One in ten drivers has no insurance (From Daily Echo)
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One in ten drivers has no insurance
9:33am Tuesday 14th October 2008 in
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- By Peter Law » Feature Writer
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.
Comments(18)
Condor Man
says...
11:43am Tue 14 Oct 08
If people can't afford insurance they shouldn't drive, no sob stories wash with me.
Miles Sway
says...
12:33pm Tue 14 Oct 08
stay local
says...
1:12pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Job done!
Mad Max
says...
2:17pm Tue 14 Oct 08
stay local wrote:Great idea, unfortunately this would put the petrol station staff at risk....
Being that all petrol station record your number plate to prevent a drive away with out paying, why not link them to the police computer no insurance = no fuel. Job done!
Insurance companies and the DVLA should issue road fund licence style discs or stickers that need to be displayed at all times... then the traffic wardens wouldn't need any fancy computers... clamp the cars, only to be released IF insurance can actually be proved...
mr_lee_white@hotmail.com
says...
2:48pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Not hard is it?
Extra revenue for insurance companies thru extra companies.
Reduction of illegal motorists, simply priced off the road.
Reduction of stupid taxation, like car tax.
Reduction of idiotic civil service process, roles and wasted effort.
Dr Alimantado
says...
2:54pm Tue 14 Oct 08
ell, what a surprise. Come on Police, you know where they all are. Let's see you making an example now please
St. Ray
says...
2:57pm Tue 14 Oct 08
I think the displaying of an insurance disc, or similar, would ease the problem in the UK
Miles Sway
says...
3:03pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Condor Man
says...
3:16pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Dusty
says...
6:22pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Adrian Smith
says...
6:31pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Then pay a small reward to members of the public reporting untaxed and uninsured vehicles.
Georgem
says...
7:20pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Condor Man wrote:What I find galling is that some insurance companies now offer extra cover against being hit by the uninsured, as if they're doing us a big favour by effectively getting us to pay for someone elses third-party cover
I am very wary on the roads now because in the event of an accident uninsured drivers get away scott-free it would seem. Advice is to have a camera in the car at all times and make sure photos are taken.
If people can't afford insurance they shouldn't drive, no sob stories wash with me.
Robert1943
says...
7:22pm Tue 14 Oct 08
obelisker
says...
8:05pm Tue 14 Oct 08
he Gov. will make loads of cash from fines, the roads will be safer, and car insurance must get cheaper..ah! the companies won't like that bit will they!
downfader
says...
8:17pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Adrian Smith wrote:Reward? I'd do it for free.
I fail to see why the Government database the DVLA use can't allow members of the public to tap in an index number and see if the vehicle is taxed and insured. It doesn't need to provide any personal details about the owner or driver. Then pay a small reward to members of the public reporting untaxed and uninsured vehicles.
I think you can even use crimestoppers to report vehicle crime now.
downfader
says...
8:21pm Tue 14 Oct 08
Miles Sway wrote:Miles, your friend was fined because of the risk of fire. Property and ecology has been damaged, seriously damaged, in the past and that is why he recieved the fine.
A friend of mine (insured/taxed etc) got filmed by SCC and fined for throwing a fag butt (no homo jokes please) out of his car window!! An offense, yes, but it beggars belief that they'll pick on easy targets instead of tackilng real issues.
juliahixon
says...
10:45pm Tue 14 Oct 08
NeutralOpinion
says...
11:17pm Tue 14 Oct 08
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One in ten drivers has no insurance
Uninsured driver Jason Tobola, who was jailed for 20 months for killing an 11-year-old Southampton boy in a hit-and-run last November.
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