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Manchester cops crush over 10,000 cars

Manchester cops crush over 10,000 cars

Kenneth Hall September 28th, 2007 Kenneth Hall By Kenneth Hall Author September 28th, 2007
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December 31st, 1969 For those of you who thought having your car seized would be bad enough, imagine what it would be like to have it crushed. That's exactly what happened to thousands of motorists in Manchester, England, where local police claim to have crushed more than 10,000 cars since January last year after being issued new powers. Along with new these new powers, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras were fitted to cars with software that checks surrounding vehicle number plates against various databases to determine whether the car is unregistered, uninsured or even belonging to a driver wanted for a crime. Altogether over 25,000 cars have been seized so far by the Greater Manchester Police. According to Manchester Evening News, uninsured drivers are six times more likely to have convictions for driving non-roadworthy vehicles and nine times more likely to have convictions for drink-driving. Along with the seizure of their vehicle, drivers are charged with a £105 fee for recovery, a £12 a day storage fee, and a £200 on-the-spot fine. If the owner does not recover their car within two weeks, the car is crushed, scrapped or sold. It might just be time to double-check your insurance policy’s expiration date.
Manchester cops crush over 10,000 cars

Manchester cops crush over 10,000 cars

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For those of you who thought having your car seized would be bad enough, imagine what it would be like to have it crushed. That's exactly what happened to thousands of motorists in Manchester, England, where local police claim to have crushed more than 10,000 cars since January last year after being issued new powers.

Along with new these new powers, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras were fitted to cars with software that checks surrounding vehicle number plates against various databases to determine whether the car is unregistered, uninsured or even belonging to a driver wanted for a crime. Altogether over 25,000 cars have been seized so far by the Greater Manchester Police.

According to Manchester Evening News, uninsured drivers are six times more likely to have convictions for driving non-roadworthy vehicles and nine times more likely to have convictions for drink-driving.

Along with the seizure of their vehicle, drivers are charged with a £105 fee for recovery, a £12 a day storage fee, and a £200 on-the-spot fine. If the owner does not recover their car within two weeks, the car is crushed, scrapped or sold. It might just be time to double-check your insurance policy’s expiration date.

Tags: Odds and ends

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Comments (3 total)

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  1. By Gus #1, Posted: 9/28/2007

    Wow.
    Wow wow wow.
    I am continually surprised by how deeply Britain's surviellance systems are integtrated into their lives.
    I'm not sure if this is good or bad? I guess if you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about, but still, it's a little disconcerting.

  2. By stevezilla #2, Posted: 9/29/2007

    not SURE if this is good or bad????

    it's an incredible waste of resources and money. I can understand charging a fee or impounding a car for inspection -- but why isn't there an annual inspection process for cars to determine their 'road-worthiness'?

    why is it being left to a passive system of cameras, computers, and bureaucrats?

    this part is especially alarming:
    automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras were fitted to cars with software that checks surrounding vehicle number plates against various databases to determine whether the car is unregistered, uninsured or even belonging to a driver wanted for a crime.

    wow.
    if i seem alarmed, it's because computers and databases are only as good as the people who operate & maintain them. And people make mistakes. Often.

    i wonder how long it will take for lawmakers to implement these systems here in the USA. And it will come here -- under the guise of efficiency, safety, and crime reduction.

    mark my words.
    mark them.

  3. By SuperSkyline89 #3, Posted: 9/30/2007

    Man, thats rough. I can understand a fine of a couple hundred dollars but crushing a car that costs tens of thousands of dollars is just really overdoing it. I have seen something like this before though. In Ontario, Canada the Ontario Provincial Police crushed two highly modified street racers one TV to show that they were getting tough on street racing. Though I have never personally taken part in a street race, seeing that video on the evening news sure convinced me to never, in any circumstance, street race.

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