[Article] Uninsured Drivers - the latest government initiative!

mike65

For petes sake, if they only were arsed the enforce the law this would'nt be required.

THE government and insurance companies have drawn up plans to get uninsured drivers off the roads.

Motorists who drive without cover cost taxpayers an estimated €67m each year. In a bid to reduce this cost steps are being taken to ensure that they are denied the ability to tax their vehicles.

Officials believe the move will ensure more car owners take out insurance while forcing off the road those who refuse to do so.

An estimated 6% of drivers in Ireland are uninsured, compared with an average of 2% in other EU countries. This has led to safety concerns as statistics show those without cover are more prone to be involved in accidents and drink-driving incidents.

The transport department and the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) are to bring in the new scheme by next year. It involves the use of a computer system that will check the validity of the insurance details of the person taxing the car before issuing a tax disc.

Currently drivers can tax their cars in person, online or by post. If they attend a Department of Environment office they can be asked to show their insurance certificate, but not in all cases.

When they use the post or the online service they are asked to fill in the details of their insurance. These are then forwarded to gardai, but are not routinely checked to ensure they are genuine, leaving the system open to abuse.

Under new EU rules, a more advanced database of drivers is required and this will form the basis of the new plan.

The IIF says it has offered to fund the system that will insure that nobody will be issued with a tax disc until authorities have been given the all-clear to do so from that person’s own insurance company.

The system can process requests immediately and will not involve any delays in issuing tax certificates to motorists who have insurance cover.

Niall Doyle of the IIF said discussions on the plan were continuing. “It is something that we believe will be relatively simple to introduce if it is supported by all involved and that could have a big impact on safety in particular,” he said.

Martin Cullen, the transport minister, told the Dail last week: “My department is seeking to establish an interface between insurance companies and the National Vehicle and Driver File. This interface will facilitate the verification of insurance details during motor tax renewal transactions.”

A spokesman for the minister added that pilot tests on the system should begin by next summer.

Driving without insurance is a criminal offence and incurs two penalty points. Last year more than 11,000 vehicles were seized by gardai in cases where the driver had no tax or insurance but there is no data available for the numbers prosecuted solely for uninsured driving.

Why don't the Garda just crush every car they seize? That would work magic pretty damn quick.

Mike.

corktina

thats what they do in the Uk....seems to work too....

D'Peoples Voice

the problem I have with this is that it potentially slows down the tax renewal process.
I've always wondered why there is not a database, broken down by each superintendant region. In each region, it will list all the cars registered at their addresses, all the cars taxed/not taxed in that region, and likewise for insured cars/uninsured cars.
The list of non insured/taxed cars would then be published on the internet/national papers by superintendant region, obviously leaving out personal details such as names and addresses, these details would only be available to approved people with approved logins.
Then like with the school tables, each superintendent could be assessed on the number of uninsured/untaxed cars in his/her region. I can't help thinking that we might see a greater effort shown in some areas.

Victor

mike65 wrote:

Why don't the Garda just crush every car they seize? That would work magic pretty damn quick.

Why crush? Sell!

D'Peoples Voice wrote:

Then like with the school tables, each superintendent could be assessed on the number of uninsured/untaxed cars in his/her region. I can't help thinking that we might see a greater effort shown in some areas.

You mean quotas! <<shock>>

mike65

Sell indeed! Crushing would'nt be very green either.

Mike.

cyberspi

Do they really think that people who don't pay insurance are going to worry about having the car taxed??

seamus

cyberspi wrote:

Do they really think that people who don't pay insurance are going to worry about having the car taxed??

I suspect they're moving towards a UK-style system where fines can be issued if you fail to tax your car or declare it off-the-road.

This has the effect of allowing the Gardai to spot possible offenders - type reg into computer, up pops "no tax", car gets pulled, oh look no insurance either.

mackerski

A big advantage of this system is that it removes the requirement for one of the silly discs on the window of the car. If insurance is a prerequisite of tax, then no separate disc is needed, and the driver can be allowed to look through more of his windscreen.

Dermot