POLICE in Bradford have been taking part in a national campaign to tackle the scourge of uninsured drivers this week.

The Operation Drive Insured campaign has been run by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau with the support of police forces, to try and take more uninsured drivers off the roads.

In West Yorkshire 25 uninsured drivers are dealt with every day, and nationally 130 people are killed and 26,000 injured every year in collisions involving uninsured drivers.

The week long campaign runs until tomorrow, and has aimed at raising awareness of the £322 million worth of compensation the MIB had to pay out to motorists who have been involved in incidents with uninsured drivers last year.

The Department for Transport also found these collisions cost the country a further £2 billion in property damage, emergency services, medical care and a loss in productivity.

Anna Fleming, chief operating officer at MIB, said: “We’ve made great strides in getting more people to drive insured in recent years, but the sad reality is with Covid-19 putting so many people under financial strain, uninsured driving levels could creep up.

“Everyone suffers the consequences of uninsured driving. We’re fully committed to our partnership with the police so we can get as many people as possible to drive insured to make roads safer and fairer for everyone.”

West Yorkshire Police has backed the campaign, and in Bradford has also been running Operation Steerside since 2016, which has taken thousands of illegal vehicles off our district’s streets, including many thousand uninsured cars.

Inspector Gary Panther of West Yorkshire Police’s Road Policing Unit, said: “Driving on West Yorkshire’s roads uninsured is not safe and will not be tolerated.

“We have dedicated officers across the force dealing with incidents on the roads on a daily basis. Bradford will see increased focus in conjunction with our other policing districts, with Operation Steerside providing education and enforcement where appropriate.

“On average we seize around 25 cars a day across the county for having no insurance.

“It is often the case, that a driver who does not insure their vehicle, may not take other responsible steps in ensuring it is road worthy, making it a potentially dangerous vehicle on our roads.

“We would encourage all drivers to stay insured and to drive safely. If your vehicle is seized for having no insurance, you will have to pay to release that vehicle whilst also providing proof it is now insured within a fixed time.

“Ultimately, the vehicle could be crushed. In addition to the seizure costs you face a fixed penalty of a £300 fine and six penalty points.”

Across the UK, last year 137,410 vehicles were seized for not being insured, which equates to one vehicle seizure every four minutes.

While the number of compensation claims to the MIB from victims of uninsured drivers has fallen by a quarter since 2016, there still are a large number of motorists on Britain’s roads driving without insurance.

MIB has also said it is concerned financial hardship caused by the disruption of Covid-19 could result in more people driving without insurance and breaking the law.