There is so very much wrong with this that it surely must be an elaborate hoax.
I would like the DVLA database of vehicle keepers posted on the web, so that all of us – whether busybodies, neighbourhood campaigners or even intrepid boy reporters – can link every registered vehicle on our roads to a name and address.
Yes, I think he does mean it.
An infringement to privacy? I don't think so.
Because your personal details being published on the web is as private as can be, presumably?
Operating a motor vehicle involves responsibilities as well as rights, and one of the longest established responsibilities is that a vehicle should be traceable back to its operator**. I'm merely arguing that citizens, as well as the state, should have access to this information.
I think we can all think of quite a few drawbacks to such an idea. Funnily enough, so can Michael
Arguments against? Yes, there's the possibility of revenge attacks for bad driving, but the answer to that would be to come down hard on any such attacks.
Then, if the driver is still alive, he can claim from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, if he can get past the red tape and massive backlog, before being stiffed for the cash if approved.
John Thornhill, chairman of the Magistrates' Association, criticised the levy system, saying the money was going to victim support agencies, rather than the victims themselves.
"There's £40m of unpaid compensation so if you were a victim and awarded compensation, the chances of receiving that compensation are very, very low," he said.
There's another problem with your lunacy too, isn't there, Michael.
There's also the near certainty that one set of users of the open vehicle register will be burglars. An expensive car registered in Cheshire but spotted in a Cornwall hotel is a good indicator of rich pickings.
Bingo! Got it in one.
But burglars already have ways of spotting empty houses – and, if privacy is such an over-riding concern, why do so many affluent people decorate their cars with easily identifiable personal number plates?
He's right, you know. A friend of mine carries the number plate "Y 15 Acacia Drive, Surbiton, KT8 4PL", the irresponsible bastard.
As ever, it's a matter of balance between liberty, civic duty and privacy. My belief is that, at the moment, we're tilted too far towards personal privacy. No doubt some readers will disagree.
So some people may believe that the possibility of being brained with a baseball bat for forgetting to indicate, or the certainty that someone will have their house looted, is not worth the risk just so the local curtain-twitcher can look up who owns that nice Lexus parked up the street?
You think?
** As far back in history as the Road Traffic Act 1988
