It is unlawful to drive an uninsured car in any state out there for it can incur you a heavy loss as high as imprisonment or permanent immobilization of your vehicle.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS?
The Automobile Insurance Act requires every owner of a road vehicle to have civil liability insurance to cover damage caused to others. This insurance must provide protection of at least $ 50,000 which may be higher depending on the type of vehicle.
For its part, the Highway Safety Code stipulates that you must have proof of insurance on hand when you drive or have custody of a road vehicle. This must be able to be presented in the event of a traffic offence or an accident causing material damage to others.
Driving without insurance in a motor vehicle is an offence.
What are the risks and penalties incurred by the offender?
Sanctions for lack of insurance
The law imposes an obligation to insure motorized vehicles. In the event of driving without insurance, you can be sanctioned.
Criminal sanction:
If you drive without insurance you incur, primarily, a fine of 3,750 euros. Additional penalties may be imposed on an ancillary basis:
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The penalty of community service (article 131-8 of the Penal Code);
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Day penalty (articles 131-5 and 131-25 of the Penal Code);
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Suspension, for a period of three years at most, of the driving license;
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Cancellation of the driving license with a ban on applying for a new license for up to three years;
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Ban on driving certain land motor vehicles, including those for which a driving license is not required, for a period of up to five years;
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Obligation to complete, at their own expense, a road safety awareness course;
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Confiscation of the vehicle which the convicted person used to commit the offence, if he is the owner.
In addition, the immobilization of the vehicle may be prescribed.
Public action can be extinguished by the payment of a fixed fine in the amount of 500 euros. The amount of the reduced fixed fine is 400 euros and the increased amount is 1,000 euros. But beware, this fixed fine does not apply in the event of a repeat offence.
Civil sanction:
In the event of a responsible accident causing bodily injury and material damage to a third party (passenger, pedestrian, cyclist or other motorists), the lack of cover for the driver’s liability leaves him alone to bear the consequences of injuries inflicted on the third party.
The Compulsory Insurance Guarantee Fund (FGAO) intervenes to compensate victims (in the event of disability or death, work stoppage, etc.) but takes recourse against the driver to recover the sums paid to the victim, increased by 10%.
Depending on the seriousness of the injuries suffered and the duration of the incapacity for work, the sums charged to the person responsible may be considerable. In addition to the amount claimed by the FGAO, it must also face the recourse presented by Social Security and other insurance and mutual organizations having compensated the costs of care and incapacity for work of the victims.
This is how the uninsured manager may be required to pay for his life.
If the author is in default, legal enforcement procedures can be implemented if necessary.
Reminder: in the event of an accident not involving the responsibility of a third party, the driver not benefiting from the “driver” guarantee will not receive any compensation for his possible bodily injuries.
Detection of insurance defaults: the file of insured vehicles
Faced with the increase in accidents caused by uninsured vehicles, the public authorities have set up a national register of insured vehicles. Entered into force on June 4, 2019, it requires each insurer to list each year the vehicles it guarantees.
This file will allow the police to know if the vehicle checked is indeed the subject of a contract. And more generally, by reconciliation with the registration file, to list uninsured vehicles.
In addition, the new multifunction radars will allow the reading of the insurance certificate affixed to the windshield and the verbalization of uninsured vehicles.
Who can be penalized?
In the first instance, the owner and/or keeper of a vehicle will, of course, be penalized if he/she puts an uninsured vehicle into traffic or allows it to be put into circulation.
However, the law also allows the driver of that uninsured vehicle to be penalized. It is therefore important that before driving a vehicle, you check whether that vehicle is in compliance with the applicable legislation and that all required papers are present in the vehicle.
What is the penalty for driving without insurance?
If you own or driver an uninsured vehicle, you risk the following penalties:
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Imprisonment from 8 days to 6 months
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Fine from 800 to 8000 euros
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Driving ban from 8 days to 5 years
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As a driver, you risk a fine of 80 to 2000 euros if the insurance certificate is not in the car.
What are the risks of driving without insurance?
Driving without insurance mainly involves financial risk. If you cause damage to others with your uninsured car in an accident at fault, you will have to pay back all damage yourself. The financial risk is therefore quite high.
Reinforcement of the control of vehicles without insurance:
Emmanuel Barbe, interministerial delegate for road safety, indicated that in 2018: 175 people had died in an accident involving a vehicle without insurance. An Insured Vehicles File (FVA) has been set up to combat this problem. This file is questioned by the police during roadside checks. Since October 2019, automatic radars have also interrogated the FVA. They check that the vehicles flashed in violation (speeding, crossing a red light) are insured.
For the moment, the owners of uninsured vehicles only receive a prevention letter but, in a few months, the lack of insurance will be penalized by a fixed tort fine of 750 €.
What happens in the event of the accident if you are not insured
You could be fined several hundred dollars, depending on the type of vehicle being driven. In addition, if you are involved in an accident causing property damage to others for more than $ 500:
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you will automatically lose your driver’s license or the right to obtain one;
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the return to service of all your road vehicles will be prohibited immediately;
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You will have to pay for damages caused to others.
Finally, to cancel the suspension of your license and get your vehicle back into service, you must provide proof that you have reimbursed the damage and that you have taken out civil liability insurance.
Conclusion
In short, it’s worth paying a few dollars for liability insurance… and making sure you always have proof of insurance when driving!