Drivers could lose vehicles for good…

(BY DAVID BRUCE
CHIEF CRIME REPORTER for leedstoday.net)
Hot road drivers who turn up for ‘car cruising’ sessions in West Yorkshire could end up with their cars being crushed – by police.
The revelation emerged after a recent clampdown in which more than 20 police officers sealed off Guiseley Retail Park following complaints from angry local residents over the noise and nuisance caused by the drivers carrying out dangerous driving manoeuvres on the car park.
About 30 cars turned up to carry out tyre-burning and hand-brake turns while friends stood cheering.

Police have now revealed that two of the cars were seized because they were not insured.
And, the owners will have to cough up a £105 recovery fee, plus £12 a day until they reclaim the car.
They can do that only after they have produced all their necessary documents at their local police station.
But, they are given a time limit in which to claim their car – usually seven days. After that police can dispose of their vehicle or have it crushed. On top of that the owners can also face prosecution warnings.

Police have also revealed that they used new anti-social behaviour legislation to issue official warnings to four of the drivers who were questioned at the cruise session in Guiseley.
And, if the drivers are caught repeating their anti-social behaviour within 12 months, they can have their cars seized.
That will hit the drivers in their pockets. Again, they, too, will have to pay the £105 recovery fee and the daily storage charge and could see their car scrapped if it is not claimed within 21 days.
Det Con Jamie Hudson, of Weetwood CID, who took part in the Guiseley retail park raid, said that it didn’t matter what car the drivers were in – the vehicle could still be seized from people who have already been given one warning.
He added that one of those warned after the Guiseley police operation was actually in his father’s Honda Civic company car.
“I can’t imagine he was happy to learn what his son had been doing in his car,” he added.
Police said that the same powers had been used for some time now to tackle the problem of off-road and trials bikers causing noise nuisance around the county.
A spokesman said that a substantial number of bikes had ended up being sent to the crusher.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Road Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.