The cameras are linked to a database which contains details of all vehicles registered in the UK which are believed to be uninsured.
There are an estimated 2 million vehicles being driven uninsured on Britain's roads.
How it works
Once a vehicle, suspected of being driven without insurance, has been stopped a police officer can seize the vehicle and have it removed. The driver will be required to bring proof of insurance to a police station. If the driver still cannot produce insurance details then he/she will be prosecuted for driving without insurance. Drivers have 14 days to reclaim their vehicle. After this time, the police are able to dispose of the vehicle.
The new offence of keeping a vehicle without insurance, announced by the Government in September, will mean that uninsured drivers can be caught before they even take to the road.
New proposals in the Road Safety Bill will make it an offence to be the keeper of a vehicle, the use of which is not insured. This would apply to vehicles that were not declared as being off the road through a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) and were not insured. Also the proposals will provide for a new fixed penalty for people who ignore reminders that their insurance has expired. And also issue automatic reminders to those motorists who fail to insure their vehicle when their previous insurance expires.
What the authorities say
Meredydd Hughes, police lead on roads policing and Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police said:
"The police service and the government are constantly striving to make our roads as safe as possible for all road users. Evidence indicates that up to 10% of vehicles on our roads are being used illegally and many of these will be people who drive with no insurance. We know that people who don't insure their vehicles, or indeed drive with no licence or test certificate are more likely to be involved in other criminal activity, and in collisions. Collisions in which people may be killed or seriously injured.
"We are sending out a very clear message to those who drive without insurance- there is now no place to hide. It is estimated that every law-abiding motorist pays an extra £30 a year because of uninsured drivers. Drivers are rightly fed-up with those who flout the law and we are determined to rid the roads of this small hardcore of anti-social drivers,." said Transport Secretary Alistair Darling.
