FOURTEEN foreigners living in Cyprus are expected to appear in court this week for driving without a licence or insurance, as are the Cypriots who sold them the vehicles without transferring the deeds.
Police say increasing numbers of foreigners are buying old cars from Cypriots who fail to transfer the deeds of the vehicle to the buyer.
Now, police have decided to clamp down on foreigners driving without a licence or car insurance. On Sunday, police stopped 17 foreigners in Nicosia as their cars were not insured nor were they in their name.
Eight foreign drivers and six motorcyclists were charged with not having a licence or car insurance and two drivers were stopped as their vehicles were without licence plates. One foreigner was also fined for not wearing a seatbelt. Police confiscated the eight cars and six motorbikes.
Police yesterday told the Cyprus Mail some people had old cars that had not been used in years and therefore remained untaxed; foreigners were approaching them to buy the cars, which were being sold for cash but without transfer of deeds.
“The rules strongly state that an owner of a car when selling it must transfer the deeds to the new owner, but most Cypriots who might sell their cars for £50 do not carry out this procedure. This is mainly because the foreigners do not have licences and find it difficult to obtain car insurance,” said a police source.
“Insurance companies are hesitant to grant foreigners car insurance as they have a track record of reckless driving. Another reason foreigners do not obtain car insurance is because they cannot afford it,” the police source said.
The Joint Insurance Company recently admitted it was reluctant to insure foreigners. “Insurance companies refuse foreigners insurance as they have a history of being reckless drivers, of drinking or driving old and poorly-maintained cars and sometimes swerving onto the wrong side of the road as they are used to driving on the right,” the company’s Loucas Charalambous said.
He added, however, that this might soon change, depending on the Insurance registrar’s decision to allow foreigners refused insurance by three insurance companies to apply at the Joint Insurance Company.
According to police, many foreigners involved in accidents flee the scene as they do not have insurance to cover the damage sustained by the other vehicle. Police are then unable to track them down as the deeds are still in the Cypriot owner’s name.
The most recent such incident occurred on December 15, when police were unable to find two foreigners who collided with another vehicle in Kofinou.
“Most foreigners are driving around in old bangers that have not passed their MOT and are a danger on the roads,” police said.
