The Bradford Conservative Group has tabled a Motion for debate at tomorrow’s full Council meeting calling for an urgent plan to be drawn up to tackle the growing problem of illegal drivers on the streets of Bradford district.
“Many people will be aware that Bradford was recently labelled the ‘uninsured driving capital of Britain’ following the publication of a report by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau which found that, in some parts of the city, up to 49.5% of drivers were uninsured,” commented Cllr Kris Hopkins, Leader of the Conservative Group, who will be proposing the Motion tomorrow afternoon.
“And sadly, driving without insurance is only part of the problem, as very significant numbers of motorists are also taking to the roads of the district without either licences or road tax.
“One of the obvious consequences of this is an alarmingly high rate of casualties on our roads including 2,097 people last year.
“Of these, 274 were killed or seriously injured – 51 of them children.
“When you discover that uninsured drivers are 12 times more likely to be involved in road crashes when compared to drivers who are fully insured, then you know that strong action must be taken.
“It is for this reason that, working with West Yorkshire Police, Conservative-led Bradford Council allocated more than £300,000 over the last 12 months to extend Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems across the district as a means of dealing with a number of serious criminal offences including driving without vehicle insurance, road tax or a valid licence.
“But much more needs to be done.
“The Conservative Motion, if passed by the Council, requests the Chief Executive to meet as soon as possible with West Yorkshire Police to discuss what additional measures can be introduced to increase the pressure on motorists driving illegally on the streets of Bradford district.
“And, following this meeting, he will be asked to bring an urgent action plan to the Council’s Executive setting out how the local authority, the Police and our other key partners will deal with the problem over the next 12 months.
“This may include, for example, a series of high profile enforcement days to catch offenders and reassure local residents that we are taking the issue of illegal drivers on our roads extremely seriously.
“I hope the other political parties on Council will give the Conservative Motion their unanimous support so we can get on with tackling this scourge which puts the lives of countless numbers of local residents at risk.”
