Ireland may be worst in EU for uninsured vehicles
Rate Ireland The Times Average Level In The Of And Three Four Eu Times Uninsured Vehicles Uk The Has
Ireland may have the highest level of uninsured vehicles in the EU, new research reveals.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (Mibi), a non-profit body established to compensate victims of road accidents caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles, will speak about the problem at Wednesday’s joint Oireachtas committee on transport and communications.
Ireland has four times the average EU level of uninsured vehicles and three times the rate in the UK.
Recent Mibi research shows that one in every 12 private vehicles on Irish roads is uninsured. In 2022, almost 188,000 private vehicles were being driven without insurance.
This represented an increase of 13,626 uninsured vehicles over the 2021 figures.
The Mibi has also undertaken an analysis of the level of uninsured driving across the EU, the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as the UK and Switzerland.
The most recent European data comes from 2021 when Ireland recorded a level of 7.8% uninsured vehicles.
This was the second highest level in the EU at the time, behind only 8.2% in Greece.
However, the updated figures for Ireland show that in 2022 the level of uninsured driving reached 8.3%. This would put Ireland at the highest level of uninsured driving in the EU if other countries maintained or reduced the level of uninsured vehicles over the same period.
In the UK, the level of uninsured vehicles was 2.5%, France 2%, Croatia 1.4%, Romania 1.2%, Iceland and Sweden 0.7%, Poland 0.3%, and Germany and Finland had effectively no uninsured vehicles.
Of the 29 countries across the EU and EEA (as well as the UK and Switzerland) where data was available, the average level of uninsured vehicles was 1.8%. This means that Ireland had 4.3 times the average level of uninsured vehicles across the EU/EEA in 2021.
It also means that Ireland had three times the level of uninsured vehicles as the UK.
Under Irish law, the penalties for vehicles found without valid insurance include immediate seizure of the vehicle by gardaí and other significant penalties including an automatic court appearance, five penalty points, and a substantial fine.
“For Ireland to potentially be the worst country in the EU for uninsured vehicles should make everyone in this country concerned about the rule of law and road safety sit up and take notice," said Mibi CEO David Fitzgerald.