Insured Driving?
| DOI | 10.1177/002201837604000202 |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Insured Driving?
Several
correspondents
have
sent
in cases
and
articles on unin-
sured
drivers,
who
in the
majority
of
cases
are
members
of
the irrespon-
sible type
of
individual
at
present
flourishing in
our
midst. I
want
to call
attention
to
some
irresponsible
but
insured
individuals
and
how
their
involvement in
an
accident
can
cause
aridiculous
state
of
affairs
quite
nullifying the
purpose
for which
compulsory
third
party
insurance
was
passed
through
Parliament.
'A'
was
driving
his
car
towards
a
roundabout
and
slowed
down
on
approaching
it.
He
was
run
into
from behind.
The
Police were called
and
aprosecutionfollowed in which the
driver
of the
car
which
ran
into
the
back
of
A's
car
was convicted of
driving
without
due
care
and
attention,
we shall call
him
B.
Now it
transpires
that
'B'
could
neither
read
nor
write
and
when
'A'
approached
the convicted
man's
Insurance
Company
with the
object
of
claiming
the
damage
done
to his
car
he was informed
that
no
accident
had
been
reported
to
them
by their client
and
therefore they
were
not
in a position to
make
a
payment
to
'A'.
A
then
pointed
out
that
'B'
had
been
prosecuted
and
presumably
they were holding
him
insured,
why
therefore could they
not
settle his claim - no
answer
-
'A'
then
approached
the Police who suggested
that
he
bring
a civil action
for damages.
It
was at this point
that
'A'
spoke to me
and
asked my advice
and
knowing
that
'A'
is very loth to
throw
good money after
bad
Iadvised
that
he
did
not take a civil action because
although
I felt
that
the action
would succeed
and
that
he would be
awarded
damages
and
costs, the
likelyhood
of
his
actually
receiving real money for
either
seemed remote
to me.
This
advice was
based
on my knowledge
of
the
amounts
of money
owing to most
courts
in the
country
from
some
types
of
individual who
lives in
caravans
and
as nearly as possible
approximates
a
person
of
no
fixed abode; being
unable
to
read
or write, would seem to be an
added
advantage.
I feel
that
such
a
state
of
affairs is
untenable
in a
country
which
prides itself on fairness
of
its Law.
POINTS
TO
REMEMBER
(I)
Once
the police have
obtained
their
conviction, the
matter
is
at
an
end as far as they
are
concerned.
(2)
'B'
probably
never took his
driving
test
himself
but
persuaded
a
friend to take it for him.
It
is possible
that
he took the test
himselfif
he was able to distinguish the letters
and
figures on a
number
plate.
75
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