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Stamp it out!
Page 9
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Insurance. You've got it; we've got it and Brian Vikatherley has it. But more than 50,000 accidents a year involve uninsured vehicles — and he reckons it would be easy to make life harder for uninsured drivers.
Why does it take so long to change things in this country, especially the law? Each year there are up to 53,000 road accidents involving uninsured vehicles. Consequently those of us who do play by the rules end up paying an extra £30 on our insurance bill thanks to those that don't. To add insult to injury sanctions against uninsured drivers are pretty paltry too or at least hardly enough to deter serial offenders.
We happily impound HGVs operated without an 0-licence yet can't bring ourselves to do the same thing with uninsured vehicles. The logic escapes me.
In this country people obey the law for two basic reasons. Either they reckon there's a strong chance of getting caught, or they're frightened of the punishment if they are. It's not working with uninsured vehicles is it?
The answer's simple enough: make it mandatory to exhibit a disc in the vehicle's windscreen, just like we do with a tax or 0-licence disc, immediately proving its driver has a valid certificate of motor insurance. Then impose a heavy fine on anyone not showing one. For good measure impound their vehicle and keep it off the road until they do insure it. And hit anyone who displays a false certificate with double the fine and the threat of a custodial sentence. That would focus the mind.
While Parliament debates fox hunting, every day there are 150 road accidents, often resulting in serious injury, involving uninsured vehicles. Which makes me wonder whether we've got our priorities right. After all, when was the last time you were hit by an uninsured fox?