With car premiums twice the cost of a fine, 2m risk driving uninsured

The figure is being linked to the fact that there are now more than two million motorists driving without insurance.

Research shows that while average fines imposed by magistrates stand at £169 - a 25 per cent drop since Labour came to power ten years ago - the average third party insurance costs £370 a year.

Young drivers using high-performance cars have even less incentive to insure their cars when fully comprehensive premiums cost up to £2,500.

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There are also great variations in the fines applied - from an average of £367 in Derbyshire to £116 in Durham.

The Liberal Democrats, who unearthed the figures, claim the Government has failed to get to grips with the problem of uninsured drivers.

They show that since 1997 only one in five drivers without insurance is being caught and

fined. The Government calculates that 2.1 million are driving without cover, one in 15 motorists. It is estimated that it costs honest drivers an extra £30 a year in premiums to cover accidents involving the uninsured.

Susan Kramer, Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said: "This demonstrates the inadequacy of fines for uninsured drivers. By fining offenders significantly less than the cost of insurance, the Government are hardly sending out the right message.

"Much more needs to be done. Unless the Government can reverse this trend all drivers will pay the price."

The Motor Insurers' Bureau said that last year 15 per cent of uninsured drivers were aged 17 to 21 and 33 per cent were aged 21 to 29.

Last year at least 78,000 vehicles were seized by the police for no insurance, 17,500 were seized for no driving licence and 6,000 for no vehicle excise duty in England and Wales.

Magistrates also fear that a hardline New Drivers' Law - introduced ten years ago - may have backfired. It automatically revokes the driving licences of new drivers who run up six penalty points in their first two years on the road.

But courts fear up that up to 65,000 youngsters banned under the rule have sneaked back on to the road - often without tax or insurance.

Meredydd Hughes, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on roads policing, said: "Too often the police attend collisions where one of the drivers had no insurance.

"Evidence shows that uninsured drivers are ten times more likely to commit other road traffic offences."

Ashton West, chief executive of the Motor Insurers' Bureau, said:

"Time and time again we see the consequences of uninsured driving. Innocent lives are ruined by the selfishness of drivers who think they are above the law. More must and can be done."