Clamping of untaxed cars

[smeggy]

I’ve just been for a stroll and found two cars clamped while parked at the side of a public road. The notice on the cars stated they were clamped due to them being untaxed (I could see the tax disks on both were a little out of date).

Here’s a pic of the sticker on both windscreens:



The clamps have DVLA stickers on them.


I don’t know if this is a good thing; I disagree with the principle of VED but no-one likes a cheat.

Pass on the message, you’ve been warned.

Smeg

Edited by smeggy on Thursday 22 June 00:50

[smeggy]

vonhosen said:

The national wheelclamping scheme was launched in August 1997 and was at inception,(maybe still) operated by Sureway Parking Services Ltd in conjunction with DVLA. Contract was up for renewal in 2002-3, don't know if it remains with Sureway.

Thanks VH. It appears you are right to say this isn’t new, but it’s the first time I’ve heard of this scheme or seen the effects from it (and I’ve seen plenty of untaxed cars parked on public roads).

Interestingly, it’s just got a mention in the Daily Express:

Express said:

Untaxed drivers face a crackdown

COWBOY drivers face a blitz aimed at eliminating them from the road. The crackdown, it is hoped, will double the number of illegal cars seized to 100,000 a year. They will be sent to the crusher or sold if owners don’t tax and insure them.
Fleets of vans run by car-parking giant NCP will be backed by high tech cameras and a computer database to hunt down untaxed vehicles. The offenders are likely to include thousands of criminals.
The Daily Express has waged a successful crusade against uninsured drivers which has led to the tougher Government measures.

thanks Dixie


This worries me:

The national wheel-clamping scheme was launched in August 1997 and is operated by Vinci Park Services UK Limited in conjunction with DVLA. The scheme involves contract clamping teams seeking out vehicles on the public road that are not properly taxed. Motorists must pay a fee of £80 to release the wheel-clamp, or a £160 impounding fee plus £15 per day storage if the vehicle remains unclaimed for more than 24 hours. In addition, offenders must produce a current tax disc or a surety payment of £120 against obtaining one. The surety is forfeit if no excise licence is produced within 14 days. Vehicles left unclaimed after 14 days will be crushed or sold at auction.

So if someone is silly enough to forget before going on holiday, or is unfortunate enough to get taken into hospital........

[smeggy]

bjwoods said:

that is not correct, compare 100 thousand licensed cars, vs 100 thousand unlicensed cars. the unlicesned car is 10 TIMES more likely to be involved in accident, etc,etc,etc than licensed...

A question regarding cause and effect (btw I'm still not convinved either way): would forcing these evading drivers into getting VED reduce their probability of crashing?