Uninsured Drivers

Chaps

Driving whilst uninsured is a serious crime and the penalties must be so severe that no one will dare do it.

I would suggest that a 3 year prison sentence should be automatic and they should also be made to pay back the cost of their incarnation back to the taxpayer over say a 10 year period.

If they do it a second time then it should be 20 years and this is one instance where I cannot see anyone disagreeing with me that this is a classic case of outsourcing their sentence to China to keep the cost down.

These people are total scum, hit them hard.

Regards

Mick

quote:

this is a classic case of outsourcing their sentence to China to keep the cost down.

Used to be Australia, but either way, seems like a bloody good idea to me.

Cheers

Don

Mick, I'm with you all the way on this one.

A £200 fine is no deterrent when the cost of insurance is probably much higher anyway.

Having been on both sides of the coin on this issue (*/**), I must state for the record that a fine is not enough–no matter how expensive.

A Denver boot would be a REALLY good idea–boot comes off when proof of insurance is verified.

In addition, apply a portion of the fine to the insurance coverage itself–but keep it stiff. A $1000 USD fine with $500 insurance waiver sends a sensible enough message without being pointless.

There is then no excuse not to drive with the car insured.

* - Sold car, cancelled coverage, hit by another driver before car delivered. Stiff fine in IL/US, no driving privileges for extended period of time.

** - Grandmother run over by drunk, insured driver (she died from injuries received when the truck mowed her over).

The cars should be crushed. No appeal. No mitigation.

What exactly is the law over there? Is third-party insurance coverage mandatory - or is it full insurance for the vehicle?

A mate of mine has just been looking for insurance quotes for his 17 yr old sons 1st car.
1.1 Fiesta, about £1k value. Cheapest quote for TPF&T, £500 excess........£1750!!!!
No wonder so many don't bother.
At that level, you are insuring for the people/property you hit, not your own car. If/when he has a knock, he'd be better off throwing away his car, rather than pay a £500 excess.
Not that any of this is an excuse for not being covered. Car ownership comes with responsibility, & insurance is part of that.
Its just that I don't know how Joe average affords it.
Matt.

quote:

Is third-party insurance coverage mandatory

Third Party insurance is mandatory.

Comprehensive insurance is optional (and very varied in what is covered)

Whatever the cost for youngsters, no insurance should = no mercy - no exceptions.

Cheers

Don

In Illinois, as in most states in the U.S., liability coverage is required: min. $20K injury/death, one person; $40K, two or more persons; $15K property damage. This can be issued to an operator (all vehicles driven, regardless of ownership), owner (all vehicles owned, regardless of driver), or both.

Comprehensive theft & collision insurance, with a maximum deductible (e.g., $500), is typically required for leased or bank-financed automobiles.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Atkinson:

Third Party insurance is mandatory.

Comprehensive insurance is optional (and very varied in what is covered)

Insurance is not mandatory here in New Zealand. It sounds like we are one of the few countries not to require third-party at the very least.

quote:

A mate of mine has just been looking for insurance quotes for his 17 yr old sons 1st car.
1.1 Fiesta, about £1k value. Cheapest quote for TPF&T, £500 excess........£1750!!!!
No wonder so many don't bother.

That's 'cos there's a greater than 50% chance he'll have a smack...

Many years ago an uninsured young lady went right up my chuff while I was stationary. I then pulled over. She pulled over in front of me and scraped the front offside corner of my car just for good measure. This was virtually right outside Earlsfield Police station. I went in. You could see the Copper's face. 'Oh God, not another one, I really don't want the paperwork'. She was driving her brothers car. There was (is?) an organisation to help get the money but it was useless. I followed up the case number. She got 3 points on her licence. Great. Cost me five hundred pounds (I only had TPF&T).

Still smarts. B*tch.

quote:

Cost me five hundred pounds (I only had TPF&T

Similar thing happened to my wife about 15 years ago. I took the uninsured bastard to the Small Claims Court where he was ordered to pay the cost of the damage plus some expenses.

He still refused, so we got a Bailif's Order (cost us another £40 and another month in time).

He paid up in full.

Cheers

Don

the problem of uninsured drivers will not go away until there is a complete review of the insurance market

the only workable solution is to have the car insured, not the driver. then you can have an insurance ticket in the windscreen just like a tax disc.

the current situation is laughable, with (is it 10%?) insurance loading now for that fund that pays out of uninsured drivers?

unfortunately there are far too many people making far too much money out of an infinite number of irrelevant insurance policies. Scrap the lot, insure the car (by car value and by registered postcode) and lets just walk
away from this problem.

some will argue that they enjoy a low policy quote because of their experience, risk factor etc. If there was any credibility in the risk factor analysis, then it wouldnt be the case that I can get a five-fold difference in insurance quotes for me for my cars (early 40s, countryside, 20 years clean license). Thats not a risk analysis, thats a random number generator.

