Dorset MP Challenges Darling on Uninsured Drivers

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 19th Oct 2004

Speaking in today's Questions to the Secretary of State for Transport, Annette Brooke, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole asked what action the government was taking to clamp down on uninsured drivers.

Driving without insurance is a serious road safety issue. Motoring organisations estimate that nearly 10% of all recorded motoring offences have are committed by unlicensed or uninsured drivers. It is estimated that there are 1.5 million drivers in the UK who do not have either valid insurance or a drivers licence. 6,300 casualties annually are the result of unlicensed drivers (around 900 of these are fatal or result in serious injury)

Challenging the Secretary of State on what action it is taking following the recent publication of the Greenaway Report on Uninsured Drivers published on 11 August 2004, Mrs. Brooke said:

"Does the Minister acknowledge that fines for uninsured drivers can be as little as £150 - lower than the cost of insurance itself. The Greenaway Report has now recommended what the Liberal Democrats have long been calling for - higher penalties and fines for those drivers who are causing danger on our roads and who are cheating law abiding motorists."

The Minister of State replied that the government was taking action on many of the 20 recommendations made in the report, and that these would be implemented as soon as possible.

Uninsured drivers impose a significant financial burden on honest motorists. The damage they inflict in road traffic accidents results in claims against the Motor Insurers' Bureau or against the policies of insured drivers. The motoring industry estimates suggest this adds around £30 on average to the annual premium of honest motorists

The Liberal Democrat position has always been that uninsured rivers are a serious road safety hazard and need to be addressed as such. The system of fining uninsured drivers is inadequate and the method needs changing. Liberal Democrat MPs introduced an amendment to the Traffic Management Bill in March 2004 calling for fines to be increased. Urgent action on Road Safety is a priority in the Liberal Democrat's transport policy.