How That "Speed Camera" Is Helping You To Save Money

Automatic Number Plate Reader (ANPR) Technology in the UK often gets a bad name in the press as irate motorists accuse Police Forces of installing the cameras to entrap speeding motorists with the aim of making money out of them. What is less well-publicised is that these facilities are increasingly being used to great effect by the Police cracking down on crime generally – the “proper” crime which speeding motorists often feel Police officers should tackle.

Over the past two years the Police have been adopting a strategy of "denying criminals the use of the roads", in recognition of the (supposedly obvious) fact that criminals usually travel to and from the scenes of their crimes in vehicles. You are probably vaguely aware that serious crimes such as murder often use information from traffic cameras in the area to trace witnesses and potential suspects, but in fact these cameras are in constant use in pursuit of many offences.

The latest weapon in the war against the criminal driver is the information being provided every month on vehicles which have recently ceased to have insurance.

Using information found on the Motor Insurance Database (MID), a database of all motor insurance policies in the UK, the Motor Insurers' Bureau (a motor insurance industry body responsible for compensating the victims of uninsured drivers) provides a list of those vehicles that might now be driving around without insurance.

This extract is available to all UK Police Forces, to be used in conjunction with ANPR cameras to identify likely offenders.

ANPR cameras are not only found on poles on the verge or above motorways – you may also have seen them pointing out of special vans parked quietly at the roadside, capturing details of every vehicle going past. Often the driver of a vehicle passing such a camera and triggering a "hit" will find himself being pulled over by an intercept team of Police shortly afterwards. The insurance data is only one of the possible reasons for this, but it is a source which often produces excellent results.

During the pilot of the insurance data extract four metropolitan Forces conducted a one-day operation using data on long-term uninsured vehicles. They seized dozens of uninsured vehicles and uncovered drivers with numerous other offences to their names. In one case a serious crime was actually prevented by the stop.

This is no surprise to the Police, who are well aware that apparently trivial offences are strong indicators of wider criminality. In the 1990s a Home Office study demonstrated that drivers falsely using disabled parking spaces were significantly more likely to be guilty of other offences – and those evading insurance are clearly no different.

This new data is a huge step forward for the Police, providing, as it does, an active indication of potentially uninsured drivers. It is no longer a case of avoiding detection by driving a vehicle committing no visible offence – the ANPR camera will catch the evader even if his tax disc seems in order and all his lights are working.

This is all good news for the vast majority of motorists who comply with the law, even if they resent the price. Every one of us is contributing an average £20 of our insurance premium to compensate the victims of uninsured drivers.

Uninsured drivers have more accidents than the average motorist but they are not paying any of the costs. Now they can more easily be found, and under legislation which came into force in 2005 , their vehicle can be seized on the spot. Not only do they face fixed penalty or fine, plus 6 points on their licence, but they may face a long walk home.

Since the insurance data was rolled out to all GB Forces in February 2006 the number of vehicles seized each month has climbed steadily and is currently over 500. Hertfordshire Police recently announced that they had seized their 2000th vehicle. We should all hope that the uninsured drivers get the message that this is no longer an offence they can get away with – and we can see that £20 start to come down.