Of course you do!

It is against the law to drive a motor car on the Public Highway without at least having valid insurance in place covering you against damage to other people or their property. This is known as Third Party cover.

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) in 2006, one in six private car drivers make a claim each year which cost the insurance industry more than £18.7 million in private motor vehicle claims.

If you are involved in an accident and considered to be at fault whilst driving uninsured, you will not only have to pay for the repairs to your own car, but you will be obliged to pay for repairs to the other person(s) car/property and even more worrying, compensation in respect of any injuries sustained by the other parties and passengers.

You personal possessions and property could be taken and sold to pay for these costs.

It is also highly probable that the police will prosecute you with the courts imposing a conviction which will stay on your licence for up to 10 years (depending on the nature of the offence).

After your home, your car is probably your most expensive purchase. Damage caused by or done to your car could be financially crippling, so look on your car insurance as offering you peace of mind that should an accident occur you are protected.

Barring age restrictions, once you have passed your driving test, there is virtually no legal requirement for you to retake your driving test.

There is no harm however, revisiting certain elements simply to ensure you remain up to speed with developments.

Remember, ignorance is no excuse

One thing that many drivers forget are the meanings of various road signs.

After all, nobody wants to be involved in an accident and put their no claims bonus in jeopardy or get prosecuted by the police simply because they didn’t heed/remember what the road sign was telling them.

Ask yourself:-

– What shape are most warning signs?

– What shape are most signs giving orders?

– What colour are most signs offering information?

We all probably know that the answers to the first 2 questions are round and triangular but which is which?

If you are unsure, perhaps now would be an opportune time to remind yourself and have a quick look at the UK Road Signs in the Highway Code on Government’s Travel and Transport website.

The website includes details of all other signage, road and vehicle markings you are likely to come across.

It’s certainly worth it to avoid the risk of conviction or losing some of your no claims bonus if you cause an accident.

It is important when you begin learning to drive that you are fully aware of your role and responsibilities as well as the general rules of the road.

Learner drivers are governed by slightly different rules and are advised to stay within the following guidelines to ensure they drive within the limits of the law and are able to enjoy the whole learning process.

Minimum age

Learner drivers must hold a provisional driving licence. By law you must be at least 17 years old and are able to apply for a provisional licence up to 3 months in advance of your 17th birthday.

You must pass your theory test before you will be permitted to complete the actual driving examination.

It is prudent that people learn to drive with approved driving schools or instructors but this is not mandatory.

Ensure the car is in a roadworthy condition?

It is a legal requirement for all vehicles driven on UK roads to have a valid MOT certificate. These are issued for a period of 12 months but do not necessarily mean the car is in a roadworthy condition at the time you are driving it so always ensure you check to make sure that all lights, brakes, mirrors and indicators are fully functioning.

Insurance and Tax

A further legal requirement is that all vehicles driven on UK roads display a valid Road Fund Licence and the driver is insured to actually drive the vehicle.

If the vehicle is not displaying valid Road Fund Licence, the vehicle should not be driven on our public highways. The tax can be obtained by the owner of the vehicle on production of a valid insurance certificate, MOT Certificate, Road Fund Tax reminder or evidence of ownership (usually the V5 logbook) and can be purchased at many Post Offices or direct from DVLA.
 
Displaying L Plates

You must display ‘L’ plates so that fully licensed drivers are aware that you are a learner driver. ‘L’ plates can be fixed to the front and rear bumpers of your vehicle or can be purchased with magnetic plates which can be removed if the car is being used by a fully licensed driver.

Accompanying Drivers

You are not permitted to drive the vehicle on a public highway without being accompanied by another driver who must hold a full licence which permits them to drive the type of vehicle you are driving. They must be at least 21 years old and have held their full licence for at least 3 years.

Motorway Driving

Provisional licence holders are not permitted by law to drive on motorways even if accompanied by a person holding a full licence.

For anyone starting out, driving in the UK carries its own unique legal obligations which every driver on the UK roads must comply with.

Most issues relating to the ways of the road are attended to under the Road Safety Act and the Highway Code.

A further legislative requirement is that of insurance and since the 1930’s it has been a legal requirement for all drivers to have at least Third Party insurance cover on any vehicle that they drive. It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure adequate cover is in place, even if the vehicle belongs to someone else.

There are 3 levels of cover:

Comprehensive – covers damage to both the insured vehicle and any other person’s property damaged as a result of an accident you are deemed responsible for (including passengers in the vehicle you were driving).

Third Party Fire and Theft - covers damage to the insured vehicle in the event of a fire or theft (irrespective of blame) together with any other person’s property damaged as a result of an accident you are deemed responsible for (again, including passengers in the vehicle you were driving).

Third Party Only – the important thing to note here is that Third Party Only cover does not offer any insurance against damage to the insured vehicle you are deemed responsible for. It only covers damage to any other person’s property damaged as a result of the accident (again, including passengers in the vehicle you were driving).

Failure to be deemed in control of a vehicle without adequate insurance and you can look forward to a fine, ban, be disqualified from driving, having your car crushed, a criminal conviction and possible liability for any personal injury claims submitted a s a result of the accident.

As a word of caution therefore, always ensure you are actually insured to drive the vehicle you intend to drive. If it isn’t your vehicle, check the individual’s insurance certificate which will very clearly include details of those insured to drive their vehicle and if in doubt, either check with the person’s insurer beforehand or don’t drive it.

If you’ve had, or currently suffer from a medical condition or disability that may affect your driving you must tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

You must also ensure you provide details if you develop a new condition or disability or one that has become worse since your licence was issued.

Failure to notify DVLA is a criminal offence and is punishable by a fine of up to £1000.

