Number plate technology 'catching uninsured drivers'
Date: 18/02/2008 10:13:23
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology helped police seize almost double the number of uninsured vehicles last year compared with 2006.
This is according to figures collected by the AA, highlighting that 150,000 vehicles without car insurance were confiscated in 2007, compared with 78,000 the previous year, the BBC reports.
In response, the AA has commented that this may not be down to fewer uninsured drivers on the roads.
"Rather, we think it is because there is now the widespread use of automatic number plate recognition systems," president Edmund King commented.
He added that uninsured drivers once felt less conspicuous in a high class model such as a BMW, but they are now finding that with ANPR technology, "the camera does not discriminate".
Meanwhile, according to the broadcaster, the Motor Insurers' Bureau recently found that almost 60 per cent of vehicles in some parts of Bradford, Yorkshire, are without adequate car insurance cover.