Driving without insurance isn’t just illegal – it has real, sometimes life-altering consequences and West Mercia Police is stepping up efforts to keep roads safer for everyone by targeting uninsured drivers in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Worcestershire.

At least one person every day in Great Britain is so seriously injured by an uninsured or hit and run driver they require life-long care and at least one individual loses their life every week on the roads due to uninsured drivers. Throughout 2023, 1060 motorists were detected and prosecuted across Herefordshire, Shropshire & Worcestershire as not having valid insurance for the vehicle they were driving.

Uninsured drivers are:

· 4-5 times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes

· 10 times more likely to be convicted drink-drivers

· 6 times more likely to have a vehicle with defects

· 5 times more likely to activate speed cameras

Policing the roads is a 24/7 operation and takes place year-round, however, this week we are supporting Operation Drive Insured, a week-long national operation developed by MIB (Motor Insurers’ Bureau), to make the counties we serve safer.

Common mistakes drivers make which results in no insurance cover include;

- The driver forgets when their insurance policy expires or assumes that it will auto renew (not all policies auto renew).

- An ongoing payment card used to pay for the cover expires.

- Driving with the wrong class-of-use. For instance, using your car for business with only domestic insurance cover.

- A vehicle is kept off-the-road but not declared SORN (Statutory-Off-Road-Notification) to DVLA.

- It’s assumed that fully-comprehensive motor insurance means the individual can drive someone else’s car.

- The person puts themselves down as a named driver on a vehicle they are the main owner and user of, to save money. This is technically a fraud known as fronting and makes the cover invalid.

Take the time this week to check you have the right insurance and check this is still up to date on the following link Check Insurance Details

Protecting road users from uninsured drivers | West Mercia Police