Women's cheap car insurance news
01/05/2009

Proposals to cut road deaths

After a government announcement of consultation proposals for lower speed limits and numerous changes to the way drivers are taught and tested, there has been much debate as to how those changes could affect the likelihood of more motorists being able to obtain cheap car insurance, amongst many other issues.

The Department for Transport (DfT) proposals are part of a government strategy to cut the number of deaths on British roads by a third by 2020 and will be open for consultation until July 14.

However, two prominent experts from driver and safety organisations have differing views on the proposals.

Commenting in The Times Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) believes that the proposals will save lives.

He said, "Driver education and training is crucial and we should do more of it. Road safety education has not dropped off but speed limits and speed enforcement are an important part of the overall picture."

In an opposing view, Brian Gregory, chairman of the Association of British Drivers, said "These proposals ignore the primary cause of road accidents, which is inattention.

"The case for lowering limits is a false calculation based on a piece of research on 20mph limits in urban areas, in certain conditions. It does not have any relevance to free-flow conditions on high-speed roads."

A CoverGirl spokesperson commented, "The proposals have certainly caused debate, but if accident rates do fall it is likely to reduce high claim payouts and cheap car insurance should become more widely available as a result."