Almost one in five people say they know someone who has got behind the wheel without insurance.
Almost one in five people say they know someone who has got behind the wheel without insurance.
AMOST one in five people say they know someone who has got behind the wheel without insurance.
Lapsed cover and unaffordability have emerged as key reasons for people driving uninsured, according to a survey conducted for credit union insurer Peopl Insurance.
Motorists between the ages of 45 to 54 are most likely age to admit to driving uninsured, the survey found.
A survey of 1,000 people conducted by iReach found that 17pc know someone who has driven uninsured, which is almost one in five people.
Some 3pc of those surveyed said admitted they have driven while uninsured.
The survey findings come on the back of new research from the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) which found that last year the total number of private vehicles driving without insurance reached 187,803.
This accounts for 8.3pc of the entire fleet of private vehicles on Irish roads. It is an increase of 13,626 over the 2021 figure.
MIBI is a not-for-profit organisation that was established to compensate victims of road traffic accidents caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles.
The Peopl Insurance-commissioned survey found that one in five of the respondents said they, or someone they know, has driven uninsured as they “just didn’t bother to get insurance”.
About one in eight of those polled said that emergencies were the main reason they, or someone they know, had driven without cover.
The findings raise questions about the level of enforcement of the law which makes it mandatory to have motor insurance.
Chief executive of Peopl Insurance Paul Walsh said: “Since 2020, there are now more than 32,000 additional uninsured vehicles on Irish roads.
“It is against the law to drive without insurance but a worrying number of people are clearly doing so.
“We discovered through this survey that almost one in five know someone who has got behind the wheel uninsured.”
The MIBI is pushing the Government for the full implementation of the new Irish Motor Insurance Database system.
It wants it fully adopted and the data used by the Gardaí in their Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems and new garda mobility devices.
This would allow uninsured drivers to be simply and quickly identified without having to even be stopped and pulled over.
It would enable gardaí to check vehicles on the road without even leaving their cars.
They could also use their mobility devices to quickly check the insurance status of vehicles and drivers, thus speeding up the validation process in front line operations.
Mr Walsh said unknowingly allowing insurance to lapse was cited as the number one reason for people to drive uninsured.
But he warned that neither an insurer nor the Gardaí will accept this as a plausible excuse. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to driving uninsured.
He said it was concerning that affordability issues are emerging as a key factor in uninsured driving. “It is well known that the cost of car insurance can run into the thousands for young people who are starting to drive, and that such insurance costs are often prohibitive,” Mr Walsh of Peopl Insurance said.
The survey found that almost one in four of those aged between 18 and 24 know someone who has driven uninsured, making this age cohort the most likely to know someone who has driven without cover.