Compulsory third party insurance for cars takes up half the front page this morning. A fair comment on the paucity of real news. I arrived in The People's Republic of Aoteoroa twelve years ago and was astonished to find that you could drive around without insurance. This makes someone trying to bring it in hardly hot news. How can you possibly defend not having third party insurance? A few years back I had a minor low speed contact with a car turning out of a side road. The damage to my car was $6,000 which was four times the value of the heap of junk that had turned into me. Totally her fault which she admitted straightaway (to her credit) but then got all tearful and wanted her mum as she was uninsured. I was adamant that I was not going to suffer a dent in my no claims bonus as well as my pride and joy and my insurance company was very good on this front. I politely enquired of my insurers how they were going to recoup the cost of the new headlight and washer assembly from the UK. 'Oh, she'll join the endless number of people paying us off at $10 a week for ever.' It does not take an economic genius to work out that this will have a disastrous effect on cash flow and I will be paying for it with my inflated premium.
Harry Duyendhoven (or however he spells his name) has announced that the time may be right for consultation over this matter. Bollocks. Typical bloody politician weasel talk. Just bloody do it. As of, let me see, tomorrow all cars on public roads will be required to have third party insurance. Easy peasy. But they are tackling it from the wrong angle.
They are promoting it as a way of getting boy racers off the road. Naysayers say it won't work as the hoons won't be able to afford insurance and they will drive the Skylines illegally. Well if it is illegal the car gets put in the crusher (as should happen now to all the un-WoF'ed and un-rego'd numbers) and not be 'punished' by having a sticker put on its windscreen for twenty eight days. Introducing third party insurance is not about getting hoons off the road, there are already enough unenforced statutes around to do that. Break any of the myriad of laws these clowns break regularly and the full provisions of punishment available should be, but are patently not, be used.
Compulsory third party insurance should be bought in for the reason it suggests in its name - the third party. You and me. Especially me when some clown drives a rustbucket into my Jag.
And don't get all 'But the poor won't be able to run a car' because I will get all politically incorrect on you and it will involve shoe leather.
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