Uninsured driving offences

The data has been shared with the Standard by Lincolnshire Police following a Freedom of Information request to the force.

It covers the past five years, 2014 to 2018, and almost 400 geographic areas.

On average, Boston has the highest number of offences during the time period at 190.8 a year, followed closely by Lincoln on 189.6.

Then there is a jump to Spalding on 74.8 a year, Grantham on 49.2, and Skegness on 44.4.

Sleaford comes in at number seven in the list on 15 a year.

Responding to the figures, a spokesman for Lincolnshire Police said: “For us, driving without insurance is very serious error of judgement.

“It represents a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road.

“It is an offence that we can give a fixed penalty of £300 and six penalty points for, or if it goes to court you can face an unlimited fine and disqualification.

“In some cases we have the power to seize and destroy the vehicle.”

The average number of offences in total is about 940 a year.

There are strong variations across the county, with some clear hotspots.

The force said it would be ‘difficult to say’ why some areas had higher numbers than others, saying it may be down to more offenders, but also to increased activity on the police’s part – perhaps, for instance, it ran an enforcement campaign in that area.

“After all, these are the numbers caught and not the number of people who have no insurance,” the spokesman said.

Overall, numbers have risen, starting at 895, falling to 849, before jumping to 961, 1,011, and 989 in consecutive years.

This, again, police suggested may be down to ‘greater pro-activity’.

n The top 10 locations for driving without insurance (on average from 2014 to 2018): 1. Boston – 190.8 per year; 2. Lincoln – 189.6 per year; 3. Spalding – 74.8 per year; 4. Grantham – 49.2 per year; 5. Skegness – 44.4 per year; 6. Gainsborough – 34 per year; 7. Sleaford – 15 per year; 8. Bourne – 14.8 per year; 9. Louth – 13.2 per year; 10. Stamford – 12.4 per year.

Sleaford’s tally fluctuates from year to year, with it running from 2014 to 2018 as 13, 20, 15, 10, and 17.

Others locations in the Sleaford area to make the top 50 were: 30. Holdingham – 3.2 per year; 31. Ruskington – 3.2 per year; and 46. Heckington – two per year.