MOTOR VEHICLE (THIRD PARTY INSURANCE) ACT 1943 - SECT 4
MOTOR VEHICLE (THIRD PARTY INSURANCE) ACT 1943 - SECT 4
4 . Insurance against third party risks
(1) When any motor
vehicle is on a road there is required to be in force in relation to the motor
vehicle a contract of insurance entered into by the owner of the motor vehicle
under which the owner has insured subject to and in accordance with this Act
against any liability which may be incurred by the owner or any person who
drives the motor vehicle in respect of the death of or bodily injury to any
person directly caused by, or by the driving of, the motor vehicle.
[(2) deleted]
(3A) Where a motor
vehicle in relation to which there is not in force a policy of insurance
complying with this Act is used on a road the owner of the motor vehicle and
any person so using the motor vehicle or causing or permitting such use
commits an offence.
Penalty: First
offence: $400.
Subsequent offence: $800.
(3B) A person shall
not be convicted or punished for an offence under subsection (3A) if he has
already been convicted or acquitted of, or the penalty has been paid under an
infringement notice served on the person for, an offence under the Vehicles
Act section 4(2) and both those offences had been committed simultaneously.
(3C) Upon conviction
of a person of an offence under subsection (3A), if the court is satisfied
that the owner of the vehicle in question was, at the time of the commission
of the offence, not the holder of the requisite vehicle licence for the
vehicle as required by the Vehicles Act, the court shall order the person
convicted, in addition to the penalty imposed on him, to pay the amount of the
annual licence fee that should have been paid in respect of that vehicle in
accordance with that Act and that order may be enforced as if the amount of
the fee was a penalty imposed on him.
(4) Any person
convicted of an offence under this section shall (unless the court thinks fit
to order otherwise) be disqualified from holding and obtaining under the
Road Traffic (Authorisation to Drive) Act 2008 a driver’s licence or
under the Vehicles Act a licence in respect of a motor vehicle for a period of
12 months from the date of the conviction.
(5) Proceedings for an
offence under this section shall be commenced —
(a)
within a period of 6 months from the date of the commission of the alleged
offence; or
(b)
within a period of 3 months from the date on which it came to the knowledge of
the prosecutor that the alleged offence had been committed,
whichever period is
the longer.
(5A) Despite
subsection (5), no proceedings for an offence under this section shall be
commenced after the expiration of one year from the date of the commission of
the alleged offence.
(6) In any prosecution
for an offence under this section the allegation in the charge that at any
time mentioned in the charge there was not in force in respect of any
particular motor vehicle a policy of insurance complying with this Act shall
be prima facie evidence of the fact so alleged.
(7A) Any owner of a
motor vehicle shall, on being requested so to do by a police officer, produce
evidence that there is in force in respect of every motor vehicle owned by him
a policy of insurance complying with this Act.
(7B) The owner shall
be deemed to have complied with subsection (7A) if he produces the necessary
evidence at a Police Station (to be nominated by the owner to the police
officer at the time when the request is made) within 5 days from the time when
its production was requested.
(7C) Any person who
without just excuse fails to comply with this subsection shall be guilty of an
offence.
Penalty: $200.
(8) Despite anything
to the contrary in the Vehicles Act, no licence is to be granted or renewed
under that Act in respect of a motor vehicle unless, before or at the time of
the grant or renewal, there is paid to and received by the Director General
the appropriate insurance premium determined by the Commission for the class
of vehicle concerned and for the period for which the licence is granted or
renewed.
(8A) The grant or
renewal of a licence under the Vehicles Act in respect of a motor vehicle is
to be taken to constitute the issue of a policy of insurance complying with
this Act —
(a) in
respect of the motor vehicle; and
(b) in
respect of the period for which the licence is granted or renewed.
(8B) A licence
document under the Vehicles Act in respect of a motor vehicle must incorporate
a statement in a form approved by the Commission explaining —
(a) the
effect of a policy of insurance complying with this Act, including the effect
that the policy has because of the operation of section 6A; and
(b) the
obligations of persons as to the reporting of motor vehicle accidents causing
bodily injury or death; and
(c)
related matters.
(9) The Director
General on behalf of the Commission shall when required issue in such form as
shall be determined by the Commission a policy of insurance under this Act in
respect of any vehicle propelled by gas, oil, electricity or any other motive
power not being animal power that the Director General is satisfied does not
require to be licensed under the Vehicles Act, but only if that vehicle
complies with the requirements necessary for licensing under that Act.
(10) The owner and
driver of a vehicle referred to in subsection (9) shall have the same rights
and be subject to the same duties and obligations and the Commission shall
have against such owner and driver the same rights and remedies as if such
motor vehicles were included in the interpretation motor vehicle in section 3
of this Act.
[Section 4 amended: No. 40 of 1944 s. 3; No. 31 of
1948 s. 6; No. 77 of 1957 s. 4; No. 18 of 1959 s. 4; No. 57 of 1962 s. 4; No.
72 of 1962 s. 5; No. 95 of 1966 s. 21; No. 44 of 1971 s. 3; No. 58 of 1974
s. 30; No. 106 of 1981 s. 11; No. 81 of 1982 s. 15; No. 51 of 1986 s. 46(2);
No. 107 of 1987 s. 14; No. 8 of 1988 s. 7; No. 13 of 1994 s. 7; No. 76 of 1996
s. 40; No. 84 of 2004 s. 80; No. 19 of 2010 s. 51; No. 8 of 2012 s. 138 and
141; No. 8 of 2016 s. 48.]
[ 5. Deleted: No. 31 of 1948 s. 7.]