Nick de Bois, the member of Parliament, recently made himself heard in a Parliamentary debate that took place last Thursday. He has urged the government to push through legislation that will close a loophole that means that drivers without a driving licence will be unable to drive on the roads so easily.
Mr de Bois is a conservative MP for Enfield North and he has stated that the fact that unlicensed drivers are able to buy motor insurance is enabling people without a licence to drive on the roads. He described the problem is a serious threat to the safety of people living in the country.
He did say that the checks that are currently in place to make sure people have a driving licence are good, but this is just a loophole the needs to be closed in order to make Britain’s roads safer. People driving without a licence is something that is very dangerous and it is responsible for several deaths every year.
Mike Penning, the shadow transport secretary was also involved in the debate and he agreed with Mr de Bois saying that the government should allow insurance companies to check the DVLA database to make sure that the person who is buying insurance does have a valid licence. This is something that should also be extended to the road tax system, so the people are unable to put a tax on a vehicle without having a licence.
The reason people can drive the car undetected without a licence is because speed cameras only scan license plates and check them against the insurance database. There is no way for them to run plates against people to see whether they have a driving licence or not. Mr de Bois has been working to push forward legislation after a 20-year-old man died after being hit by an unlicenced driver.