Skip to main content

Increase in number of drivers caught driving while banned

New figures obtained by BBC Radio Live from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) indicate that that the number of drivers caught driving while banned has increased by 7.5 per cent. The figures show that some 14,500 people were caught driving without a licence in 2016. One example included a motorist who was caught driving while banned four times in 12 months. The same person was also convicted for failing to stop and driving without insurance at least three times. Gloucestershire Chief C
February 7, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
New figures obtained by BBC Radio Live from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) indicate that that the number of drivers caught driving while banned has increased by 7.5 per cent. The figures show that some 14,500 people were caught driving without a licence in 2016.

One example included a motorist who was caught driving while banned four times in 12 months.

The same person was also convicted for failing to stop and driving without insurance at least three times.

Gloucestershire Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, road policing lead for the National Police Chiefs Council, said: "Generally some people who are disqualified will also be involved in other types of criminality and that might have contributed to them being banned.

"But they'll be people who are driving without insurance because they can't get insurance, because they're disqualified drivers, and so that immediately poses a risk to all of us."

Related Content

  • March 29, 2017
    Technology solution needed to counter mobile phone menace
    With the UK set to increase the penalties for using mobile phones while driving, the RAC Foundation’s Steve Gooding considers what else can be done to combat this deadly distraction. The first mobile phone call was made in 1973, by an engineer working for Motorola. Today 4.7 billion people across the globe subscribe to a mobile service.
  • August 3, 2015
    Europe-bound drivers fail numbers test
    With almost six million of the UK’s motorists expected to head to Europe before the end of 2015, new survey by RAC European Breakdown exposes Britons' ignorance of what to do if in distress on overseas roads. It found that most drivers can't name the European Union (EU)-wide three-digit number to call in emergencies. Only 38% know the correct answer is 112. Worryingly, 10 per cent think the normal UK 111 non-emergency NHS line extends its reach throughout the EU. A further 6 per cent confuse their contin
  • November 17, 2014
    Kenya to introduce microchip-fitted number plates
    Shem Oirere looks at Kenya’s plans to introduce a new generation of vehicle registration plates fitted with microchip technology by the end of this year. In a move to improve driving standards and prevent fraud, the authorities in Kenya are planning the introduction of a new numberplate system which will incorporate microchip technology.
  • June 15, 2022
    Jenoptik measures out the future
    The speed of tech changes means Jenoptik is redrawing how it sees itself. Adam Hill catches up with Stefan Traeger and Kevin Chevis at Intertraffic Amsterdam to find out more about ‘extended reality’…