Uninsured motorists could be sent to prison under proposals to be published by ministers today, in an effort to crack down on an epidemic of predominantly young, urban drivers who endanger fellow road users by flouting the law.
Magistrates will be given the power to levy stiffer fines and impose community service or even custodial sentences on repeat offenders. At present most of the 250,000 motorists caught without insurance each year pay a £200 fixed penalty.
The road safety minister, David Jamieson, will endorse stricter punishments when he publishes the long-awaited government-sponsored Greenaway report on motor insurance. The policy document will back measures allowing the police to confiscate or crush uninsured vehicles.
"Law-abiding motorists are fed up with paying the price for the small, hard core of antisocial motorists who drive uninsured, often in untaxed or unsafe vehicles," Mr Jamieson said. "The government is determined to tackle head on the menace of uninsured driving."
Automatic cameras mounted on patrol cars will be linked to the national motor insurance database, allowing police to spot any uninsured cars.
Motoring organisations and the insurance industry yesterday welcomed the crackdown. They estimate that one in 20 drivers on Britain's roads lacks insurance - compared with 1% in the US, 0.2% in Germany and 0.1% in Sweden.
Uninsured drivers are 10 times more likely to have been convicted of drink driving. Clearing up the cost of illegal motorists' accidents puts £30 on the average policy of a legitimate driver.
Inner-city areas of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham are hotspots for uninsured driving.
Six out of 10 illegal drivers are aged under 25. To counter complaints that younger drivers cannot afford policies, the government is to work with the insurance industry to develop cheaper prices for newly qualified motorists.
Ideas include providing "credits" for motorists who go on advanced driving courses. There could also be a metering scheme allowing insurers to charge lower rates for occasional drivers or those who rarely venture out at night.
Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said that insurance companies had traditionally made little effort to attract young motorists: "Many young drivers believe that they are being priced out of the insurance market."
The government also proposes to end what is effectively a 14-day "grace period" when insurance policies are due for renewal. Motorists will be driving illegally from the day their schemes expire.
Simon Machell, Norwich Union's customer services director and chairman of the Motor Insurers' Bureau, said that, until now, too many motorists had been prepared to risk being caught: "Stronger penalties including community service orders and the impounding of vehicles would make such opportunists think twice before driving without insurance."
Research by the Association of British Insurers found that 15% of motorists admitted to having driven without insurance at some stage.
