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Cars seized in police operation
A vehicle is seized by police during an operation to target motorists driving illegally, on Oakley Road, Corby.
Boy racers, anti-social drivers and motorists with no insurance were all targeted in a day-long crackdown in Corby.
Police set up a checkpoint in the Lidl car park in Oakley Road at 8am yesterday and had already seized two cars for having no insurance in little over half an hour.
They were also checking taxis for defects, clamping down on boy racers for items such as noisy exhausts, looking for drivers using mobile phones at the wheel and drivers not wearing seatbelts.
Over the day they carried out 208 vehicle checks and 22 taxi checks and four cars were seized for having no insurance.
The operation was spearheaded by incident response team officers PC Ian Rudkin and PC Alex Prentice alongside PCSOs and council licensing staff.
Three drivers were reported for driving otherwise in accordance with their licence, six fixed penalty tickets were handed out for bald tyres and two for using a mobile phone.
Numerous drivers were issued with warnings and vehicle defect rectification notices.
Checks continued on randomly-selected vehicles throughout the morning before the officers moved to Rockingham Road, near the Rockingham Triangle, until 4pm.
The locations were chosen as a result of community feedback.
PC Rudkin said: “We are using ANPR as well as random checks on vehicles, to make sure that are legal and safe to be on the road, and also to check for insurance.
“In the first 40 minutes we had already seized two cars for no insurance. They can be issued with a £200 fine and six points on their licence, as well as the £150 to £200 recovery cost. So it is cheaper for them to get an insurance policy.
“But it is not just about targeting motorists. It is about making sure vehicles are safe on the road. We are carrying packs with tips on winter driving and how to maintain vehicles.”
The operation was linked to the aims of Operation Guardian, the countywide operation tackling burglary, robbery and vehicle crime.
A separate operation which targeted illegal parking in Argyll Street, Montrose Street and Stuart Road took place last week, and saw eight parking tickets issued.
This was again as a result of issues raised by the community.
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Comments
There are 18 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
Aliss
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:30 PMI think the insurance thing is important - these companies analyse accident numbers in great detail so that they can take bets that will let them win overall, all the time. It's a bit like "the casino always wins" - the reason that someone pays stupidly high premiums is that they are simply more likely to have an accident and hence cost the insurance companies. You might not like it, but it's simply not fair for a relatively safe driver to subsidise the dangerous ones. This police operation should be repeated frequently, as it catches people who are uninsured, and hence unfairly whack another £40 on all of our insurance bills.
crapxxxx
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 08:53 AM@Ruby123. No english with a big hint if italian if you must know. @Ray Rodden. Ray, I passed my motorcycle test 1st time in 80 or 81 and my car test 1st time, around a couple of years later. I still ride bikes, we own a car and as a medical engineer I drive a van for work. And yes I understand that people do get exam nerves. My big problem is that I have seen the standard of driving fall over the years. While the motorcycle test has changed beyond almost all recognition. The car test has, save for the theory exam remained pretty much the same. We do not seem to foster road sense into youngsters. You only have to drive past a school at closing time to see that. We should be teaching these skills in school, along with basic driving skills to prepare youngsters for modern roads. I have said it before and I will say it again, driving is a privilege not a right. And for all of you who think I am being mean spirited, one last thing. I have actively discouraged my own daughter from driving because I know full well that she would not make a good driver.
Ray Rodden
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:38 PM@rikmeiter we all have to make compromises. Maybe she should move closer to her work. @crapxxxx i took 5 tests in a car and 7 on a motorbike. Yeah I am not a natural passer of tests - you don't think everyone who passes a test is a good driver do you, they are just not nervous at tests. In 35 years of driving the only accident i have had was when a bus pulled out of shakespeare onto welland vale and broadsided my car, right into the passenger door, luckily no one sitting there. After 40 lessons the person concerned is probably a better driver than most - just not so good at exam time.
ruby123
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 03:16 AM@Crapxxx ..... is exactly what your comment is. Are you American by any chance? your tone has that certain ring to it? We drive cars with gears in this country and 40 lessons does not seem excessive. If thats what it takes for someone to learn how to drive and be safe on the road and pass a test then better to be safe than sorry.
crapxxxx
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:31 AM@Rikmeister. I am sorry to say this, and I understand your daughters position, but 40 lessons!! Some people are just not meant to drive, and I hate to say this, but if your daughter needs this amount of tuition she should not be driving a car. Period.
ruby123
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 09:05 PMIf operations like this happened more often, people would become more aware of it and take more notice and be less tempted to take a risk with their car. In the long run surely these operations would benefit us all? Less non insured cars on the road, drivers less likely to use their mobile phones while driving, making the roads safer for us all?
