By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A “SHOCKING” 30-40 percent of the vehicles on Bahamian roads are either uninsured or not properly covered, a lead insurance broker has estimated, as he backed the Government’s bid to overhaul traffic laws.

Bruce Ferguson, the Bahamas Insurance Brokers Association’s (BIBA) president, told Tribune Business he hopes the authorities now “mean business” and that the Road Traffic Act reforms tabled alongside the Budget do not become another one of “many false dawns” as has occurred in the past.

Emphasising the industry’s support for efforts to crack down on rogue uninsured drivers, and boost safety on the roads, he added that the private sector has had “some gung ho meetings” with the Road Traffic Department on the issue in the past only for the effort to ultimately lose momentum, stall and “go quiet”.

Proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Act, due to take effect from January 1, 2025, if passed into law, will require that insurance policies be valid for at least a further six months in order for a vehicle to be licensed by the Road Traffic Department.

This is designed to deter persons from obtaining a short-term “cover note” from Bahamian insurers so that they can pass the Road Traffic Department inspection and licence their vehicle without paying the full comprehensive or third-party premium. They then fail to pay the balance, and the coverage lapses or is cancelled, resulting in such persons driving for the rest of the year without insurance.

Mr Ferguson, who said most if not all Bahamian auto underwriters have already stopped issuing “cover notes” told this newspaper of the proposed reform: “Personally I think that’s a very good thing because obviously it’s been abused for a very long time where people obtain a cover note, get their vehicle licensed and let the cover note lapse, and be without cover for the rest of the year.

“Most carriers... Bahamas First, our biggest carrier, doesn’t issue them at all any more. It’s all down to control and discipline. We as insurance brokers make sure that until the premium is paid in full that no documents are given to the client.

“The only exception is if you’re bringing a vehicle in, and need to get it off the dock. We’ll issue third party until they get it through Customs and inspected, and then issue comprehensive. As far as that change is concerned, it can only be a good thing,” Mr Ferguson continued.

“The insurance industry supports that, and if we can reduce the amount of uninsured drivers out on the road, that’s a win-win for everybody - insurers and the public - and anyone who’s car is damaged by an uninsured vehicle.”

The proposed Road Traffic Act reforms also mandate that vehicle owners report cancellation of their vehicle’s insurance certificate to the Road Traffic controller within five days of this occurring. The certificate must be handed to the insurer, and a reason given for the cancellation.

The insurer must issue a notice of cancellation to the controller within 48 hours of the certificate of insurance being cancelled. Failure to comply could incur a fine not exceeding $2,500 or a three-month prison sentence for the vehicle owner and a fine up to $5,000 for the authorised insurer.

Mr Ferguson said he believes the Bahamian insurance industry already complies with this requirement. “I believe that’s done now,” he said. “As far as our existing cancellations are concerned, we do that anyway. Whether anything comes of that is another matter....

“The insurance industry has been pushing for upgrades to the Road Traffic Act for many years now, and there have been many false dawns unfortunately. Let’s hope this time they mean business, and this is not another initiative put back on the shelf and quietly gotten rid of.

“That’s what’s happened in the past. We’ve had some gung ho meetings with the Road Traffic Department, and then everything goes quiet. There’s a drastic need for a new Road Traffic Act so that we don’t have to work out which of the 15-20 amendments to the Road Traffic Act are the ones that apply.”

Mr Ferguson told this newspaper that presently clients are facing “a lot of confusion” caused by police officers providing the wrong information, especially at the scene of traffic accidents. “Enforcement is the massive thing here,” he said. “You can pass as many laws as you want, but if they are not rigorously enforced there’s no point.”

The BIBA president said fines for driving without insurance are still relatively low and, as a result, persons are tempted to take the chance and drive without. He added that the Royal Bahamas Police Force needs to repeat the enforcement he witnessed recently on a visit to Freeport, where officers were stopping vehicles and checking if they had valid insurance certificates at almost every roundabout.

Asked how many uninsured and inadequately insured vehicles are presently on Bahamian roads, Mr Ferguson replied: “There’s an awful lot. I would say 30-40 percent, which is a shocking amount in this day and age where, in other countries, police sit in their vehicle and work out who has insurance and who doesn’t.”

That would involve equipping the Royal Bahamas Police Force with hand-held scanners the size of cell phones, so they could randomly scan vehicle licence plates. This would then give them access the Road Traffic Department database and they would know whether a vehicle’s insurance is active or has expired.