Over Three Million Drivers Have Been in a Crash with an Uninsured Driver
The danger that uninsured drivers bring to the roads is very real. Of those crashes involving uninsured drivers, 25 per cent ended up with someone being injured, of which four per cent left at least one person dead.
The survey found that all too often it is law abiding drivers who are injured. Fifteen per cent of drivers, who have been in a crash with an uninsured driver, said that they had been hurt and 10 per cent said their passengers had been hurt.
Not only are uninsured drivers causing death and injury on our roads, their attitude at the scene of crashes underlines their lack of concern for the safety of others and an overriding priority not to get caught. In 17 per cent of collisions, the uninsured driver did not stop and left the scene. Even when they did stop, they still tried to evade being caught; 32 per cent lied and said they were insured and 23 per cent tried ‘not get the insurers involved’.
The research also revealed the likelihood of being involved in a collision with an uninsured driver, dramatically changes depending where you live in the country. In
Continuous Insurance Enforcement
In the coming months Continuous Insurance Enforcement will be launched to tackle uninsured driving.
Under the new powers it will be an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle, rather than just to drive, when uninsured.
Under the new system:
The DVLA will work in partnership with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau to identify uninsured vehicles.
Motorists will receive a letter telling them that their vehicle appears to be uninsured and warning them that they will be fined unless they take action.
If the keeper fails to insure the vehicle they will be given a £100 fine.
If the vehicle remains uninsured - regardless of whether the fine is paid - it could then be seized and destroyed.
Facts about uninsured drivers***
23,000 people are injured and 160 are killed every year by uninsured drivers.
In 2009, 164,000 people were convicted for driving without insurance - that is one conviction every three minutes.
The cost of uninsured motoring in the UK1 is estimated to be around £500 million. The MIB charges a levy on all motor insurance companies to help fund the cost of uninsured driving in the
Police report that 180,000 vehicles were seized in 2009, taking the total to more than 600,000 since laws were introduced in 2005.
In 2009 194,000 people were convicted in Court for uninsured driving – that is one conviction every three minutes.
Case Study
Dad, Ian Pearmain, Mum, Sue Pearmain and daughter Alice, then 13, from Orston, in
Ian managed to get out of the car and went round to try to help Sue out. Alice was screaming in the back, but managed to drag herself out and sat at the side of the road clutching her stomach. Sue’s door wouldn’t open but with the help of passers-by they managed to wrench it free - but Sue’s legs were trapped. Three ambulances came and took them to hospital.
Sue kept drifting in and out of consciousness. “Whenever she was conscious she was more concerned about after me and Alice than her own pain and injuries,” says Ian. While Ian was in a hospital ward, recovering, staff came and told him he needed to see his wife immediately. He was wheeled in a wheelchair across the hospital and told that while Sue was still alive, her injuries were so severe that she didn’t have long left. Ian sat with her while she died. Sue was just 55. Ian then had to go to see Alice, who was in intensive care, surrounded by tubes, to tell her that her mum had died.
Alice had to have an eight-hour operation to remove nearly all of her pancreas. She also had kidney and liver bruising and spent a further six months in and out of hospital. “I was worried I would lose them both,” says Ian.
The driver who caused the crash was convicted of careless driving and driving uninsured. She received nine points on her licence and a £400 fine.
For more information on the features of Direct Line’s car insurance, visit http://www.directline.co.uk or call 0845 246 3761.
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Notes to editors:
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**10 per cent of motorists have been involved in a collision with an uninsured driver. 10 per cent of 33million motorists nationwide (source: ONS) is 3,300,000 motorists.
Direct Line
Started in 1985, Direct Line became the first
Direct Line is part of
1Based on 2009 FSA returns (policies in force).
Brake
Brake is an independent national road safety charity. Brake exists to stop the six deaths and 70 serious injuries that happen on
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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/4/prweb8306491.htm
Sheryl Lewis Joins CCI Financial & Insurance Solutions as Senior Vice President of Business Development Opening CCI’s Stockton, CA Office
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