Car tax dodgers beware

Mike Keegan

July 14, 2007

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CRUSHED: Claim within seven days or.....

TAX cheats beware - your car could soon land on the scrapheap.

A new fleet of hi-tech vans are on roads across Greater Manchester on the lookout for car tax dodgers.

Using new technology they can instantly spot any vehicles using the road without up-to-date tax by scanning their number plates.

Officials say the detectors are responsible for a huge increase in the numbers of cheats caught.

Since their introduction, 5,410 offending veh-icles have been clamped and towed away - more than double the figures from the year before.

Owners of clamped vehicles have seven days to pay an £80 release fee and will be pursued for any back tax owed.

If they don't claim their car within seven days, it is crushed.

What do you think? Have your say.

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Showing comments 1 to 22 and replies | View All

ace, manchester (14/07/2007 at 10:03)

The police need to stop some of the cars ""driving"" in the openshaw area over the last two weeks ive been behind cars driven at 10mph that you know the driver has never past a test? ive been behind cars that dont indicate and are unsure of road signs ect,going down roads that have a clear no entry sign ect.The standard of driving is non existant its time for spot checks by the traffic police.Only yesterday i was behind a car with at least six people in the car, non had seatbelts on and the driver was unsure what side of the road they should be? it felt so dangerous i didnt overtake the vehicle...It makes me wonder if most of these drivers have just arrived in britain with no idea of how to drive on our roads.

Laura Norder, Didsbury (14/07/2007 at 10:09)

I'll gladly contribute a tenner towards buying more vans. The dodgers - criminals is a more appropriate word - are just parasites. Chances are, those with no tax, have no insurance or M.O.T certificate either, placing the lives and wellbeing of all of us at risk. Hit 'em hard!

gazzo, salford (14/07/2007 at 12:20)

about time too

Snare Drum, Ashton-under-Lyne (14/07/2007 at 13:01)

Great idea! Now while we're on the subject of illegal cars how about these cars that hace been messed with by young drivers. Like lowering the body by removing half the springs because surely this must affect the handling of the vehicle and making the shock absorbers inaffective as well as the breaking

Paul, Tameside (14/07/2007 at 14:38)

Seen a couple near me expired 2 years ago. No sympathy at all.

enb, somewhere interesting (14/07/2007 at 16:25)

About time they did something about this. If you buy a car and dont tax and Insure it it shouldnt be on the road.

Ms D, Manchester (15/07/2007 at 09:40)

This is a great idea. Most untaxed cars are being driven by people often without insurance or even a licence. Get them off the road - permanently !

Rob (MART), Denton (15/07/2007 at 11:17)

Gorton has the highest proportion of uninsured and untaxed vehicles in the country. Get these off the road and you can decrease congestion in east Manchester. Then there would be no need for the congestion charge!!!

Joey, Ashton under Lyne, (15/07/2007 at 13:18)

Paul Tameside,

One of those cars "without a tax disc" maybe mine. I park on a private road, yet I have been booked 4 times, clamped once. My car is Legal - taxed, mot's and insured. One reason I do not display a valid tax disc is because the first time it was booked I was up Ashton (I walked) getting it retaxed, I returned home to find a ticket on it - a trip to the police station - explained about private road and the post office, showed new tax disc, that resulted in: "sorry, it is in the system" Shortly after I got a letter saying I was parked on Hifton Street (made up by the warden - as it is unnamed) I wrote back with all the paperwork and explained that there was no such street as Hifton - I did not get an appology (for the warden lying) but a letter stating "no further action will be taken this time" between the booking and the letter my car was booked two more times (they had my Tax disc - so it was any easy booking) which resulted in two more letters from the DVLA saying "no furher action will be taken" after I had explained yet again, My neighbour had the 200 quid clamp on another occation when it was targetted and they failed to collect it after being told they were in the wrong. So not all cars are illegal I am just getting my own back for being messed around. The new system means that they no longer have to write to me -as they can tell it is legal via their database (you too can check the numberplates to see if those you think are illegal - check Vehicle Detail Enquiries or Date of Liablity on the DVLA's web site)

mikebuk, Blackpool, Lancashire (15/07/2007 at 14:03)

Just because a car isn't insured or taxed, it doesn't make it or the driver any less safe.

Why must they be crushed ? - why can't they be impounded at put up for auction so someone less well off could buy it at a reduced price.

