Dr Luke Evans, the Member of Parliament for Bosworth has today supported a Bill presented in the House of Commons aimed at tackling the use of illegal number plates - often used by motorists to dodge speed cameras and automatic number plate recognition.
The Vehicle Registration Offences (Penalty Points) Bill, supported by Dr Luke, and presented by Andrew Griffith MP (Member of Parliament for Arundel & South Downs), aims to increase the punishments for keeping or driving a vehicle with an obstructed number plate, or without a number plate. Currently, the punishment for these offences is a £100 fixed penalty notice increasing to a maximum of £1,000 in court, but the Bill, which Dr Luke supported, seeks to add three penalty points to an offender’s licence in addition to this.
With an additional 6,000 new police officers nationally by March next year, police forces around the UK have ramped up their efforts in tackling anti-social drivers and motorcyclists through the increased usage of fixed and mobile speed cameras.
However, where legible and compliant number plates are not displayed, speed cameras are unable to aid in the prosecution of anti-social road users. The Vehicle Registration Offences (Penalty Points) Bill aims to generate greater number plate compliance by making these offences legally endorseable with licence penalty points.
This comes as the Automatic Number Plate Recognition Independent Advisory Group release a report on the effectiveness of the number plate regime in the UK. The report finds that the current roadside penalty of a £100 fixed penalty notice is not an effective deterrent against non-compliant number plates in the UK. It goes on to suggest that a more robust penalty regime for number plate offences would enable a simpler prosecution route for non-compliance.
Dr Luke said: “I am hopeful that the Vehicle Registration Offences (Penalty Points) Bill will close an important loophole in the law.
“It’s a simple truth that a £100 fine doesn’t deter anti-social drivers and motorcyclists from defying speed limits and avoiding number plate recognition cameras.
“Penalty points on the driving licenses of anti-social road users leading to higher insurance premiums for them, and with repeat offences will ultimately lead to a loss of license – the is the real deterrent that is needed against the dangerous behavior.”
