Police Scotland catch 270 uninsured drivers in a single week of enhanced enforcement action

Over 270 drivers were detected driving without insurance across Scotland as part of the national Operation Drive Insured campaign.

The campaign saw a week of enhanced enforcement action between 20 January and 26 January to detect and, where appropriate, seize uninsured drivers’ vehicles and tackle associated offences.

In 2019, over 7,000 uninsured vehicles were seized in Scotland.

During January’s week of action, 271 uninsured vehicles were detected which resulted in 113 vehicles being seized.

The 271 drivers who were detected without insurance were reported to the Procurator Fiscal/received a Fixed Penalty Notice with a £300 fine and six penalty points.

Head of Road Policing, Chief Superintendent Louise Blakelock, said: “Driving without insurance is not a victimless crime as law-abiding drivers are at risk of paying out if they are hit by an uninsured driver. Additionally, uninsured motorists are more likely to have links to wider crime and often drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, posing an even greater risk to other road users.

“We will continue to take action against those who flout the law. If you have no valid insurance, you have no legal right to be on the road. I would ask the public to continue to report drivers so we can take action.”

Daren Courtenay, Motor Insurers Bureau Police Support Officer for Scotland, said: “MIB is committed to assisting the police in their continued effort of tackling uninsured driving. The fantastic results that Police Scotland achieved during their week of action demonstrates the need to continue this work. The vast majority of motorists are law-abiding and deserve to be protected from the increased risks posed by uninsured drivers.”

A spokesperson for Unite the Union Glasgow Cab Section, said: "We applaud Police Scotland for catching and reporting 271 uninsured drivers in just one week.

"It also raises the question (yet again) why the police continue to ignore the thousands of uninsured journeys undertaken by private hire cars illegally pirating our streets every week of the year?

"Despite some of these journeys resulting in sexual assaults, rape, and fraud, nobody has been reported in the past year.

"One such rape occurred only a few months after the Cab Section met with the Area Commander for Glasgow City Centre and her team.

"In spite of our warning that it was a case of ‘when, not if’ a tragedy occurred, they remain complicit to the weekly public endangerment that descends on our city."

Image credit: Wikipedia - Brian Robert Marshall