The United Kingdom introduced compulsory motor insurance in 1930.
The requirement came through the Road Traffic Act 1930, a major statute introduced by Transport Minister Herbert Morrison. It required motorists to carry third-party insurance protecting other people from liability arising from the use of motor vehicles.
The law was part of a broader attempt to regulate rapidly increasing road traffic. The same Act addressed dangerous and careless driving, drink-driving, vehicle standards, public-service vehicles and the Highway Code. Its Royal Assent was given on 1 August 1930, although different provisions came into force on different dates, with some insurance-related changes taking effect in 1931.
A common mix-up is confusing the Act’s enactment year with the date every provision became operational. The quiz asks when the United Kingdom introduced the compulsory-insurance law, so 1930 is the standard answer. Modern compulsory motor insurance rules are now principally associated with the Road Traffic Act 1988.