasure in knowing that the police will actively seek out those who choose not too and deprive them of their vehicles as well as prosecuting them for the offence.
"The power granted to police officers has been extremely effective and has been responsible for denying irresponsible drivers and criminals the use of the roads in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight."
By the end of April this year police had already seized 1,467 vehicles that included two Por-sches, 26 BMWs, three Subaru Imprezas, and 14 Mercedes.
By the end of the year they expect that figure to have exceeded 4,500.
When the legislation was first used in 2005 about 43 per cent of vehicles were reclaimed after being seized. That figure has risen to about 57 per cent.
