June 24th 2008

It is election year and the politicians are emerging out of the woodwork trying to make their mark before being turfed out to get a real job.

Compulsory 3rd party vehicle insurance is the latest issue to surface once again mainly touted as a means to get rid boy-racers from our roads. Many countries require compulsory insurance cover, but I hadn't realised that the motivation for its introduction is medical rather than property damage. We in NZ have ACC to cover medical bills and that has been the reason for resisting compulsion to date. I've always been a fan of legislation for compulsory insurance, it's part of the cost of motoring and every person who drives on the road has an obligation to make good any damage they do through their own carelessness. Insurance companies are against it as at the moment they can be choosey over who they cover and should you be unfortunate enough to be hit by an uninsured driver, some companies don't try too hard (if at all) to recover money on your behalf.

Too hard to enforce has been cry from the AA and Insurance companies. Perhaps the solution would be to tie it into the vehicle registration database. The drivers most likely to ignore any compulsory insurance requirement are those most likely not to have registered and warranted their vehicles. The police manage to enforce those breaches of the law, checking for an insurance sticker shouldn't be too much harder?
When insurance is taken out, the Company could issue a sticker with the vehicle plate number, owners name, Insurance class and period of cover to be displayed under the registration certificate. The cost shouldn't be too significant. What's so hard about that? No vehicle should be driven out of a car yard without cover being arranged and if a vehicle is sold privately, it would be the sellers responsibility to ensure the buyer arranged cover before taking the car away as part of the change of ownership procedure. Fine the seller if they don't comply.

Rat-bags are allowed to thumb their noses at the law because the liberals in our society moan "it'll be too hard to enforce". The majority of NZ'ers who respect their obligation to others and the law, shouldn't have to subsidise those who don't give a shit. If you can't afford to insure your car, you should not be on the road. Driving is a privilege not a right.
Harry D, I'm behind you on this one if it's taken forever for you to crank it into first gear.

TC