Thousands of uninsured drivers are risking lives

May 6 2008 by Chris Havergal, The Journal

MOTORISTS’ lives are being put at risk by an estimated 40,000 uninsured cars on North East roads, it was revealed last night.

Insurers say that in some areas, almost one in five cars may be on the road without cover, well above the national average. Police admit that it is a growing problem.

Police figures reveal that arrests for driving without insurance in the Northumbria force patch have quadrupled since 2004.

Conviction rates show uninsured motorists are 10 times more likely to drink-drive and three times more likely to drive without due care and attention.

And last year there were 3,198 crashes involving uninsured vehicles in the North East.

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) used figures for accidents involving uninsured vehicles in 2007 to calculate the number of such vehicles on the region’s roads. It estimates the total for Northumberland, County Durham and Tyne and Wear is 40,003.

The worst areas were Bensham in Gateshead, where there were 119 crashes involving uninsured vehicles in 2007, and Arthur’s Hill in Newcastle, where there were 122.

The MIB estimates there are 1,488 uninsured cars and vans in Bensham – equivalent to 18% of all vehicles on the road there. Its figures suggest there are currently 1,526 uninsured vehicles in Arthur’s Hill, around 16% of the total.

Martin Cull, from the MIB, said: “There are still too many people driving without insurance. Some of them say their car isn’t worth very much, so there’s no point insuring it.

“But insurance is not about value, it’s about the risk of injury to yourself and others, and you do get people who simply think they will get away with it.”

The MIB believes the number of motorists getting behind the wheel without insurance is falling.

But while Northumbria Police arrested 42 people for driving without insurance in 2004/05, this figure rose to 59 the following year, and soared to 188 in 2006/07.

In the 11 months up to March 2008, the figure was 169 – of which at least 44 were non-UK nationals.

Durham Police arrested 917 uninsured road users in the same 11-month period.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the rising numbers of drivers on our roads without a licence or insurance.

“We are also aware that there are a small proportion of foreign drivers without either. We take firm action against all people who commit motoring offences.”

Officers now have the power to seize uninsured vehicles on the spot.

The Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative argues that improved detection, in particular the use of automatic number plate recognition technology, is behind the rise in arrests.

Spokesman Jeremy Forsberg said: “The police can now pinpoint these drivers. Driving without insurance is just disrespect – if people are willing to break the law like that, what else might they do?”