According to the Association of British Insurers, the UK government is to introduce a new motoring offence which could reduce significantly the level of uninsured driving and improve road safety.

The Government plans to make it an offence to be the registered owner of a vehicle kept on the road without insurance. The Road Safety Bill, currently going through Parliament, will be amended to include the offence.

Under the new law, all taxed vehicles need to be insured. Currently it is only an offence to drive a vehicle without insurance. If a vehicle keeper declares a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) and keeps the vehicle off the road, insurance will not be required.

This new offence is excellent news for all honest motorists, said Nick Starling, the Association of British Insurers’ director of General Insurance.

We pushed for its introduction, and are very pleased that the Government now intends to make it law. It could have a dramatic impact in reducing the level of uninsured driving, so cutting down the extra GBP30 a year that honest motorists pay through their premiums. And with uninsured drivers among the most dangerous on the roads, this new offence should also improve road safety.

According to the ABI, at any one time one in 20 motorists is driving without insurance. Accidents involving these drivers cost up to GBP500 million a year, adding an extra GBP30 a year to the premiums paid by insured motorists.