Bradford may no longer be the worst area in the country for uninsured drivers, but the fact remains that 18,000 or so vehicles are still being driven here without insurance.

Research by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), as part of the Stay Insured campaign, recently revealed Barkerend as one of the UK’s top five places for driving without insurance. With a second uninsured ‘supercar’ seized from the city’s streets this week, it begs the question why some drivers are consistently flouting the law.

The recession is put forward as one reason for drivers boycotting the cost of car insurance – young drivers who have saved up to fund their first ‘runabout’ may be tempted to drive without insurance, after realising it costs far more than their car is actually worth – but it’s no excuse.

Insurance is a legal requirement. Every driver has to pay it, like it or not, and anyone who can afford a supercar – like the uninsured Lamborghini seized during a police crackdown on traffic crime, reported in the T&A this week – is surely better-placed to afford insurance than most young drivers, or those motorists penalised into paying inflated insurance prices because of their postcode.

Driving while uninsured shouldn’t be tolerated, yet thousands of motorists in Bradford appear to be getting away with it.

But police insist they are cracking down on the problem. The ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) is the sophisticated tool within the police’s weaponry helping to drive down the number of uninsured drivers.

A £90,000 Ferrari was among 17 uninsured vehicles seized during a Police ANPR operation in Bradford in May. The driver has since had his car returned after he provided an insurance certificate.

The uninsured Lamborghini was seized during the latest sting.

Dorian James, Inspector in charge of the Roads Policing Unit at Bradford South Division, says: “The ANPR has been one of the fantastic tools in our armoury. We fix cameras at the roadside or in police vehicles and it can read thousands of vehicles per hour.”

The ANPR links to information on the motor insurance Database (MID) – the only central record of 34 million insured vehicles in the UK. Police are able to detect and seize uninsured vehicles at the roadside.

Last year, 180,000 vehicles were seized, taking the total to 600,000 since laws were introduced in 2005. And 194,000 people were convicted in court for uninsured driving.

“It is starting to become harder to find uninsured drivers in Bradford and I think the message is getting out there that we are taking a more robust stance,” says Insp James.

He says officers are dedicated to catching the culprits – and it isn’t a case of ‘if’ uninsured drivers are found, but ‘when’.

Malcolm Tarling from the Association of British Insurers says: “We fully support this, because uninsured drivers are not only a danger on the roads and more likely to cause an accident, often with tragic consequences, but also they are pushing up the costs of motor insurance for the majority who abide by the law.”

Malcolm says the cost of compensating those who become victims of uninsured drivers comes from a central fund run by the Motor Insurance Bureau. The fund currently pays out around £500 million per year, but is paid for by a levy on insurance companies. “So in the end, the bill coming back to the honest motorists,” says Malcolm.

Early next year, the introduction of continuous insurance is expected to come into force. The Motor Insurance Database will be used to reach registered keepers of vehicles without insurance.

Ashton West, chief executive of the MIB, says: “The 20 per cent reduction in the number of uninsured drivers on the roads is a significant step in the right direction, particularly in key hotspots such as Barkerend in Bradford. The level of seizures and criminal convictions demonstrates that uninsured drivers are consistently being caught and taken off the road.”

Driving instructor, Reg Cranage, who is chairman of Ilkley Road Safety committee, says: “You cannot put yourself on the road and not be able to cover any damage or injury you may cause.”

Reg, who is also a retired police officer, says he believes more routine police checks on motorists would help to curb the problem.

Referring to the ANPR, he says: “It is a wonderful tool, but there aren’t enough of them and it’s all expensive equipment. They won’t have one on every car.”