Quits an incredible number of UK people who don’t pay their Road Tax!
I thought that having all of the vehicles “on line” and visible to Police Vehicles, etc., would have this under control?
But I guess that they do, and these numbers are the ones who got caught?
I don’t pay road tax … but I don’t have to … my vehicle is exempt.
They should bring back the windscreen displayed tax disc and then Joe Public can report all the dodgers.
And they are going to have to shift the Taxation onto Electric cars, as they force Petrol & Diesel ones off the road!
Otherwise who will be paying all those road repair bills?
Full smart meter rollout will enable car charging to be surcharged at an enhanced rate to cover VED. Until that’s complete, a per vehicle taxation will have to be introduced.
I guess that they’ll put the smart meters in the car so that no-one can get around paying.
Then they’ll be able to up or down the rates in terms of busy roads, and times, versus less so.
And let’s not talk about the cost of replacement for the batteries!
It’s all hypothetical as far as I’m concerned at almost 79. My Pathfinder 4x4 will still be running well when I surrender my licence in say another 10yrs time.
It is now possible for anyone to go online & check if a vehicle is registered & road taxed.
I am known locally as being friends with both our local City & County Councillors & thus I often get issues reported to me, for the councillor’s attention. So I frequently report things like fly tipping, abandoned cars etc myself. As I (we) can do this as effectively as the councillors. I then message the councillors with the complaint & what I have done. Plus pass on updates, as they happen.
About two years ago, I had a problem vehicle reported to me & did the usual DVLA check, only to find the registration was for a different make of vehicle. So I took photo’s & contacted the police who confirmed it was the wrong number plate for the car. The result? Nothing. The car sat there for another 4 weeks. Then two people in a white van smashed their way into the car midafternoon & started to try & take it. Again I reported this to the police & again they did nothing.
So, it comes as no surprise to me, that so many vehicles do not have road tax. As it is symptomatic of both. How few care about the law & of how little the police actually do & thus why so many people feel it is worth doing.
As B F Skinner observed, we do not avoid the crime, we avoid the punishment & if that is seen to be unlikely, then what is there to stop the crime from happening?
That’s no use to people milling about in and around town. The tax disc was easily read while passing.
Yes & no. Tax disks were often stolen & sometimes people would carefully cut the date part off & then carefully attach it to the part with the registration etc written on. So it sometimes took very careful observation, even close up, to spot dodgy road tax.
From the polices point of view. They can check every vehicle that passes a fixed or car fitted ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition.) These give the police immediate access to a cars registration status, the named owner, the insurance & road tax status. And vehicles can be immediately confiscated now. So no 7 day wonders, where the driver was allowed to drive off & hopefully show details within 7 days. So the number of uninsured / untaxed vehicles is a national police scandal.
Very few people only avoid road tax. So dealing with issues like that typically also finds other & often, more serious offences too. For a good example of that, look at how the Yorkshire Ripper was caught. A decent copper doing some good old-fashioned coppering. His words, not mine.
That’s all good IF the police can be bothered to actually check vehicles as they drive up and down roads. There have been two abandoned cars in a public area not far from my house for at least 1yr. The avenue is part of a 20MPH zone so is supposed to be patrolled regularly, but the police do nothing. I’ve reported both to the local council as fly tipping and about 6 months ago they did put notices on both, but they are still there. As far as the police are concerned both cars obviously do not exist🤬
I assume that no Tax means no Insurance?
I think the Police can check the MOT status as well?
Contact your council again. Get photo’s of the notices, making sure any date is clearly visible & contact your local councillors & maybe copy in your local newspaper & BBC radio station.
It is the council, not the police, who are responsible for abandoned vehicles & they should have a relevant reporting form for it. I have reported several abandoned vehicles locally & all have been dealt with. Other than the one that involved the Police.
I am a big fan of the police reality TV shows like The Interceptors, etc. I find they’re fun to watch especially when they are chasing drivers who have triggered the ANPR cameras for whatever reason. What gets me, though, is the punishment the drivers receive - almost nothing really - maybe a 12month driving ban, a couple of hundred £s fine, and a slap on the wrist at best. BTW, even if you’ve paid your insurance, if your VED or MoT is out of date (even by a day), your insurance is also invalidated.
