Rescuing Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected Dictatorship

Spin, not face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's chosen method of communication. Ordinary people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she might tell the truth. Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September 16, 2004

 

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1.75m car-tax dodgers are nine time more likely to crash

by Ray Massey, Transport Editor, Daily Mail - July 1, 2004

The lives of innocent road users are being put at risk by rogue drivers with no car tax, MPs warned yesterday. One in 20 motorists is driving without tax, costing the nation millions a year in lost revenue, they said. Evasion pushes up insurance premiums for law-abiding motorists by around £30 a year.

Government research has also shown that drivers of untaxed vehicles are nine times more likely to be involved in a crash.

MPs accused the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of not doing enough to clamp down on the 1.75milllion untaxed vehicles thought to be on the road. They are involved in some 7,000 injury-causing accidents a year and pose a potentially fatal danger to road users and a 'menace' to society, according to a report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. It revealed that DVLA collected £4.6billion in road tax in 2002-3, but said evasion had risen by 4.5% at a cost of £193million.

The agency uses roadside cameras to read number plates and trigger an alarm if an untaxed vehicle drives by. Despite this, evasion has increased. Although the DVLA database holds records for nearly 31 million vehicles, an unknown proportion are inactive or 'out of date' said the MPs.

"Evaders who have not kept their records up to date, or who display false number plates cannot, in practice, be pursued by the agency, despite being sighted by automatic number plate recognition equip-ment, or by police and traffic wardens," the report added. "The agency does not have a full picture of the reasons behind the increasing evasion levels. Nor does it have a clear understanding of the factors that motivate motorists to evade vehicle excise duty."

Experts say determined evaders know they have little chance of being caught. They may have concocted false identities for themselves and their cars, are unlikely to have up-to-date details on their registration 'logbook', and may be impossible to track down.

Even when they are caught, the fines they receive are 'derisory'. In January, the Daily Mail revealed the ease with which rogue drivers - including criminals and asylum seekers - can take to the road in salvaged wrecks from auctions without ever showing their driving license.

Among the victims was nine-year old Callum Oakford, killed in West Sussex last New Year's Day by asylum seeker Kamel Kadri. Kadri, who had no license, insurance or MoT, was jailed in February by Judge Anthony Thorpe, who was angry that his 'hands were tied' by the law, which said six months was the maximum jail-term he could impose for the offence.

Last December, failed asylum seeker Aso Mohammed Ibrahim was jailed for four months after he ran off and left 12-year-old Amy Houston to die beneath his car. Ibrahim, of Blackburn, who had twice been banned from driving before, admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance, and failing to stop after an accident.

The DVLA has recently beefed up its rules to send out an £80 fine to the home of a vehicle's last registered keeper if the road tax is not renewed on time. Work is also under way to link insurance and MOT details to the camera system network, making it easier to trace untaxed drivers.

The agency was 'unable to explain' regional differences in evasion rates, which the report said were highest in London, the East of England and Northern Ireland.