Cracking a problem area

Magistrates are to be given the power to levy stiffer fines and impose community service or even custodial sentences on uninsured drivers. At present most of the 250,000 motorists caught without insurance each year pay just a £200 fixed penalty.

In 2000, the Government stated that by 2010 it intended to reduce the average number of people killed on the roads (in the period 1994-98) by 40%. As part of the push to improve road safety, the Government has launched a crackdown on uninsured drivers