Motorists Unaware About Uninsured Driving Crackdown

Most motorists don’t know about the new crackdown on uninsured driving regulations, which make it an offence to keep a car that is uninsured unless it has been given a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).

New regulations have come into force that mean it is no longer possible to keep an uninsured car, even if it is parked off road, unless it has subject to a SORN, however most drivers (66%) are unaware of these new laws and don’t understand the impact of them.

These findings arise from a poll of nearly 13,000 AA members, which shows that the Government needs to do more to increases the public awareness of these measures, as Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance explains:

“This tough action is to be welcomed but it is vital that the Government undertakes a campaign to increase awareness.

“There are estimated to be about 1.4 million cars: about 1 out of every 25, being driven on Britain’s roads without car insurance. This is a shocking indictment and one of the worst records in Europe. Any step that prevents uninsured drivers from getting behind the wheel in the first place must be worthwhile.”

Every year, uninsured and untraceable drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000, as well as causing millions of pounds worth of damage to other vehicles and property and the DVLA and insurance companies are working together to compile a list of vehicles that have neither insurance or a SORN.

The DVLA now have powers to take action against car owners who ignore the written warnings to get their car insured. The Police, too, can detect cars without insurance using their automated number plate recognition systems. They convict about 242,000 uninsured drivers every year and last year confiscated about 180,000 cars, most of which were crushed.

Mr Douglas also called for harsher penalties for those caught driving without cover. “The maximum fine available to the courts is £5,000, yet the average meted out is only £200, considerably less than the cost of insuring a vehicle in the first place. Such small fines are ludicrous if you compare them with the £1,000 fine for not having a television license, for example.

“Most uninsured drivers are young men, often with a string of previous driving offences and disqualifications behind them and would thus be uninsurable. But I believe the penalty should at least reflect the premium that would typically be paid for a person of that age: they should not be able to get away with a paltry fine and go on to offend again.”, he added.

“Driving without insurance is not a victimless crime and honest drivers each pay on average about £30 of their car insurance premium as a contribution towards the cost of the damage and injury such drivers cause.”, he added.