Section 58 — Seizure and detention

(1) An authorised officer may seize and detain a road vehicle (using reasonable force to do so) if—

(a) it appears to the officer that the vehicle is travelling, is about to travel or has recently travelled on a road or other public place, and

(b) subsections (2) and (3) are satisfied.

(2) This subsection is satisfied if the authorised officer reasonably suspects that the journey of the vehicle involves, is likely to involve, or did involve—

(a) an offence under section 34B of the Road Traffic Act 1988,

(b) the commission of a traffic infraction by the vehicle,

(c) the vehicle travelling without an individual exercising, or in position to exercise, control of it on a road or other public place on which it is hazardous or unsuitable for the vehicle to travel in that way, or

(d) the vehicle otherwise behaving in a way that presents a risk of danger or inconvenience to the public while present on a road or other public place without an individual in control of it.

(3) This subsection is satisfied if the authorised officer reasonably thinks it necessary to seize and detain the vehicle in order to—

(a) prevent or halt the commission of an offence or a traffic infraction,

(b) prevent or halt a risk of danger or of inconvenience to the public, or

(c) enable enquiries to be made with a view to identifying—

(i) the owner, registered keeper, user, or person in charge of the vehicle,

(ii) the authorised self-driving entity for the vehicle, or

(iii) the licensed no-user-in-charge operator by whom the journey of the vehicle is, would be or was overseen.

(4) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about what is to happen after a vehicle has been seized and detained under this section; and the power in subsection (1) may not be exercised unless such regulations are in force.

(5) Regulations under subsection (4) must be designed with a view to securing that—

(a) the owner of the vehicle has a reasonable opportunity to find out that it has been detained and recover it, and

(b) the vehicle is properly stored in the meantime.

(6) Subsection (5)(a) does not prevent the regulations from—

(a) making the recovery of the vehicle conditional on the payment of any applicable charges in respect of its removal or storage (see subsection (7)(a)),

(b) conferring a power to keep the vehicle in detention pending the completion of—

(i) enquiries of a sort referred to in subsection (3)(c), or

(ii) investigations or proceedings arising from the matters in connection with which the vehicle was seized (including proceedings for the imposition of a compliance notice, redress notice or monetary penalty notice under Chapter 5 of Part 1), or

(c) making the ability to recover the vehicle subject to any power existing apart from this section under which the vehicle could be kept in detention.

(7) Regulations under subsection (4) may—

(a) require the owner of the vehicle to pay charges in respect of the removal, storage or disposal of the vehicle;

(b) (subject to subsection (5)(a)) provide for the disposal of the vehicle;

(c) make provision about the destination of any proceeds of such a disposal;

(d) provide for a person to be treated as, or presumed to be, the owner of the vehicle for the purposes of the regulations (in which case the references to the owner in subsection (5) and paragraph (a) are to be read accordingly).

(8) In this section, “authorised officer” means—

(a) a constable, or

(b) an examiner appointed under section 66A of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

(9) The power in subsection (1) does not extend to directing the driver of a vehicle to stop it; but—

(a) a constable in uniform, or

(b) a stopping officer appointed under section 66B of the Road Traffic Act 1988,

may make such a direction with a view to the exercise of the power in subsection (1).