Working for a womens car insurance firm means that we have to research all things motoring related and find out how differing issues affect the business of providing car insurance for drivers.
One of the foremost aggravations behind the lack of access to cheap motor cover is drivers who persistently flout the law by either; driving without valid car insurance, without a full licence or driving while banned – and of course those are the drivers statistically more likely to drive while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, or to be involved in hit and run accidents.
However, news has reached the UK of a staggering ruling made in China whereby a 30-year-old male driver has reportedly become the first drunk driver sentenced to death, after it was ruled that he had endangered public safety, an offence considered more serious than a "traffic offence" which merely carries a jail term.
In sentencing the man, judges at the Chengdu Intermediate People's court cited that his actions had been intentional and thus warranted the harsher punishment.
The incident under scrutiny occurred in December 2008, when the company executive from Sichuan Province was involved in a seemingly minor scrape with another vehicle. However, he then drove his Buick into four oncoming vehicles - killing four people and seriously injuring another - in a bid to flee the scene.
Tests after the car accident revealed that the driver had 135.8 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system – the limit in China is 80 milligrams. And further enquiries revealed that he had been driving without a valid licence since May 2008.
A lawyer from Shanghai told reporters that China's criminal code does not clearly define the difference between a "traffic offence" and "endangering public safety" so that judicial interpretations may be made that could be seen to be flexible, which could lead to a loss of public confidence in the Chinese legal system.
In recent months two high-profile cases of Chinese drivers who killed multiple road users have both been ruled as "traffic offences" and both drivers have been given jail sentences. Another man, in Nanjing Jiangsu province is awaiting trial after he killed five pedestrians, including a pregnant woman, whilst driving over the legal alcohol limit and so, the press and public eagerly await this ruling to see if it is comparable to the Chengdu judgment.
Although such cases of death by dangerous driving in China have seen public calls for harsher penalties, the Shanghai lawyer expressed concern that the difference between the two charges of "traffic offence" and "endangering public safety" has not been expressly clarified.
According to the report in China Daily the convicted driver is likely to appeal against the sentence.
Although the death penalty does seem particularly draconian to most UK sensibilities, road safety campaigners still feel that penalties for persistent offenders should be more of a deterrent. And the knock-on effect of people who don't buy car insurance, don't get a licence, or drive while banned will inevitably mean that women's car insurance, along with every other driver's motor cover, is going to get more and more expensive as the accidents gets worse and worse.