Lincoln MP Karl McCartney has been awarded a Road Safety Parliamentarian of the Month Award by the charity Brake and Direct Line for his campaign for tougher penalties for uninsured drivers.
In October, McCartney asked a question in Parliament revealing that the average fine for driving an uninsured vehicle is just £200, approximately four times less than the average annual cost of insurance. This encouraged McCartney to start a campaign calling for fines to be much higher, to provide a real deterrent from breaking the law.
People who drive uninsured are more likely to crash than other drivers and cause tragic deaths and injuries.
In 2011, research from Direct Line and Brake revealed that one in 10 drivers report having been in a collision with an uninsured driver. Uninsured driving also costs the average driver, as the cost of crashes caused by uninsured people are passed on through insurance premiums.
McCartney has asked several questions in Parliament and given a speech on the issue. He also ran a survey in Lincoln asking his constituents’ views on uninsured drivers. This revealed 50% want the fine for uninsured driving to be £900 or more and 77% feel that if someone causes a serious crash while uninsured they should go to prison.
McCartney has pledged to continue campaigning until uninsured driving becomes socially unacceptable, there are far tougher penalties, and it is eradicated from our roads.
Julie Townsend, Brake campaigns director, said: “We congratulate Karl on his campaign to tackle uninsured driving and urge government to listen to his calls for action, which make perfect sense in protecting the public from these rogue drivers.”
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