If you can't afford it you shouldn't be driving!

More than a third of male drivers aged 18 – 20 have driven without insurance or a licence, according to the RAC Foundation.

Approximately 5% of all motorists now drive uninsured which adds £30 to £60 to the premiums of other motorists. The RAC Foundation believes a police crackdown on the uninsured drivers, more co-ordinated databases and extra incentives to reduce the premiums of younger drivers, would help to solve the problem.

The RAC Foundation dossier on uninsured drivers reveals:

• 35.1 % of male drivers aged 18-20 have driven without insurance or a licence*
• 21.5% of 16-17 yr old males have driven without insurance or licence*
• 9.2% of 16-17 yr old females have committed the same offence*
• 30% of males and 12% of females aged 21 to 25 have also offended*
• The Motor Insurance Bureau paid out £500 million to the victims of uninsured motorists last year. This is paid out of the premiums of honest motorists.
• There were 266,750 convictions for driving without insurance in 2001
• Approximately 16% of uninsured drivers get convicted each year
• One in ten drivers have been involved in an accident with an uninsured driver
• Uninsured drivers are up to nine times more likely to be involved in an accident
• Uninsured drivers are more likely to be involved in hit and run collisions.

Edmund King from the RAC Foundation blurted, "Uninsured drivers now account for five per cent of motorists. These drivers cause more accidents and are more likely to be involved in other serious crimes than insured drivers. A higher profile police presence on our roads might help to deter some of the opportunist uninsured who take a calculated risk that they are unlikely to be stopped. The reduction in traffic police has been linked to the increase of speed camera enforcement. Unfortunately the speed camera does not deter the uninsured motorist.

"Sentences also need to act as a deterrent. Many drivers estimate that if they get stopped they might be fined £200, which is often a fraction of their insurance premium. Recently a 19-year-old offender was told his fines would be waived if he sat quietly at the back of the court for 35 minutes. This hardly sends out a strong message about the importance of having insurance. If offenders cannot afford to pay fines, then other appropriate punishments such as community service should be demanded.

*Study based on a national sample of 1,721 young people aged 14 to 25

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RAC outlines steps you can take to increase your chances of a safe journey

Ten people die on the UK’s roads every day – the equivalent of seventeen passenger planes crashing with no survivors each year.

According to the RAC Foundation, many of these three and a half thousand deaths a year could be avoided by motorists carrying out basic safety checks.

While twenty-first century cars and their components are safer than ever, providing undreamt of levels of control, safety and crash protection - thousands of drivers and their passengers are still injured, or die, each year because drivers fail to use safety systems, or to carry out simple routine checks.

Tomorrow (7th) is World Health Day with the message ‘Road Safety is No Accident’ but today (6th) the RAC Foundation is calling on UK drivers and passengers to ensure they carry out basic routine checks in order to save lives by following this simple five-point plan:

• Always wear your seatbelt

  One in 10 drivers and front seat passengers, and four in 10 rear seat adults do not wear seatbelts.

The unlicensed, uninsured juveniles and their mates?

• Ensure child safety seats and restraints are fitted correctly

  Every year, around 40 children between the ages of 0 and 11 years are killed while travelling in cars, about 500 are seriously injured and up to 9,000 slightly injured. The correct use of child car restraints would prevent many of these deaths and injuries.

By the uninsured, unlicensed juveniles?

• Stow loose luggage in the boot or secure it in an estate car.

  In an accident loose luggage can become deadly missiles, propelling forwards with a force of 20 times their weight.

• Position driver’s seat and head restraint properly

  Thousands of people (claim to) suffer from whiplash injuries every year because their head restraints were set at the wrong height.

• Conduct a weekly check of tyre pressure and tread and of lights

  8% of cars that fail their MoT test do so because of faulty tyres.

  16% of cars that fail their MoT test do so because of faulty lights.

The Foundation is also urging the Government to play its part in improving road safety by placing emphasis on driver education:

• Courses which address and change the behaviour of speeding and careless drivers should be introduced on a consistent national basis as an alternative to the current system of fining and issuing penalty points to offenders.
• The unacceptably high level of death and injury among young drivers must be urgently addressed by the inclusion of pre-driver education in the national curriculum.
• More incentives should be offered to encourage young drivers to participate in post-test training like "Pass Plus" which tackle the inexperience and poor attitudes that often contribute to collisions.

Kevin Delaney, Traffic and Road Safety Manager of the RAC Foundation said;

"Education is key in all of this – we must educate individuals to ensure that they drive responsibly and safely and that they safeguard their future and that of other road users by using and maintaining the wealth of safety devices now included in vehicles.

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