Rikmeister
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 05:14 PM@ray.. I hear what you are saying and i can agree but in my daughters case she lives with her mum in Somerset in a small town that has little work and a bad transport network. She needs to get a better job but will have to commute. The bus service doesn't hack it so driving is almost a must in that part of the country. In cases like this it is a chicken and egg thing. You need a better job to pay for some independance but effectively have to spend your whole wage getting to the job to get you that independance. Because of insurance costs she will be working full time just to run a car. No spending money to spend on our ecconomy. The alternative is just to stay at home and get Job seekers allowance and be another burden on us tax payers... The whole system needs a reboot and the insurance companies are just as corrupt as the bankers. They make huge profits also.
Ray Rodden
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 04:08 PMHowever @rikmeister there is one rule that needs changed. The ability to have a car on the road with foriegn number plates. Seems you are allowed this for 6 months then you must tax it in Britain. I saw a car with foreign plates, on and off, for over a year with no British tax. Eventually i pretended to take a photo of it (the battery on my phone was flat so no picture). However, someone must have seen me - never seen the car again! I think this system IS being abused and definately needs looked at
Ray Rodden
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 04:03 PM@rikmeister I do not want to be critical but you say "I feel sorry for her and many young new drivers trying to better themselves by trying to give themselves more independance. Isn't it no wonder that many choose to take the risk and not buy insurance.? " and then go on to say "i have no sympathy for boy racers and infact immigrants that think they can get away with driving around in totally illegal cars" - to me they are all the same, British teenagers, Boy Racers, immigrants - they all break the laws the rest of us obey. If you can't afford insurance, DO NOT DRIVE. If you desperately need that 50 inch flat screen hidef TV instead of insurance DO NOT DRIVE. Personally, as I get older and even more grumpy I would automatically crush every car, a £500 banger or a half million pound lotus, no difference - crush them.
Stupor-man
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 03:16 PMI suppose its possible that these guys do have tax but just aren't displaying it, which of course is an offence in itself, however with the advent of ANPR and the new central database the DVLA use actually having it on display is less of an issue for officers and the DVLA these days
Rikmeister
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 02:46 PMSpeaking for my 17 year old daughter here, not the boy racers.. She is 17 and trying to find £25 for each one hour driving lesson. Eventually after 40 lessons hopefully she will pass her test. Then she has to find a cheap car to run. That car might be worth £500. But then she has to Insure it.. Likely quotes will be £1500 to £2000 to insure the thing.!!!! I feel sorry for her and many young new drivers trying to better themselves by trying to give themselves more independance. Isn't it no wonder that many choose to take the risk and not buy insurance.? But as i stated i have no sympathy for boy racers and infact immigrants that think they can get away with driving around in totally illegal cars.. Problem is most of the time they do.
Quiet Rebel
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 12:23 PMMy neighbours and I have been reporting a car in our street since we noticed he had had no tax since about JulySept 2011 and still nothing has been done, so he probably has no insurance or MOT either. We struggled to pay our extortionate rise in insurance, ontop of our MOT, tax and servicing charges and spit everytime this man uses his illegal car. How long is it before the DVLA or Police do something?
CorbyRed
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 11:31 AMI was just going to say the same thing Windmill. Well done to the police, but like everyone says, please do it more often.
Opscan1
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 10:40 AMThanks Windmill for the details, I did the decent thing last year by contacting the DVLA on-line, but it certainly looks like nothing has been done, but will give your no. a try.
windmill
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 10:23 AMOpscan1, you can phone Drivewatch on 0800 174615 and give them the registration number of the car with no tax (and probably no insurance either). You don't have to give your name but it would be the decent thing to do.
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