Tired of being confronted with bikers flouting the law, other law enforcement agencies are considering adopting the scheme. In particular they are tired of encountering young residents of housing estates who believe that by riding their scooters within their estate perimeters, they are beyond the reach of the law, or who feel that riding on the estate does not pose a risk to themselves or others and thus consider purchasing insurance a waste of money and too much of a bother.
Sergeant Nigel Nevard, an officer of the Kent Police stated “We have spoken to a number of riders coming into North Kent. We are sending them a clear message that we will not tolerate their behavior and will seize their bikes when we catch them.?”
In 2007 an estimated 6.5 percent of motor vehicle owners were evading taxes and insurance.
This lack of coverage was even higher than 9.8% – for so-called “active stock.” These are bikes which are not used on roads but which are liable for tax under the rules. Active stock includes those bikes used mainly for display or shows, but which are brought out on the road when they are ridden to their destination. No other group of road users has a higher rate of non-coverage, a major failing that endangers other road users.
Legally, each and every person who own or operates a motor vehicle must have no less than third-party coverage; therefore anyone who shuns insurance is committing a criminal act. Quite a few parents are now purchasing miniature motorbikes, quad bikes and scooters for their kids. These items are available sometimes for the very low price of ?150. For the most part, these bikes posses a lot of power and can very easily to go up to 40 mph and in some cases as much as 60 mph.
The parents who buy these gifts often think that they are just toys and are not included under the third party cover law. Since 2002, the problem concerning these insured vehicles has risen by an estimated ten-fold increase of sales. These gifts are easier to buy with the expansion of the internet market and can be bought for a very reasonable price.
Plus, they add, all these new low-quality machines rarely come with satisfactory safety precautions from the suppliers. They hope the new message they are putting out will be clear: if it can be used on the road it has the potential to endanger other road users and you need to insure it. If you don’t, you might not only lose your machine, you might gain a criminal record.
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