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Fined for not renewing car insurance on time
Driver fined and has license suspended after driving a vehicle 30 minutes before its insurance was renewed.
2 August 2013, 12:00am
Chris Mangion
Chris Mangion
1 min read
A judge repelled the appeal filed by a driver who was fined for driving an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle, despite the fact that allegedly his spouse was on her way to the insurance office.
The incident happened on 13th October 2011, when a traffic police officer stopped Angelo Bilocca, at Labour Avenue, Marsa. Checks with the Police Control Room revealed the vehicle was uninsured and unlicensed. In his charge the traffic officer noted the time to be 10:45am. The officer ordered Bilocca not to drive the vehicle prior to settling his insurance and license.
The 35-year-old driver called his wife and told her to make haste in getting to the insurance office. In fact the wife was already on her way there and the insurance was taken out at 11:16am.
The Court of Appeal, presided by Justice David Scicluna held that irrelevant of the driver's plans to have the insurance settled on the same day, the vehicle should not have been used uninsured and unlicensed.
Justice David Scicluna confirmed the decision of the Court of Magistrate and ordered Bilocca to pay the €2,400 fine imposed by the lower court. The driver was also banned from driving for 12 months.
Chris Mangion is MaltaToday’s photojournalist, joining the newspaper in 2013.
In 1995...
Joseph MELI •
There should be much more spot checks for uninsured,unlicensed vehicles and driver's without a license to dribve -as how many thousands are on our roads operating like this?The police should invest in a similar to the the UK 's ANPR system (Automatic Number Plate Recognition)as they would make a fortune here and recoup any outlay in one month
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Do you think this is the only driver on the road driving a car without a licence and uninsured? If the traffic police and the local wardens do their duties meticulously, they would prosecute hundreds of drivers.
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All insurance policies are set to start from 00.01hrs of a specific date to 24.00hrs of another specific date. If you let your insurance expire, even by a few minutes, the insurance agency does not cover you if you are involved in a traffic accident. The same method is applied to road license. So, if through your own neglect you leave to the last moment to renew your insurance road road license, it's your own fault and don't blame anyone else.
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Where I live there is a family who have a fleet of cars and Police are aware none of these cars are licensed or insured and nothing is ever done (despite many reports) because this family is known to be a "rough" bunch. This poor driver has been made an example of and others get away with the same everyday and have nothing done...Maltese Justice or lack thereof!
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I've read about violent crimes which carried much less severa sentence in court. This is one case where a suspended sentence would have sufficed.
