Latest News Stories

Car insurance customers told that licence plate overhaul is needed

04/06/07

A police chief has called for a revamp of the existing vehicle registration system in a bid to fight crime, car insurance customers may be interested to learn.

Superintendent John Wake of the Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service has demanded an overhaul of the present system after police discovered that vehicle plate theft has increased by 25 per cent in the last year, reports the Daily Mail.

In particular, he has proposed that electronic chips should be installed within new plates as a matter of course.

Since these could be connected to the automatic number plate recognition database, it is thought the move could help officers detect vehicles trying to avoid congestion charges and speed cameras by using false number plates.

Moreover, Mr Wake has also advocated changing the law so that car insurance customers are required to install crime-fighting plates that become unusable if a thief attempts to remove them.

And he has suggested that the current vehicle recognition system, which has been in place since the 1930s, "has had its time".

"It's too easy to clone or steal car registration plates, which in turn makes it easy to commit crime using an innocent person's identity," he said.

"It means innocent motorists have to prove they did not commit crimes in which their vehicles were supposedly involved."

Last week, it was reported that plate theft in Hertfordshire was on the rise.

Between January and April 2007, there were 30 criminal offences involving stolen offences in the county, reports the Harlow Herald.