whether people driving on Bermuda's roads are insured and their vehicles licensed.

The warning comes a week after Motor Insurers' Fund president Mr. Glenn Titterton charged road users were making a "mockery'' of compulsory insurance legislation.

He said the legislation seeks to "ensure compensation is available for any injured party''.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis said yesterday he deals with "an awful lot'' of cases every week of people charged with driving unlicensed vehicles and without third party insurance. He could not give an exact figure.

"No insurance is a very serious thing,'' he said. "In an accident a person can run up thousands of dollars of damage and leave the victim unable to make a proper claim. The damage is often higher than the uninsured person can bear.'' Said Police spokeswoman Sgt. Andrea Browne: "It has become evident that there is an increasing number of unlicensed and uninsured vehicles being driven on the roads.

"We would like to remind the public that not only are these both offences, but the driver of an uninsured vehicle may be liable to a civil claim in the event of an accident.'' Sgt. Browne said Police did not have an estimate on the number of people presently believed to be driving without insurance and/or a licence.

And she said Police were not willing to disclose where they got their information that the number was on the rise.

But statistics in annual Police Reports revealed the number of people driving uninsured has increased by 53 percent over the last three years. The number of people driving unlicensed vehicles over the same period increased similarly.

The annual Police report for 1990 revealed Police handled 455 cases of people driving without insurance and 307 cases of people driving unlicensed vehicles.

Statistics for 1991 and this year are not available yet.