NUMBER OF UNINSURED VEHICLES ON IRISH ROADS INCREASES FOR 3RD YEAR IN A ROW

1 in 12 private vehicles breaking law and driving without insurance in Republic in 2022

The number of uninsured private vehicles on Irish roads grew for the 3rd year in a row, according to new research carried out by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).

Last year the total number of private vehicles driving without insurance reached 187,803. This was an increase of 13,626 over the 2021 figure. The data shows that uninsured vehicles accounted for 8.3% of the entire fleet of private vehicles on Irish roads.

This means that one in every 12 vehicles was breaking the law and driving without insurance last year.

Since 2020, there are now more than 32,000 additional uninsured vehicles on Irish roads.

Under Irish law, the penalties for vehicles found without valid insurance include An Garda Síochána having the power to seize the vehicle on the spot, as well as other significant penalties such as an automatic court appearance, five penalty points and a substantial fine.

The MIBI undertakes this research by contrasting the number of private motor vehicle owners paying motor taxes with the number of vehicles who have active insurance policies.

The MIBI is a not for profit organisation that was established to compensate victims of road traffic accidents caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles.

The full breakdown of the data highlighting the level of uninsured driving over the last five years is set out below:

“Clearly not enough is being done to discourage uninsured driving in this country,” said David Fitzgerald, CEO of the MIBI. “Every single time a person drives a vehicle without insurance they are breaking the law. Yet the number of uninsured vehicles continues to rise. Within the last 2 years the number of private vehicles being driven illegally without insurance has grown by more than 32,000. That is a really, really significant increase and should be a cause of concern to anyone who is interested in the rule of law and the safety of Irish roads.

“Law abiding motorists won’t be happy to see these figures and to look at the growing trend of uninsured driving. If the current trend were to continue then we are likely to pass 200,000 uninsured vehicles in the next 12 – 18 months unless significant action is taken.

“The most obvious solution to all this is also easily within reach, in the form of the new Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) system being fully adopted and data used by An Garda Síochána in their ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) systems and new Garda mobility devices. This will allow uninsured drivers to be simply and quickly identified without having to even be stopped and pulled over. It enables Gardaí to check vehicles on the road without even leaving their cars. They can 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.

“If the Government wanted to take action on this issue they would be pressing for the full and immediate implementation of that system. However as the relevant legislation required to completely enable that is still working its way through the Oireachtas, it would seem we still have some distance to travel before the country really clamps down on the problem of uninsured driving,” Mr. Fitzgerald concluded.