New research shows that younger people may be sticking closer to home until later in life due to the recession, with the average age of children on their parents’ vehicle insurance now up to 31.
In just a year, the average age of children on their parent’s motoring insurance rose up to 31 from 25, showing that children may be more dependent on their parents in the new economic landscape.
According to data from the study, over ten million drivers now have a second driver added onto their policy, with another 25% of policy owners listing their children on policies as well.
It is only legitimate for a parent to name a child on their parent’s policy if they are not the main driver of a vehicle.
With this in mind, uSwitch.com which conducted the survey warned that the high figures may mean parents are taking out insurance policies to help their children reduce costs of insurance premiums, even though the child is the main driver.
This practice is known as ‘fronting’ and is technically illegal, given that the parent’s receive lower rates, as older drivers are seen as more cautious experienced drivers.
Since the practice is borderline fraudulent, if an insurance company discovers the child is the main driver they may cancel the insurance policy.
Now motorists who want to park in the Central London area can do so by just waving a credit or debit card at the meter. This is an initiative by the Westminster Council to make cashless payment for transportation more prevalent not just in London, but throughout the UK.
By the beginning of next year the West End will be set up with 20 new credit card machines that require users to simply swipe their cards at in order to park. If the experiment works out well the new meter readers will be placed throughout the area of Westminster.
Southampton is also expected to introduce the new technology in the spring, with other councils following suit.
The path for the new meter technology is paved by the introduction of smartcards to the British public, which allow cheaper items such as newspapers, bus fares, and coffee to be paid for with a card instead of cash or normal credit cards.
Instead, the over four million cards do not require an identity check, unless a security check is carried out.
In the future, it is expected that all credit and debit cards will have the same technology built into them, so that they can be used as smartcards throughout the UK for parking and public transportation purposes.
Currently the Department for Transport is looking into using smartcards for more bus journeys, and also on trains. The aim of the new overhaul is to create less hassle and speed up queuing, which can delay many travellers.
Child pedestrians from areas that are more deprived are over four times as likely to be injured or killed in a traffic incident than children that live in wealthier areas, according to a new report presented to MPs.
The report added that the DfT, Department for Transport, should take more note of this fact, and promote proper road safety in the deprived areas where most child pedestrian casualties occur.
The report, published by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said that the department was already aware of the fact that police data that is used to measure casualty areas is understated.
Edward Leigh, the committee chairman, stated that the department has just now realized that the mismatch was enormous, and that although in 2008 there were only 230,000 casualties reported to police, but the estimated figure is closer to 800,000.
Leigh continued to say that it is important that the department figures out a way to adjust the police data so that the picture presented to local council’s is more accurate.
Also noted in the report is the fact that the DfT was not aware that cyclists engaged in behaviour that often presented a hazard to other motorists, and themselves.
In response the committee responded that new schemes should be focused on education to cut down on ‘anti-social behaviour’ that could help reduce how many people break traffic laws on a regular basis.
Among recommendations by the committee is a greater use of CCTV speed cameras, road humps, and more 20mph zones.
Due to the postal strikes, up to tens of thousands of motorists may evade CCTV fines for speeding, due to the fact that drivers cannot be convicted of speeding unless they receive notification of the offence in a two week time period.
After the postal workers went on strike last week around 20,000 notices of CCTV prosecution were stuck in the backlog, meaning that quite a few lucky motorists are off the hook this time. If another three day strike occurs as planned on Thursday a few more thousands will also be delayed.
Those who are lucky enough to have their notices delayed will avoid paying a £60 fine, and the addition of three points on their license. For a driver who already has nine points this can mean avoiding a six month license suspension.
The news is not so good for authorities, who estimate that they receive about £6m a week from speeding CCTV fines, and that the delayed notices will cost them about £1.2m in revenues a day.
