Latest Car Insurance News
Welcome to Expert Car Insurance News. Here you will find all the latest information concerning the motor insurance industry.
Posted February 2006
Don’t blame the driver, road engineering could save 44% of fatal accidents in the UK
Contrary to motorists’ belief, the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) suggests that there should be a shift of resources towards more effective local authority impact reduction planning on our roads. Scientific research, carried out across Europe, has pointed out the potential reduction in fatal accidents in the UK is around 44% if we put our efforts into reducing the likelihood of impact resulting from driver error by changing our roads.
Most accidents are caused by driver error, one way or another; not being in proper control, losing concentration, not reacting to the road and weather conditions… the list is endless. 65% of drivers believe that these errors are the main reason for road mortalities, but this attitude is letting local authorities off the need to make our major inter-city and inter-town routes more tolerant of driver mistakes.
The AA Motoring Trust, as part of the EuroRAP project, confirms that on major inter-town routes 8 out of 10 accidents fall into just 4 categories: vehicles meeting head-on, collisions at junctions, vehicles leaving the road and collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists.
Improvements can be made on our highways at relatively low cost, including the following considerations. The use of crash barriers on particularly dangerous stretches, shielding cars from impact with trees and lamposts. In Scandinavia some roads have had barriers installed down the centre of ‘one lane each way’ roads to avoid the chance of head-on impacts. Junctions could be amended so that potential impacts are more oblique rather than being 90 degree side impacts.
The above and many other highway engineering measures would mean that the driver errors, that are going to continue anyway, would be far less likely to end in fatalities.
Posted February 2006
It’s official! More car insurance claims in bad weather
Recent studies by Norwich Union have made an absolute connection between the weather and the number and severity of accidents on British roads. It rains on average just over 6% of the time over the whole UK according to their research with cloudy conditions adding a further 66%.
The number of accidents escalated by up to 40 per cent on days with the heaviest rain. They suggest that this clearly indicates that motorists are not taking proper account of changing road conditions even when the alteration is the mildest of merely being wet. Drivers only slow down by 3 to 4 per cent when road conditions are wet, although the amount of reduction in adhesion calls for greater caution than this. A Spokesman for Norwich Union said that people should allow a 2 second road gap in dry conditions, but this should be increased in wet or freezing conditions. The situation is exacerbated by there being more cars on the road when it rains, some 10% extra preferring not to walk.
Added to this is the double whammy of the increased cost of car insurance claims. Damage caused in accidents in rainy conditions is on average 27 per cent more expensive to fix due to greater impact speeds, where drivers can’t slow down on the slippery roads.
This position worsens over the average 11 days a year of freezing weather where ice and snow on the road increase the number of accidents by up to 50 percent. Quite apart from the vastly reduced grip, in some of these accidents the drivers own up to not having clear visibility. The simple precaution of properly de-icing the windows all round the car and not driving through a letter box sized clear hole, would have saved the necessity of a claim on their car insurance.
Posted January 2006
Should car insurance companies be interested in over-automating our vehicles?
According to recent research by Brunel University giving drivers too little to concentrate on by automating normal motor tasks is just as dangerous, if not more so, than leaving the tasks to the driver to perform.
The study looked at the effect of an emergency on both experienced drivers and those who have just passed their test when traveling for periods of time with adaptive cruise control and active steering. Adaptive cruise control is meant automatically to react to a car in front slowing down by slowing the controlled vehicle, to a stop if necessary, then accelerating back to cruise speed when the obstruction has moved on. Active steering controls the road position of the vehicle by monitoring the white lines on either side of the lane. Both intended to reduce the likelihood of accidents.
They used a driving simulator to reproduce the failure of the adaptive cruise control towards the end of a motorway journey, with the vehicle ahead breaking and requiring action on behalf of the driver to avoid it. The study found that both learners and experienced drivers were unable to deal with the emergency satisfactorily when both adaptive cruise control and active steering were installed, and worryingly, about half of the inexperienced drivers made no attempt whatsoever to avoid the braking car. When only adaptive cruise control was operational all drivers were able to manage the situation.
The conclusion drawn by Dr Mark Young was that over-automating the driving process leads to under-load and reduced mental stimulation for the driver, which can cause them loose concentration or lead to ‘motorway hypnosis’, making them far less capable of reacting effectively to potential accident situations. Motorists can be lulled into a false sense of security by having their driving input reduced to a minimum, they need to be actively in charge of the driving process in order to maintain their awareness of potential hazards and be able to react to them.
Car insurance companies should take note of the effects of our increasing insistence for more automation in our cars.
Posted January 2006
RAC Foundation says crack down on drinking and driving
Following the Association of Chief Police Officers’ report of individuals arrested for drinking and driving over the Christmas and New Year 2005-06 period rising to 10,595 including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the RAC Foundation has launched its plan to halt the rise the number of deaths associated with this phenomenon and aid its decrease. Over the same short period the number of people arrested for driving under the influence of drugs was 178 in England and Wales.
Deaths arising from drink and drug driving numbered 590 in 2004. In order to tackle this increasing problem RAC Foundation suggests the following measures.
- More efficient targeting of police traffic resources to create a more visible, stronger disincentive. They believe that motorists feel they can ‘get away with it’ because there are not the police around to catch them.
- The Government should continue a more targeted anti drink-driving campaign all year long, not just at the high risk periods.
- A separate and high profile advertising campaign across all media should be researched and carried out specifically aimed at those who take drugs and drive to stress that it is as irresponsible as drinking and driving.
- Encouragement of ‘designated driver’ practices, where it is positively encouraged for those driving not to drink.
- Increased use of technology with in-car sensors that lock the ignition if the driver’s breath contains alcohol.
- Different penalties and greater police powers, including requiring attendance on training courses, or for persistent offenders, to retake their driving test and the ability of police to require a breath test at the scene which could be used as evidence.
- Improved public transport is needed at those hours of highest risk, late evening through to the early hours, to provide viable alternatives to drink-driving.
Posted January 2006
Pooling cars may reduce the chance of being in an accident
Following the increasing American practice of car pooling, driving with passengers could reduce the likelihood of being involved in an accident on UK roads according to research just published by Privilege Insurance.
The results suggest that improvement starts with the attention that motorists apply to the road. Approximately 40% of drivers reported that they had lost concentration whilst driving alone, but only 22% said they had when they had others in the vehicle.
When it comes to actual incidents, 10% of motorists said they had been involved in an accident when alone in the car, whereas half of that number, just 5%, said their accident took place when they were carrying passengers. The factor of being responsible for others in the car appears to make drivers more attentive and careful.
From this evidence Privilege suggests that pooling cars for the millions of commuter journeys performed every day would help reduce the number of accidents and make the roads a safer place. Even planning and combining family travel requirements so that more than one persons uses the car for as many journeys as possible should help reduce road incidents.
Most car insurance policies include not-for-profit car sharing as standard.
In the USA where, as in the UK, the morning and evening rush hours account for a large percentage of monthly private mileage undertaken by many households, some 15 million commuters are involved in regular car pool arrangements.
Of those surveyed around 20% of drivers suggested they may car pool with fellow commuters if their journey was also improved by the introduction of car pool lanes on heavy traffic routes. Nearly 50% of those questioned believed in car pool lanes, specifically on heavy commuter roads and of those three quarters believed that car pool lanes should share the existing and new bus lanes.
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