UNINSURED DRIVER SOLUTIONS DON''T ADD UP, SAYS SAFE SPEED
25 February 2005 - Safe Speed

Safe Speed welcomes the RAC Foundations revelations about uninsured drivers but warns that the government strategy simply does not add up.

The RAC Foundation reveals that just 16% of uninsured drivers will be caught in a year. This means that the average uninsured driver will be caught just once every 6.25 years. He''ll pay a £200 fixed penalty ticket or have his £500 throw away car impounded and crushed. But He''ll be back on the road in a month or two. He won''t even get banned because his licence points will expire after 3 years - more than 3 years before the next time he''s caught.

If the average uninsured driver''s insurance premium is £1,000 per annum, he''ll save £6,250 in premiums for every £200 fine. His outlay will be just 3.2% of the legitimate total.

The government''s new plan to seize the cars of uninsured drivers is no better. At present performance we''ll seize the average uninsured driver''s £500 throwaway car once in 6.25 years. He''ll buy another throwaway within a month and will only be off the road for 1 month in 75. This will reduce the proportion of uninsured drivers by less than one tenth of one percent.

The talk of great possibilities for detecting uninsured driving with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is hopelessly optimistic too, considering that the law requires DRIVERS to be insured while VEHICLES have number plates.

Uninsured driving is way out of control and the present levels of policing are a million miles from solving the problem. Radical solutions are needed and Safe Speed proposes consideration of charging a third party insurance premium on the cost of motor fuel. This would end uninsured driving overnight. There would be no costs of enforcement. No costs of collection. No offence of uninsured driving. Police and court time would be freed up to deal with other offences. We could even fully preserve the current insurance companies by block purchasing third party policies from existing insurance companies by registration groups.

Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign
(www.safespeed.org.uk) said: ''Uninsured driving is an extremely serious social problem - present and proposed solutions don''t even begin to make a dent in it. The numbers don''t add up. Fresh thinking is essential if we are to make any progress. Our proposals free up considerable Police and Court resources and end uninsured driving overnight. Surely that''s worthy of consideration?''

Safe Speed replied to the recent Department for Transport consultation on uninsured driving, pointing out the numerical impossibility of vehicle seizure as a solution and proposing the inclusion of third party insurance premium on fuel tax. Results from the consultation process are yet to be published.

www.safespeed.org.uk

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