A BLITZ on uninsured drivers has been conducted across North Wales.

It was part of an UK wide police operation aimed at reducing the numbers of uninsured drivers on the roads. During a week of enforcement, officers have conducted an enhanced operation aimed at detecting and seizing uninsured vehicles.

The operation has been coordinated by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) and partners, to help highlight the issue of uninsured driving.

Each year in the UK more than 130 people are killed and 26,000 are left injured in collisions caused by uninsured and untraced drivers, linking them to nearly one in every five road traffic collisions. This equates to one casualty every 20 minutes.

Inspector Gareth Jones of North Wales Police’s Roads Policing Unit said: “It is hard to understand why someone would choose to drive without insurance but it may not be a surprise that uninsured drivers are often linked to wider road crime. While there are criminals who knowingly drive a car without insurance or who withhold information or lie to get a cheaper quote, some insurance offences are committed unwittingly.”

He added: “To drive a car both you and the vehicle must have the correct insurance. This means even if you are insured to drive any car, the vehicle needs to be covered in its own right. This campaign is important to protect the majority of law abiding drivers in North Wales.

"Protecting the public and keeping our roads safe for everyone is our priority and removing uninsured drivers from our roads helps to do that.”

In addition in a North Wales Police initiative, Operation Confine, has now seen in 450 policies cancelled or voided since 2018 thanks to the work by an officer from the Roads Policing Unit.

“Operation Confine has attracted a lot of interest from other UK forces as they seek innovative new ways to disrupt and tackle serious organised crime. The MIB, Insurance Fraud Bureau and the insurance industry as a whole are hugely supportive of the initiative and we will continue to work together with their fraud investigators to reduce criminal use of the roads by restricting or denying their ability to drive, as we strive to protect the public and continue in our mission to make North Wales the safest place in the UK.”

If you know someone is driving uninsured, please report them to the police on 101 the non-emergency number or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.