The Irish Times view on the rising number of uninsured drivers

Research published this week revealing that almost 200,000 people in Ireland drive without motor insurance is hardly surprising. The problem of uninsured drivers is as old as the hills, as one transport analyst noted this week, with too many people willing to take the chance that they will not be detected if they get behind the wheel without even the most basic motor insurance policy in place.

What makes the research from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) more troubling is that the number of uninsured motorists is climbing, with its figures suggesting that just under 188,000 private vehicles were driven without insurance last year, up 13,600 on 2021. The real number is higher, as the figures are based on the comparison between car owners paying motor tax and the vehicles with active insurance policies, so do not include the most egregious offenders who pay neither car insurance or motor tax.

While there are penalties for driving uninsured – including an automatic court appearance, penalty points, substantial fines and the seizing of vehicles – the understanding is widespread that the chances of being detected are small. This has created unacceptable complacency. While the Garda catch around 130 uninsured drivers daily and issue fines to close to 10,000 drivers each year, tens of thousands pay no penalty.

There is a solution within reach. There is technology being used by gardaí which can instantly identify a driver’s insurance details and the validity of their tax and other details which could solve the problem almost overnight. However, it relies on clean data and the full integration of motor insurance companies’ databases with Garda systems. That is the stumbling block. While all sides express a willingness to share clean data, too much manual intervention is still required .

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Greater compliance would save insured drivers around €40 a year but, far more importantly, an improved system would send out an unambiguous message that no-one is above the law when it comes to road safety and it is everyone’s responsibility to do the right thing or else pay the price.