Could you imagine this?

I was reading an article the other day about how Great Britain is trying to get uninsured motorists off the roads...

By preventing them from getting gasoline (or in their case, petrol).

No joke...

Check out MSN's article here.

Essentially if you were to pull up at a station, they would use a camera to take a picture of your plates and then run the number against a database of insured vehicles and BAM-- if your insurance pops up, the pump works... if not, it shuts off.

Could you imagine that in busy Southern California?

When I first read the article I was a little freaked out because with my luck if I changed insurance companies or did something at the DMV i'd roll into the station and be denied the ability to get gas...

But once that thought drifted away, I started to think about the benefits and it's really an interesting idea.

Lets say we even take away the cameras and just made it so that all drivers had to scan their licence and insurance card before a pump would be activated. It might be a little inconvenient and take a second or so to do, but I have to say that there are A TON of people driving cars without licenses and insurance in California.

If those people were unable to fill up without a licence and insurance card--- imagine the impact on roads, fuel prices, and lives saved from getting those people off the road.

Even if it only took one person off the road who had their licence taken away from a DUI or too many speeding tickets the road would be safer.

It would maybe take an extra minute at the pump to insert the other cards, but I'd be in for it...

Would you?