A 2-day intensive operation has seen 16 uninsured vehicles taken off the road across Dundee and Arbroath.

On 31 March and 1 April, Police Scotland and MIB (Motor Insurers’ Bureau) worked together to identify and seize uninsured vehicles across Dundee and surrounding areas, reminding drivers it is their responsibility to ensure appropriate motor insurance is in place.

The operation saw 20 Police Scotland Road Policing officers, backed by community policing teams, dedicate time to tackling uninsured driving in efforts to increase road safety across the region. Over the two-day period, the joint operation targeted locations in Dundee and Arbroath where available information provided officers with opportunities to carry out numerous vehicle stops and take action against drivers failing to ensure vehicles were both roadworthy and insured.

The activity marked the launch of Operation Scalis, an ongoing initiative in conjunction with MIB that will run from April and into the summer months. The support from MIB will enable Police Scotland to join multiple other UK forces, including West Midlands, Thames Valley, Essex and Northamptonshire Police in dedicating officer time to focus on tackling uninsured driving in key hotspots across their respective regions. The funding is allocated from MIB’s £5 million investment in increasing their work in getting uninsured drivers off the roads sooner.

Uninsured driving is, sadly, not a standalone issue so vehicle stops across the two-day period also helped identify other criminal activity. On top of the 16 vehicles seized for no or inadequate insurance, a further two drivers were allowed to rectify their insurance status at the roadside and four were prosecuted for other offences, including drink driving offences and immigration offences.

Through the collaboration with MIB – the UK entity that exists to protect people from the devastation of uninsured and hit-and-run drivers – Police Scotland was able to harness uninsured vehicle hotspot data to maximise the impact of the operation.

MIB data reveals that the DD4 postcode region, lying within the Dundee area, sits in the top three uninsured claim hotspots for the whole of Scotland. This means that the area is a potentially high-risk location with a persistent problem of uninsured drivers. Utilising such data-driven insights from MIB allowed activity to be strategically deployed in the different postcode areas.

Officers also utilised a number of methods to identify uninsured drivers, including:

• Navigate, the central record of all active motor insurance policies which is managed by MIB.
• Operation Tutelage markers, where cars passing ANPR cameras on previous occasions have been compared to data held on Navigate. Uninsured vehicles with an Operation Tutelage marker are then flagged to police and dealt with roadside.
• ANPR monitoring, identifying vehicles passing static cameras to enable officers to focus efforts on suspected instances of non-insurance.

To support Police Scotland, MIB law enforcement liaison officers joined the operation to provide roadside checking of Navigate and a direct link to the MIB Police Helpline, speeding up the process of confirming the insurance status of stopped vehicles.

Whilst police seized over 8,200 uninsured vehicles across Scotland last year, the highly focused operation serves as a further deterrent to those who believe they can get away with not insuring their vehicle or driving under the wrong class-of-use for their needs.

Motorists are being encouraged to check their insurance policies, with MIB acknowledging that while most drivers aim to be law-abiding, some may fall foul of common insurance pitfalls. Simple errors such as failed payments, failed auto-renewal or mistyped vehicle registrations can result in driving around unwittingly uninsured.

The most recent two-day collaborative operation has been implemented following the success of last years’ partnership, in which MIB supported Police Scotland in targeting uninsured drivers along the 60-mile length of the M8 from Edinburgh City Bypass to Langbank. In just one day, 47 uninsured vehicles were identified, with another 39 additional offences detected.

Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan of Police Scotland – Road Policing said: “Working with MIB again on this targeted operation has allowed us to focus efforts across areas known for their high levels of uninsured driving. The operation saw officers proactively identify uninsured drivers, taking dangerous vehicles off the road before they cause harm to innocent road users.

“We will continue to work closely together to ensure that those choosing to drive uninsured have nowhere to hide.”

Martin Saunders, Head of Uninsured Driving Prevention at MIB, said: “We know that our police colleagues deal with conflicting priorities and pressures. Whilst we work closely together year round, these dedicated days of action allow forces to focus on the issue of uninsured driving and send a message to the community that it is their responsibility to have adequate insurance in place.

“We know the benefits will be widely felt across all different areas of the country and the community, making local and even national roads safer.”