Warning on driving unrepaired cars

19/03/13

By Ian Barnsley

There are more than a million unrepaired, accident-damaged vehicles being driven on the roads of Britain, according to new research.

Accident Exchange says there could be tens of thousands of motorists on the roads right now who are totally unaware they are driving in cars that are no longer safe after minor prangs.

High petrol prices have pushed annual car travel down by 2.9 per cent to 9 billion miles since 2006 and although the number of accidents in the UK has not changed significantly, the numbers of people reporting them and making repairs certainly have, dropping by 2.2 per cent and a huge 21 per cent respectively, meaning some 1,092,000 motorists did not have their cars fixed after accidents during the last year.

Accident Exchange's analysts are describing the number of unrepaired vehicles as a "worrying trend". They are blaming insurance costs and tighter household budgets for the problem, with drivers opting for bigger excesses to reduce insurance premiums and delaying repairs until they can afford to pay for them.

Drivers not wanting to lose their no claims bonuses and liable for large excesses are increasingly making private settlements after accidents and the innocent parties are not necessarily spending the money on making what they deem to be minor repairs, according to Accident Exchange chief executive Steve Evans.

What might be considered by vehicle owners to be minor damage can sometimes affect the structural integrity of a car without any clear visible signs, such as weakened hydraulic suspension that could result in a collapse in the future.

Shunts to the front of a car can affect damage or move the 'crash box', radiator or airbag sensors and affect how a car's safety features will operate in the event of another collision, no matter the speed the car is driven before an accident.

The collapsible crash box zone is designed to absorb the energy created by a frontal collision and not inflict it on the occupants in the stronger passenger compartment behind it. The safety feature lowers the costs of repairs in collisions of 10mph or under but any damage to the crash box can affect how it protects occupants if another similar accident were to occur.

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