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:

Many years ago an uninsured young lady went right up my chuff while I was stationary.

There are people who'll pay good money fer that.....

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps

Driving whilst uninsured is a serious crime and the penalties must be so severe that no one will dare do it.

I would suggest that a 3 year prison sentence should be automatic and they should also be made to pay back the cost of their incarnation back to the taxpayer over say a 10 year period.

If they do it a second time then it should be 20 years and this is one instance where I cannot see anyone disagreeing with me that this is a classic case of outsourcing their sentence to China to keep the cost down.

These people are total scum, hit them hard.

Regards

Mick

A few days ago I was driving to work. This,for now,takes me over the Donner pass(roughly 8000 feet)every day. This particular day was a very poor day for driving. A storm of near epic strength was replenishing the snow for the skiers. CDOT normally does their great job of keeping the roads clear which never gives one a second thought to venture up the hill. But,there are some drivers who should be shot!!
A very long story reared short will explain to you that when the police and the highway patrol say put on max chains-You must put these on!!!

A new semi driver never having the experience of driving in this weather and hauling a double trailor, did not put on chains. Never the less, after he jacknifed and crushed a f150...I slammed into him,the full size UPS semi slammed into me,which followed with another small truck slamming into the back of the double trailor,which led to another 46 foot semi slamming into him shoving that car under the trailor of the semi.Total 7 vehicles, and what a pisser.My car was totaled and folks were taken away in very bad shape. I was SO damn lucky to walk out alive, I still can not believe it.
Point...From one small infraction a catastrophe may occur.This guy should never be allowed to drive ever again!!!EVER!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Hamstall:

quote:

Originally posted by JamieWednesday:

Many years ago an uninsured young lady went right up my chuff while I was stationary.

There are people who'll pay good money fer that.....

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps

they should also be made to pay back the cost of their incarnation
Mick

Always a joy to read your posts. More please.

BTW I hate uninsured drivers too.

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps

they should also be made to pay back the cost of their incarnation
Mick

When I first read this, I thought that Mick had finally dropped a clanger by mis-spelling incarceration. But then, on reflection, realised his words had been carefully crafted to deliver a justifiable and valid point of view.

Cheers

Don

Don said

quote:

Used to be Australia, but either way, seems like a bloody good idea to me.

LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Newman

Never the less, after he jacknifed and crushed a f150...I slammed into him, .....

Sounds like you were driving too fast or too close...

There is a database run by the insurance companies, it logs the registration number of every car insured, with details of who the insurer is, and the expiry date. There is a similar data base run by what was the Ministry of Transport which hold records of MoT's details for all cars whose owners bother to have them tested. DVLA have their own database of cars that are registered and taxed. I beleive, but am not certain that the police have right of access to all three of these databases. Given our roads are now littered with numer plate recognition equipment, - why is there a single illegal car still on the road ?

Could it be that an intensive campaign might disproportionately hit New Labour voters ?

quote:

Originally posted by Diode100:

Given our roads are now littered with numer plate recognition equipment, - why is there a single illegal car still on the road ?

Might be the ole' civil liberties and the expectation that the police will not trawl for crime or solicit complaints.

quote:

Originally posted by Deane F:

quote:

Originally posted by Diode100:

Given our roads are now littered with numer plate recognition equipment, - why is there a single illegal car still on the road ?

Might be the ole' civil liberties and the expectation that the police will not trawl for crime or solicit complaints.

The police in New Zealand might not trawl for crime, but they certainly do in the UK, aided and abbetted by council/government officials, that's why motorists here talk of being persecuted.

quote:

Originally posted by Diode100:

The police in New Zealand might not trawl for crime, but they certainly do in the UK, aided and abbetted by council/government officials, that's why motorists here talk of being persecuted.

I realised when I posted that, as for the whole of law and government, it is impossible to make unqualified statements.

Yes, a certain amount of trawling for crime does go on in New Zealand as well as the UK - speed cameras being a sterling example. However, there is a strong convention that police will not be empowered by government to conduct a great deal of their business in this manner. But I'm not sure it's relevant to this discussion.

Speeding is one thing - but to launch such a data-matching campaign as you suggest when the cost hits victims mostly in the pockets (rather than hitting the wall/other drivers/pedestrians at speed) is another thing entirely.

UK police are running match and scratch campaigns checking number plates against road tax and insurance records.

The identified cars can be sold or crushed. In the process of identifying these "illegal" cars they also identify drivers with other arrestable opportunities eg drugs, stolen property, people wanted for other crimes etc.