A national operation to target drivers without insurance is being launched by police today.
Cumbria Constabulary is supporting a national NPCC operation to target drivers without insurance.
The operation will from today until Sunday November 21 with officers looking to enforce and educate drivers during the operation.
This week of action highlights ongoing work throughout the year to target uninsured drivers.
So far in 2021, 213 drivers were issued with traffic offence reports for driving without insurance.
This figure also includes e-scooters, which have the same legal requirements as a motor vehicles.
It is illegal to drive a vehicle on a road or in a public place without at least third party insurance.
Even if the vehicle itself is insured, if you’re not correctly insured to drive it you could be considered to be driving without insurance and could get penalised.
You could receive a fixed penalty of £300 and six penalty points if you are caught driving a vehicle that you are not insured to drive.
If the case goes to court, you could get an unlimited fine and be disqualified from driving. The police also have the power to seize, and in some cases, destroy the vehicle that’s being driven uninsured.
Uninsured driving is associated with an increased likelihood of being involved in a serious road crash and pushes up the costs of insurance for all drivers.
The police have access to a database of all vehicles that are not insured.
You can visit the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) website here to check if your vehicle is insured.
Collision reduction officer Gregory Howard, from the Mobile Support Group, said: “Throughout the week of action we will be acting on information provided to us by the public, targeting those with a history of driving uninsured as well as conducting stop checks.
“Driving without insurance is an offence we can detect easily, and we will take action against those doing so.
“I’d like to thank you those that take the steps to ensure they are insured correctly, if it’s something you easily forget set yourself a reminder to do it in advance of your previous policy running out.”
Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner, Peter McCall, said: “There is no excuse for driving without insurance.
“This operation is really important as we do not want law-abiding drivers to be caught out if they are involved in a crash with an uninsured driver – it simply isn’t fair.
“I would urge everyone to check that their vehicle is fully insured and if you’re insurance has expired please renew or risk being caught and face the consequences of your actions as you will be caught by the police.”
