12/04/2021
In Spain there are more than 2.6 million 'zombie cars' or uninsured vehicles
- According to official data, there are 2.65 million uninsured vehicles in Spain. This means that close to 8% of Spanish vehicles are uninsured.
- The consequences of driving an uninsured car are: fines of up to € 3,000 and liability for all material and bodily damage caused in a traffic accident, which frequently means tens of thousands of euros.
- In the last decade, more than 300,000 accidents have involved uninsured vehicles. And 130,000 fines are issued every year to uninsured drivers, more than double the amount of fines issued for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol combined.
- Accidents involving an uninsured vehicle can result in other serious problems: they take longer to resolve, are more than twice as likely to cause and usually involve costlier damages.
- The main reasons vehicles are uninsured are: lack of awareness of the obligatory nature of insurance, especially in vehicles with little use; forgetting to deregister vehicles when owners get rid of them; and the economic depression.
- Cars top the list of uninsured vehicles, with over 1.8 million cases, followed by motorbikes, lorries and vans.
- The Balearic and Canary Islands, and Catalonia are the autonomous communities where there are proportionally more uninsured cars, while Aragón, La Rioja, and Castile-León are those with the least.