Car insurance: Drivers snapped to cut fine dodging

Thursday, 25 May 2006

Drivers who blame others for accidents and raise other drivers' car insurance premiums are being targeted by a new kind of speed camera.

The new cameras will take photos of the driver's face, making it much more difficult for offending motorists to avoid penalty fines and the resultant increase in car insurance premiums by saying they were not behind the wheel.

Many drivers have managed to avoid losing their licences or clocking up points by "transferring" their penalties onto friends or families.

The photos from the new cameras, which face oncoming drivers, are used in court cases against drivers to prove they were in fact in the car.

Ten of the new types of camera have been trialled across Essex over the past two years.

However, Paul Smith from the motoring campaign group Safe Speed told Autotrader he did not believe the system would be widely utilised.

"The whole system is based upon bluff; fixed penalties support the court system and without it, it would collapse," he said.

"These extra photos are extending this bluff and are not practical evidence. Taking pictures of a driver is just another threat to make the driver pay up, rather than them taking it to court."

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