One in ten drivers has no insurance

9:33am Tuesday 14th October 2008

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By Peter Law »

MORE than 36,000 cars being driven around Hampshire are uninsured, the Daily Echo can today exclusively reveal.

Lives are being put in peril in some areas of the county where more than one in ten motorists has no cover.

Road safety campaigners say that many young drivers are prepared to risk being caught without insurance because of the high cost of policies.

Figures obtained by the Daily Echo show that the worst black spot is Southampton city centre, where 12.5 per cent of cars (1,426 vehicles) have no cover.

The shocking statistics were calculated by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, which used figures for accidents involving uninsured vehicles in the past year to calculate the lack of cover on Hampshire’s roads.

Other trouble areas – where the number of uninsured vehicles is higher than the national average of six per cent – include Portswood/Highfield (7 per cent or 548 cars), Sholing/Thornhill (6.8 per cent or 2,039 cars) and Shirley/Millbrook (6.5 per cent or 1,423 cars).

Figures also show that uninsured motorists are ten times more likely to drink-drive and three times more likely to be convicted of careless driving.

Credit crunch Motor Insurers’ Bureau spokeswoman Lorraine Preston said the credit crunch meant that more drivers were willing to risk driving without insurance.

“A lot of car insurance policies are dearer than the actual car – you are looking in the region of £2,000 or £3,000 a year to insure a £500 car,” she said.

“The majority of uninsured drivers are young males and they are prepared to run the risk, believing that the fine if they are caught will be cheaper than the cost of the actual insurance policy.”

More than 10,000 drivers without a valid driving licence or insurance have had their vehicles seized since July 2005, police have revealed.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: “We have automatic number plate recognition technology in our vehicles to catch those who flout the law. Over the last few years, the force has run a number of operations targeting uninsured as well as unlicensed drivers and removed hundreds of vehicles from our roads as a result.

“Uninsured and unlicensed drivers are often found to be involved in other crimes, so it’s not just about targeting day-to-day motorists.”

Once a vehicle has been seized the owner or driver has 14 days to produce the correct documents at a police station or it will be sold or crushed.