2158 OPERATION TAKEAWAY AND ANPR MACHINES Trevor Tindle, Road Policing Group Inspector South Yorkshire Police (SYP), gave a presentation on how SYP were dealing with uninsured vehicles through Operation Takeaway. When an officer stopped a vehicle and established that no insurance existed for that vehicle, the owner was asked to sign a form disclaiming the vehicle, which then transferred ownership to a recovery agent. The owner could reclaim the vehicle if s/he provided valid insurance for that vehicle, paid a recovery fee of £105 and paid £12 per day storage costs. If the vehicle was not reclaimed within 21 days the agent was free to dispose of the vehicle to recover its costs. The offender was also prosecuted for the offence of no insurance. THE POLICE HAD NO LEGAL POWERS TO REMOVE VEHICLES IN THIS WAY AND SYP EXPECTED TO BE CHALLENGED AT SOME POINT BUT WOULD CONTINUE THE OPERATION UNTIL THEN . Since the operation began county-wide in Yorkshire from January 2004, 64% of drivers had signed a disclaimer and forfeited their vehicles. If a driver refused to disclaim the vehicle, SYP still aimed to have it recovered.The committee expressed surprise that the operation had not been challenged in court. Trevor said that the main reason for this was that a challenge would not be funded by legal aid .

From: http://coppersblog.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_coppersblog_archive.html#11173088554722 4153

Of course I want uninsured drivers to be dealt with but I also expect the police to at least maintain some pretence that they enforce the law - not what they fancy enforcing!

they aren't forcing anyone to sign anything (i would hope), it's not illegal to ask someone to sign over ownership.

You want uninsured drivers dealing with? SYP have initiated a scheme to do just that. Not only does it report the drivers on summons, but deals in a very practical and effective way with the vehicle itself, removing it from the roads. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident with an unisured driver, you will take your hat off to SYP and thank them, instead of critisising for doing what is in their brief, ie, protecting life and property. It's not a question of being above the law, it is a question of offering the illegal motorist a resolution to the problem.

Originally posted by cloud
You want uninsured drivers dealing with? SYP have initiated a scheme to do just that. Not only does it report the drivers on summons, but deals in a very practical and effective way with the vehicle itself, removing it from the roads. If you have ever been unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident with an unisured driver, you will take your hat off to SYP and thank them, instead of critisising for doing what is in their brief, ie, protecting life and property. It's not a question of being above the law, it is a question of offering the illegal motorist a resolution to the problem.

True, but some vehicles dont show up as being insured against the database, especially if you havent had it for long. Sometimes I drive and dont have my documents on me for one reason or another, or maybe I might be driving another vehicle which doesnt belong to me, but I am still insured on it 3rd party through my own policy. So why should I have to pay a fee to get the car out of the pound. Doesnt make sense.

Originally posted by spyro2000
True, but some vehicles dont show up as being insured against the database...

...So why should I have to pay a fee to get the car out of the pound. Doesnt make sense.
As it said in the original post:
Originally posted by barny_100
2158 OPERATION TAKEAWAY AND ANPR MACHINES Trevor Tindle, Road Policing Group Inspector South Yorkshire Police (SYP), gave a presentation on how SYP were dealing with uninsured vehicles through Operation Takeaway. When an officer stopped a vehicle and established that no insurance existed for that vehicle...

Originally posted by spyro2000
True, but some vehicles dont show up as being insured against the database, especially if you havent had it for long. Sometimes I drive and dont have my documents on me for one reason or another, or maybe I might be driving another vehicle which doesnt belong to me, but I am still insured on it 3rd party through my own policy. So why should I have to pay a fee to get the car out of the pound. Doesnt make sense.

if they stopped you in that case you wouldn't sign any forms handing over ownership of the vehicle (nor would they be legally binding if you didn't own it anyway), so you wouldn't have to pay to recover the car. Read the first post more carefully.

Originally posted by Cyclone
if they stopped you in that case you wouldn't sign any forms handing over ownership of the vehicle (nor would they be legally binding if you didn't own it anyway), so you wouldn't have to pay to recover the car. Read the first post more carefully.

Thanks

Yeah I read the post careful even enough, but if Im driving the vehicle 3rd party with no documents about my person and the car is not currently registered on the police database, how do they determine wether the car has got insurance registered against it?

Originally posted by spyro2000
Thanks

Yeah I read the post careful even enough, but if Im driving the vehicle 3rd party with no documents about my person and the car is not currently registered on the police database, how do they determine wether the car has got insurance registered against it?

Who cares how they determine it. If you don't sign the form they can't take it away. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by spyro2000
...but if Im driving the vehicle 3rd party with no documents about my person and the car is not currently registered on the police database, how do they determine wether the car has got insurance registered against it?
Presumably upon ascertaining your name, address, etc. they would know if you had insurance in your own right (and therefore carried automatic 3rd party insurance).

The insurance companies now share all this sort of information with the Police, so it's an easy automatic check.

Originally posted by JonnH
Who cares how they determine it. If you don't sign the form they can't take it away. :rolleyes:

lol, say no more say no more, cant argue with that:D

Originally posted by foo_fighter
Presumably upon ascertaining your name, address, etc. they would know if you had insurance in your own right (and therefore carried automatic 3rd party insurance).

The insurance companies now share all this sort of information with the Police, so it's an easy automatic check.

ahhh but what if ive only just got my insurance that day? It wouldnt be on the database yet,can take some time :)

If you're caught driving uninsured or illlegally in any other way (disqualified / drunk driver etc) and you know you are uninsured I'd like the police to break peoples fingers - lets see them try and hold the steering wheel then!

Originally posted by spyro2000
...ahhh but what if ive only just got my insurance that day? It wouldnt be on the database yet,can take some time :)
So, (let's just get this right)...

...you're in your mates car (that s/he has only just bought, and so the insurance isn't registered), and you've only just got insurance for your own car that day as well, and it's not a renewal because then you'd be registered anyway (so your insurance isn’t registered)...

...and it didn't occur to any of you to take a cover note, or any other documentation to back this up out in the car with you...

...hmmmm, I'm sure that's a problem the Police come across on an hourly basis. :rolleyes:

I think in this specific case the Police should take the car off you and crush it. ;)

:hihi:

even then it wouldn't matter. You refuse to sign your car over, get a producer and produce the documents within 7 days. Voila.

Originally posted by Cyclone
even then it wouldn't matter. You refuse to sign your car over, get a producer and produce the documents within 7 days. Voila.
"ahhh but what if" after 6 days you look for your documents, and both you and your friend (who you borrowed the car off) have misplaced them?

What then?

;)

Originally posted by foo_fighter
"ahhh but what if" after 6 days you look for your documents, and both you and your friend (who you borrowed the car off) have misplaced them?

What then?

;)

then you're a muppet and they should crush you instead of your car. :suspect: :clap: :thumbsup:

don't you have to show an insurance certificate when you're buying your car tax? presumably it's that form that's logged.

Originally posted by gruff
don't you have to show an insurance certificate when you're buying your car tax? presumably it's that form that's logged.

yes you do and no it isn't. You could well have bought the tax with 1 day left to run on your insurance, having tax is not proof of having insurance.