Does seem a bit of a big number to me but im sure not all of those rigs could be kept by the police?? And as for cars they cant just confiscate your car if your at a rave, maybe if your using it in conjunction with the rave I.E transportin equipment but most crews use rented vans.

Well according to reports 12 or so got taken last bank hol, so ya know .. could be true .. i know of quite a few been taken since January.

Dunno about the cars though.

police property auctions have loads of random lots of all sorts, so there may be sound equipment, but TBH the feds either give it back or have it destroyed, depending on how big the local backlash was.

Its actually given back fairly often as I think at least some cops are pragmatic enough to realise that the anger caused by permanently confiscating it could actually drive people to worse crime (such as serving up bare drugs to raise money for a replacement rig!),

all it would take is for one angry ex-rig owner to knock out a bit of crack or smack (perhaps even out of spite), and even if they nick this person eventually and send them down there would still be far more long-term damage caused to a local community than a hundred loud raves…

it would also destroy a lot of people’s respect for the law along with the rig (particularly young followers), with an attendant risk of a rise in anti-social behaviour and particularly vandalism – youths are gonna think “if they can trash our stuff, we will trash theirs…” its happened in other countries (particularly France) when raves have been shut down..”

although most rig people are fluffy there’s always the chance the more ruthless the cops and system becomes, the more ruthless the response is.

In the 90s I remember someone from a now-defunct London crew saying “if the met take our rig, I will go and burgle the houses of the people in the area who grassed us up, until we have enough money to build another one. ” This lad even wanted to make this statement on a video I was making. He had been in prison before so that didn’t really bother him…..

I refused to record it as I told him he was incriminating himself even if someone else carried out his actions, but the level of his anger showed how high feelings were running after the CJA had been passed.

it might seem harsh but the cops aren’t going to ignore huge developments in technology since the 90s nor the real fact that my generation of ravers often royallly took the piss with traffic laws.

it was a “sub culture” within the rave scene of twoccing and ragging cars and not bothering with “babylon’s rules” such as licenses, insurance, MOT etc.. OTOH I’ve lost friends and seen others permanently disabled due to RTCs, plus there’s no way you can really justify stealing cars to get to and from raves (or burning them on site) ,particularly if you have ever had your own vehicle stolen or damaged.

if you drive w/o insurance (for any reason) its not fair on anyone else involved if you are unlucky enough to be involved in a collision. The insurance system isn’t ideal, quick or always just but it pays for both parties costs and at least contributes some to those of the NHS (which are not insubstantial). Each injury or fatal RTC costs the public purse £50 000 – £100 000 depending on severity…

Most of the time when you go to a rave and see someone being helped in in a wheelchair, they are often there because of traffic collision injuries (lost limbs, spinal injuries) rather than terminal illnesses… I do think if you are going to drive yourself and your friends to a party its your duty to do it as legally and responsibly as possible – thats the most dangerous and risky part of a rave, not all the drugs or anything else!

most friends of mine who have had vehicles seized have got them back, although of course after paying impounding costs – particularly if they can argue that they need the vehicle for their work.

A rave only becomes anti-social when enough locals actually complain, and cops can’t really hassle people for not leaving if they have confiscated their motor cars!

There is also a potential human rights challenge that it is disproportionate to extendedly or permanently deprive someone of their means of transport for a single, isolated offence, or one that does not actually involve bad driving (unlike other seizures of cars belonging to boy racers)

The figures you quote for level of vehicle seizures seem rather high for single raves TBH, I know at Wales rig vans were seized but I’m not sure about random cars….I would have thought as well if that many cars went at Wales someone else would have posted about it on here as well..

well i dont wanna be a hit n run victim or have my car smashed up by some uninsured driver…

That’s just dark! It’s like something off a comic book lol