A total waste of good vehicles.

Taliesin71, www.randomjottings.co.uk (15/07/2007 at 16:27)

An untaxed vehicle has a higher chance of being unroadworthy and also higher chances of being driven by an uninsured and/or un licensed driver.

The more of these vehicles we crush the safer the roads will be.

ace, manchester (15/07/2007 at 17:02)

mikebuk, Blackpool, Lancashire
As soon as you take any vehicle out on the road without insurance ect you are straight away a bad driver? (a good driver should always make sure their car and details are in order) end of story and all cars that are found to have none of the documents should be totally scrapped ..end of story..

ace, manchester (15/07/2007 at 17:33)

Dont just check for roadtax (revenue earners) We need spot checks ,road blocks Ect. And we need regular checks on cars with foreign plates on.How do we know who are driving these cars and if theve got all the legal documents ect.Until we send really strong messages that we will not tolerate bad drivers and drivers with no documents the accident rates will keep going up hit and runs are on the increase because of uninsured/non licenced drivers...

spongebob squarepants..under the sea, off the coast of cornwall., cornwall (15/07/2007 at 22:38)

go to any auction (adt belle vue is a good example) and you can find any number of eastern europeans buying a cheap (usually around the £100 price bracket), they will then proceed to use the car without tax,insurance or mot, unless one came with the car, untill the car is impounded or they are stopped by the police. when stopped they will give false id and be sent on their way minus a motor. but not for long because they're straight back down the auction to do it all over again. this method im assured is far cheaper than making sure the car is legal for the road. crazy aint it..

Colin W, Abroad (16/07/2007 at 07:54)

all talk, it will never come to pass as this governemnt and the local council are too inept.

ace, manchester (16/07/2007 at 11:39)

eastern europeans and other immigrants are the main ones that i see driving cars that they cannot controll? its obvious that they dont posess any driving licence ect? so who dont the police have a crackdown on these drivers .ive seen these drivers with lots of kids in their cars without restraints Ect and the police have just drove past?i could earn a fortune from fines and impounded cars in our area so why dosnt the police see or do anything????????????

Bean B4, manchester (16/07/2007 at 12:12)

They should do it for having no insurance too.

How long do the honest have to subsidise the dishonest.

If you can't afford to run a car, hard luck. That means you can't have one. Simple.

Calamity (16/07/2007 at 12:23)

I welcome it. The DVLA, however, seem to spend most of their time trying to fine drivers who do obey the law. I scrapped a car last year and told them so. They acknowledged this. Then, a few weeks ago came a fine for not having declared SORN. I rang them up and they said that they had no record of my telling them that the car was scrapped. I said that they had acknowledged this. They said to send the letter in. Unfortunately, due to decorating, the letter had been lost. The DVLA said that if I didn't have the letter then I had to pay the fine, which was forty pounds, but would go up to eighty pounds if not paid by a certain date. I told them I would not pay them anything. eighty pounds for a mislaid letter! Then, unbelievably came an acknowledgement of SORN notification for the same scrapped car. This is no doubt to set me up ready for another fine in the future. That damn car cost me a fortune when I had it and is now costing me more even though the damn thing is long gone! I have got an MP on the case now as I am not going to pay the DVLA a damn penny. If they used their resources to target drivers not paying tax, instead of harrassing honest motorists, our roads would be safer.

ace, manchester (16/07/2007 at 12:55)

Bean B4, manchester
Full agreement with you mate.we struggle to keep and maintain our car like most honest people but like youve pointed out why should we have to pay for the illegal .just like all british law it always looks after the guilty and the villians???time for things to change..

Pescado (16/07/2007 at 20:39)

These vehicles should be inspected and valued and that should be the basis for the penalty imposed on the offender along with the fine and the back tax owed.
If they refuse to pay to get the vehicle back then sell it at auction, if it is not worth very much then scrap it.

ace, manchester (17/07/2007 at 10:26)

Pescado
Clever thinking mate? put it in the auction so that even more people will buy them to use illegally? if you did that it would be a waste of time.And pointless taking it off the road.

ace, manchester (17/07/2007 at 14:21)

A FAMILY in China has received £100,000 in compensation over a hit-and-run which killed a gifted student in Salford.

This is why we need to crack down very hard on these uninsured/taxed drivers and those without a licence should be flogged ..every day for a month..no respect for people or life.

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