Christ Sweetman, a road traffic lawyer, said that a driver cannot be prosecuted if they receive a notice over 14 days after the offence allegedly occurred, due to the fact that it becomes ‘out of time’ in court.
Research from the AA shows that the cost for comprehensive motor coverage premiums is rising at its fastest rate ever, with a reported 5.6% jump within the first three months of the year to the end of September.
This is the largest increase since the group first started to monitor the insurance market back in 1994.
Additionally, the annual rate for the rise in coverage costs has also gone up by an astounding 14% which Simon Douglas the director of AA Insurance stated will lead to drivers seeing a sharp increase in the price they will have to pay when it comes time to renew annual premiums for car insurance.
Douglas went on to say that 89% of all insurers on the market have increased the price of premiums by a least five pounds in just the last quarter, with only 2.5% of insurances reduced.
The AA analysis takes into account quotes from 90 brokers and insurance companies over 1,000 consumer profiles, and found that rates rose from just £271 in 2008 up to £281 this year.
Even worse, the group warned consumers that in the future the prices of vehicle coverage premiums are expected to continue to rise, as car insurers are paying out more in claims in costs per premium received.
In order for car insurance companies to make a profit again, according to Douglas, current premiums would have to increase again by at least 20%, which is something that may occur soon given insurers have little choice.
According to the Government, next year clamping firms on private property will have tougher rules after a meeting in London in which ministers, motoring groups, and parking firms will convene to discuss fines associated with parking on private land.
Last month the councils of Maidenhead and Windsor voted to consider how to stop clampers that are considered to be ‘overzealous.’
Alan Campbell, the crime reduction minister said that during 2010 drivers that fall prey to clampers on repeated occasions will be charged a more ‘reasonable’ amount, and be given a fairer amount of time to pay up, before their vehicle is towed.
Campbell also promised that next year a new fair appeals process will be initiated that requires claming companies to sign up for a new code of practice, otherwise they will not receive a license. What is more, if they do not follow the code they can risk losing their licensing privileges.
In Scotland private clamping is outlawed, but in Northern Ireland cars that do not have licenses may still be clamped. Throughout the rest of the UK public roads and car parks parking restrictions are already under regulation through the law.
In 2005 a self regulating system was formed that included a code of conduct, but most clamping firms did not sign up to follow it.
The AA believes that clampers do not follow the code due to the fact that often they impose extremely high fines for offences that are only deemed to be minor, and overcharge for towed cars.
Those who dislike CCTV speeding cameras are about to dislike them even more, with the advent of new high tech cameras that are designed to catch speeders and cars that are over the limit in more than one lane at once without using a flash.
They also will be hard to spot while travelling down the roadways as well, since they look like simple steel posts by the roadside, which may lead to many drivers not even realizing they have been caught on camera until they get ticketed through the post.
The new cameras come from France where they will be tested before they are installed in the UK. The French Government plans to start using the cameras within the next year, after which the UK is expected to start to use the cameras immediately.
Truckers in particular will be affected by the new technology since they often speed over the lower speeding limits imposed on their heavy loads, but get away with it so long as they stay under the maximum limit for regular cars.
However, the new cameras are able to tell the difference between a car and lorry travelling together, which will lead to truckers seeing an increase in fines.
Derek Lyon was in court yesterday fighting the loss of his job under unusual circumstances, by blaming the DVLA, police, and the Aberdeen sheriff clerk’s office.
Lyon contends that due to the fact his identity was mistaken, and his car was crushed, he was unable to get to work.
The problems begin a few months ago in Dundee when officers at a routine police checkpoint told him that he was not allowed to be driving due to a drink-driving offence in Aberdeen.
Lyons insisted he had never been to court in Aberdeen, but his claims were met with disinterest, and his car was seized, and then crushed after he was unable to pay the garaging fees.
However, at the Dundee Sheriff’s Court yesterday the Crown accepted that he was not guilty of drink driving, or driving without insurance under ban, because he was confused with another driver from Aberdeen that had the same name.
