Policing the roads

The news that

"More than two million rogue drivers escaped prosecution last year as an underclass of untaxed and uninsured drivers grows at an alarming rate, figures reveal today.

They show that there are 63 per cent more road tax evaders than eight years ago - yet only half the number of successful prosecutions.

Today, a driver who does not pay road tax has a one in 20 chance of being prosecuted against a one in six chance in 1999."

This is absolutely no surprise to me, the full force of the law is applied to errant taxed drivers, however small the transgression because they will generally pay the fine - collection of the fine being the whole point of most traffic law enforcement, whereas the untaxed driver will be hard to locate and will not be so bothered at the thought of losing their driving license or car. Labour have to pay for their monumental waste somehow and taxing drivers seems a good way to get at at least some of the money from the public.