§ 3. Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now introduce legislation to make it compulsory to display on a vehicle a certificate stating that the necessary insurance has been paid; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI see no need to impose this obligation, which presents considerable practical difficulties. Insurance certificates are checked when licences are renewed and the police have powers to require drivers to produce them at any time.
§ Mr. DormandIs the Under-Secretary aware of the great difficulties and distress caused to innocent people by accidents caused by uninsured drivers? Is the hon. and learned Gentleman not exaggerating the administrative problems involved? Would it not be simple to fix an insurance certificate to windscreens, just as tax certificates are fixed on windscreens at present?
§ Mr. ClarkeI agree that a great deal of distress is caused when uninsured drivers are involved in accidents. The difficulty is that there is no standard form of insurance, and a disc would not indicate the conditions of the insurance cover. In addition, most insurance is not tied to one vehicle. The hon. Gentleman has put forward an attractive idea, but I repeat that it appears to involve considerable practical difficulties.
§ Mr. Arthur LewisIs it not the case that between 7 and 8 per cent.—in some cases up to 10 per cent.—of drivers have no excise licence? When I first raised the matter 25 years ago I was told that such evasion was not prevalent. Now we are told that it is out of hand and cannot be dealt with. Would not drivers ignore an insurance disc, just as they ignore the excise licence?
§ Mr. ClarkeWe are having what we call blitz campaigns in co-operation with local police forces throughout the country. I am glad to say that they are producing good results. We are also closely examining our arrangements for enforcing vehicle excise duty, and I hope that we shall be able to produce better results with less use of manpower and at less administrative cost.