Insurers use notifiability of a  medical condition to DVLA as one of their main considering factors affecting their underwriting, so it is as equally important that you ensure your insurers are also made aware of a notifiable medical condition.

Rules surrounding which conditions must be notified varies depending on the type of licence held. For example, conditions that must be notifed to DVLA and insurers may be slightly different for lorry drivers as they spend more time then private users on the road.

Whilst most people will rely on the GP for guidance on whether conditions need to be notified to DVLA, there is guidance for those wishing to do a little of their own research on the DVLA website.

More specific guidance regarding medical conditions can be quickly accessed via the following link:

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/media/pdf/medical/aagv1.pdf

It appears that if you are a foreign driver and commit a speeding or traffic offence in certain parts of the UK, you have a good chance of getting away with it!

Richard Brunstrom, the controversial Chief Constable of North Wales, admitted to the Welsh Assembly to turning a blind eye to offences by foreign truckers for fear of impacting the income of the region.

He supported his argument by stating that if the region was seen to be too proactive and prosecute offenders, it is possible they may choose travel crossings which disembark at other ports where police forces are not as vigilant thereby pushing income away from the region.

Whilst from an economical point of view, the Chief Constable’s comments may be true; laws are put in place and should be enforced without consideration to economic consequences and most definitely applied equally to both private and commercial vehicle drivers, irrespective of nationality.

It is not his place to make such economic monetary decisions affecting anyone other than the police force for which he has responsibility.

All drivers on UK roads, not just truckers, should be continuously reminded that tiredness causes accidents and can kill.

The punishment for failure to comply with legislation should be universal and applied to all drivers.

Police forces are now getting proactive under the latest county-wide crackdown on drink-driving.

North Yorkshire police have commenced their month-long campaign increasing awareness activity around the county.

As part of the campaign “I’ll be Des”, designated driver badges, lanyards and stickers have been made  available for people to display who is staying alcohol free to drive friends and family home after an evening out or an office party.

In the first week, more than 500 motorists were breath-tested, 13 of which were found to be over the legal limit for alcohol.

Most will accept that drink driving is socially and morally unacceptable and the fact that 13 people in North Yorkshire alone have ignored all the police awareness publicity and warnings suggests that many more will be caught and subsequently convicted around the country in the next few weeks.

Fortunately, there were no reports of any serious accident or fatal injury for those offenders caught in the North Yorkshire crackdown.

Their only consolation being that they will be facing personal and family embarrassment in court and receive a heavy fine and ban from driving followed by a substantial increase in the next car insurance premium when they get their licence back rather than having to live with the fact that they have caused death or serious injury as a result.

Let’s just hope the rest of the country is so lucky as well.

The Government is poised to get tough on uninsured drivers by introducing legal measures to compel registered owners to prove they have insurance cover.

Jim Fitzpatrick, MP has announced that the Department of Transport would begin consultation on regulations to enforce provisions within the Road Safety Act 2006.

The Government is committed to introducing new steps to clamp down on illegal motorists and tackle the one in ten cars being driven around the UK roads by uninsured drivers.

It is a criminal offence to drive a vehicle without at least 3rd Party Cover which is intended to compensate innocent victims in the event of an accident or injury caused by a motorised vehicle.

Insurance premiums have risen significantly in recent years, particularly for younger drivers and by coincidence (?), so have the number of people taking a chance and driving around our roads without insurance cover.

Little wonder really considering the penalty for driving without insurance can be as little as a £100 fine whilst the insurance premium can be £1000 plus.

Insurers do not however take too kindly to drivers that have been convicted of driving without insurance and increase their premiums accordingly to display their disapproval.

This all too often causes a “Catch 22” situation whereby offenders who cannot afford these increased premiums are tempted to yet again to start driving their car around without insurance risking further criminal prosecution.

Police in the South West are warning drinkers to stay alert and watch out for anyone trying to spike their drinks.

Whilst this sort of activity can happen at any time throughout the year, police have made a special point of mentioning it following a couple of recent incidents in the South West whereby victims of drink driving offences have admitted losing their memory of events over a period of a few hours and feeling sick even though they have had little or no alcohol to drink.

South West Police advise that whilst some people may be just doing it for a bit of a laugh, there is evidence to suggest that in other parts of the country, “drink spiking” is being done for alterior motives, such as drug-assisted sexual assault.

The biggest difference between having your drink spiked with alcohol and having your drink spiked with drugs is that drugs cause you to lose track of extended periods of time (six or seven hours) and you start to feel unwell very quickly. Alcohol causes you to lose your memory for just a few hours.

Some people have even described being drugged as something like an out of body experience, realising what is happening but unable to do anything to prevent it.

If you believe you have been subject to drink spiking, contact the police immediately as the  drugs used tend to leave the body quickly.

The Corporate Manslaughter Act makes all UK companies responsible if one of their employees suffers an accident whilst at work. This includes periods when they are driving in connection with their work.

Health and Safety statistics reveals that people driving in connection with their work are involved in more than 20 fatalities and 250 serious injuries each and every week.

It makes sense therefore for employers to endeavour, in fact, invest, in ensuring their drivers receive the best possible training available.

Such training could include funding advanced driving courses or even sending your people off on special courses intended to help them develop exceptional, safer driving skills in dangerous conditions.

Such activities will help companies fulfil their legal obligations under the Duty of Care Act.

There will of course be personal benefit for the individuals as well as they will be able to claim reductions in their own car insurance premiums with some insurers as a result of completing the course.

The company enjoys lower fleet insurance premiums, better drivers tend to drive more safely and have fewer accidents so vehicles spend less time off the road, drivers spend more time on the road generating more income. The company avoids possible litigation and prosecution.

Everyone wins.