Police take 100 off the road in insurance crackdown

More than 100 vehicles have been seized across the West Midlands in a crackdown on uninsured drivers.

West Midlands Police is working with the motor insurance industry on the pilot project, funding dedicated officers to track drivers with no policy.

Eleven days of police operations have taken place in the first eight weeks of the scheme, with a further 11 days of activity to come.

The force says it is targeting hot-spots where data shows a higher proportion of uninsured vehicles, and is using statistics from the project to hone the areas it monitors.

The operation uses data from traffic cameras to identify vehicles with no policy registered, which are then flagged to officers on the operation.

Staff from industry body the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) are working alongside police to speed up checks.

Sgt Francis Allen from the force's traffic unit said: “Working with MIB has allowed us to focus our efforts precisely on the areas with the biggest prevalence of uninsured driving, maximising the impact of our operations."

He added that as well as insurance offences, people had been arrested for vehicle theft, transporting stolen property, driving while disqualified and other motoring transgressions.

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