Young drivers and insurance - the facts - The problem of uninsured drivers

Despite a raft of government measures to combat the issues of motorists who drive without insurance, the problem persists.

Government estimates from 2004, when the Greenaway Report into the problem of uninsured drivers was written, suggest one million drivers don't have insurance. These drivers are 10 times more likely than insured drivers to have been convicted of drink-driving, six times more likely to have been convicted of driving an unsafe vehicle, and three times more likely to have been convicted of driving without due care and attention.

So young drivers are faced with a dilemma: do they pay sky-high insurance premiums or take the risk of driving when uninsured and receiving relatively low fines and penalties if they are caught? While driving without insurance can never be condoned, it's not hard to understand why so many young drivers are tempted.

The ABI claims that the way insurance works promotes safer driving, noting that high premium prices 'create an incentive to drive lower-risk cars' and that the no-claims bonus scheme 'can lead to a substantial reduction in premiums' if drivers take care while on the roads.

The ABI also notes that the Government's crackdown and threat of increased penalty points, fines and confiscating cars in the past two years should act as a deterrent to motorists driving without insurance and hopefully change attitudes among them.

That's all very well in theory, but in practice, young people are still statistically more likely to be in a crash, and safer cars are still outside their financial grasp.