Driven round the bend
I've never liked maniac drivers. Especially not those without
insurance, without a licence, or those who drive while banned. My
feelings towards such drivers have certainly not diminished since early
February, when my car was written off after an unlicenced, uninsured
driver ran into it at high speed while it was parked.
I'm not the only one. Another friend who lives on the next street also
had his car written off earlier this year, by an uninsured driver.
According to news reports, 10% of drivers in the UK are uninsured.
Such maniacs only seem to get caught after they have an accident, when
it is too late for the victim. 6 times as many deaths are caused in the
UK by un-insured drivers, as by insured drivers.
OK, so the illegal drivers may get banned from driving. Trouble is, if
they're unlicenced - or banned already - there is currently very little
to stop them buying another car, going back on the road illegally, and
causing yet more accidents.
This has got to stop!
Stop car sales to illegal drivers
One idea is to stop unlicenced or banned drivers from being able to buy
cars. To do this, I propose that all prospective car buyers should be
subject to Police Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks, to check they
are safe to drive. If they are unlicenced, banned or without insurance,
it should be illegal to sell them a car or other motor vehicle.
The above proposal is already in use for people seeking employment with
children, to make sure they have no criminal record which may make them
a danger to kids. That is fair, children do need to be protected. At
the same time, we should also bear in mind that many times more
children are killed each year on the roads than by paedophiles.
For drivers wanting to buy high powered sports cars, 4 wheel drive
vehicles, or any other vehicle which poses a particular danger (white
vans?), they should be subject to an Enhanced CRB check. This would
also take into account points on the licence and forth-coming court
cases or penalties.
Protection racket
In a way, it's easy to see why people become thoroughly disillusioned
with having car insurance. Well over 2 weeks after my car was written
off, I am still waiting for any money from my insurers - during which
time I have not been able to go to work, and am without a car even
though it was not my fault. But because the other driver was uninsured,
it is classed as a "fault" claim, with all that entails (no courtesy
car, having to pay an excess charge, possible future impairment of
no-claims discount, etc).
It's not as if the insurers are taking massive risks themselves. People
deemed as "high risk", eg young drivers and drivers with some medical
conditions, are already charged higher insurance premiums. If you do
make a claim, you often have to pay for it in the future, with higher
insurance premiums.
Car insurance companies get enough money out of us, all year round.
Surely we deserve better service when we have to make a claim.
Online Petition: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Make buying a car involve Criminal Record Bureau checks