According to a report from the BBC today, one in five young drivers in the UK do not have insurance, and are therefore driving illegally. This amounts to a massive 243,000 illegal young drivers on the road.
This really begs the question, why are so many drivers electing to drive without insurance?
Many simply state that the cost of car insurance is too high and that they simply cannot afford it. Whilst they know they really ought to have car insurance (and indeed it is a legal requirement), many believe that they are safe drivers and as such they don’t really need insurance. In reality, of course nothing could be further from the truth. As Ashton West, Chief executve of the Motor Insurers Bureau said:
“Young drivers statistically are a bad risk, they are. They are many times more likely to have an accident”.What can the Police do?
Police do have the ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras which scan car’s number plates and automatically check that the car had a valid MoT, tax disc and whether or not the car is insured. They have the power to stop, question and in some instances even arrest those who are driving without insurance.
What are the Consequences of Driving Without Insurance?
The consequences of driving without insurance include fines, points on the offender’s license and in some instances their car could even be scrapped.
All in all, it’s really not worth the risk. Plus, as there are increasing calls for more severe penalties for those driving without insurance, in the future it could become even more so.
Image credit garryknight