Liz Dobson: We need compulsory car insurance

Photo / Thinkstock

It was just after midnight a couple of Saturdays ago when my phone rang and a police officer asked if I was the owner of a certain VW Polo.

A certain VW Polo that I had parked around the corner from my home as my test vehicle, a Lexus LX570, was taking up my car park space - and my neighbours' cars seemed to have trebled over night.

Groggily I told the officer I was.

"Well it's been hit by a drunk driver," he informed me.

Actually, it hadn't just been hit by a drunk driver - it had been slammed into the back, breaking the rear axle, and shunted with such force that it was wrapped around a tree.

The driver's car had then slammed into the back of a parked bus, and the drunk driver was in a cell at the local police station.

I had third party insurance on my 1999 Polo, that I only drove part-time, and faced the hassle of having to buy another old runabout. Meanwhile my insurance company said, under a clause in the policy, it could chase up the drunk driver, who was probably
uninsured, thought it would take "six to 10 weeks".

If I'm lucky, I may get $3000 from my insurance company.

So why isn't insurance compulsory in New Zealand? It had cost me around $200 a year to insure my car - about the cost of the bullbars on the front of the drunk driver's vehicle.

Opponents say premiums will be too expensive for young drivers while I can only see a benefit in it.

Have your say in our insurance poll.

* You'll probably notice a few changes in Driven. First (excuse the pun) motoring editor Alastair Sloane has moved into the passenger's seat while I'm behind the steering wheel.

Alastair is writing part-time for Driven - and this week reports from Melbourne on the launch of the Mercedes-Benz B-Class.

We've also hitched a boat to Driven - with the addition of the Marine section, and we are fortunate enough to be joined by Mike Rose and Geoff Thomas.