Lyons plans to sue now because after four hours in a holding cell his £1500 Honda Civic was crushed when he could not make the payment to the garage. He stated that he had been working on a farm, but was forced to move back to his home city after he lost his transportation causing him to lose his job.
The Tayside Police did not comment on the case of the unusual circumstances, stating only that the Police Department. does not comment on any matters that may be the subject of a court hearing.
A new study that compiled the list of motor insurance claims across the UK points to Chiselhurst and Cleveland as the most popular areas for car theft.
These two postcodes had the largest amount of theft claims filed over the past year. Larger cities were not immune from the problem, with Sheffield, Bradford, and Manchester also appearing in the top twenty cities on the list.
Also ranked on the list three times as notorious hot spots are the postcodes of Ilford and Romford which are separated by six miles.
The head of motor insurance at moneysupermarket.com Steve Sweeney stated that he is not surprised that the larger cities made the list, but pointed out that the study results show that a wide range of areas and postcodes are on the list.
Sweeney continued to say this shows that no matter where a motorist lives, there is still a significant risk that they could be the victim of car theft, and thus all motorists need to take the problem seriously and lock up their cars when leaving.
Additionally, Sweeney said that the best way to avoid getting victimized by thieves is to lock up the car doors, and make sure that vehicles are parked in safe areas that are well lit.
The Government climate change advisory body recommended this week that there should be a road pricing charge nationally, on top of the fuel taxes and environmental taxes in existence to further encourage motorists to choose other transportation options.
Until the latest statement by the committee, it was commonly believed that if a pay as you motoring charge was added, the road and fuel taxes would disappear. However, the Committee on Climate Change believes that by adding road pricing, over 5.6m tones of CO2 could be saved per year by 2020.
The Committee stated that the fuel tax should remain, because it gives people motivation to purchase an electric car, versus a traditional vehicle.
On the other hand, the Environmental Transport Association believes that action needs to be taken towards tackling CO2 emissions and climate change, but that it would be better to tax people on the carbon they give off, instead of for road usage.
An ETA spokesperson stated that while people need to take responsibility for the CO2 emissions they produce, it is unfair to tax motorists upwards of £600 for every tone that is produced, while major commerce only has to pay £6 a tonne.
According to the spokesman in this type of unfair system, everyone would lose.
Currently road usage is free, but tax is charged on fuel. On the other hand, those with electric cars are not subject to any taxes, including potential road charges, due to the fact they do not give off any climate damaging gases.
New research shows that younger people may be sticking closer to home until later in life due to the recession, with the average age of children on their parents’ vehicle insurance now up to 31.
Now motorists who want to park in the Central London area can do so by just waving a credit or debit card at the meter. This is an initiative by the 
Child pedestrians from areas that are more deprived are over four times as likely to be injured or killed in a traffic incident than children that live in wealthier areas, according to a new report presented to MPs.
Due to the postal strikes, up to tens of thousands of motorists may evade CCTV fines for speeding, due to the fact that drivers cannot be convicted of speeding unless they receive notification of the offence in a two week time period.
Research from the AA shows that the cost for comprehensive motor coverage premiums is rising at its fastest rate ever, with a reported 5.6% jump within the first three months of the year to the end of September. 
Those who dislike CCTV speeding cameras are about to dislike them even more, with the advent of new high tech cameras that are designed to catch speeders and cars that are over the limit in more than one lane at once without using a flash.
Derek Lyon was in court yesterday fighting the loss of his job under unusual circumstances, by blaming the DVLA, police, and the Aberdeen sheriff clerk’s office. 
A new study that compiled the list of motor insurance claims across the UK points to Chiselhurst and Cleveland as the most popular areas for car theft.
The Government climate change advisory body recommended this week that there should be a road pricing charge nationally, on top of the fuel taxes and environmental taxes in existence to further encourage motorists to choose other transportation options.