28/11/2008
I've just searched the term 'car driving' in google news and rather depressingly, six out of the first ten stories returned told of bad driving in the UK. Is it any wonder that insurance for car drivers is expensive?
I carried out the search at 11.45am on Friday 28th November and the stories included a drunk-driver from Wales who caused death by dangerous driving, a woman charged with drink-driving who caused £50,000 of damage to a bungalow near King's Lynn, and another driver, an 18 year-old from Nottingham, who was also convicted of dangerous driving after an overtaking manoeuvre went badly wrong and he ended up needing lifesaving surgery.
In the most chilling of the reports, a 16-year-old girl was killed when the 17-year-old driver of the car she was a passenger in failed to negotiate a left hand bend. His vehicle careered off the road and collided with a brick wall. The young male driver was badly hurt and the other front seat passenger suffered life threatening injuries.
Also reported was an incident of extreme road rage. A van driver, who chased another motorist through Newton Abbot, was jailed for a year after pleading guilty to charges of affray and damage to property. A driving instructor who witnessed the event said, "They both stopped at traffic lights at Shaldon Bridge. The defendant got out screaming and tried to open the victim's car door. He punched the driver's window six times and kneed the side of the car."
And in the final negative driving-related story of the first ten results, a series of reports regarding Mercedes-Benz World told of their initiative to prevent some of the annual 27% of crashes involving work-related driving. They claim that courses for employees who drive as part of their job could make the roads a safer place.
The non-negative (sorry, I can't really call them positive) UK driving stories related to the building of the largest new and used Mini showroom in Britain, and a boy (yes, the piece actually called him a boy) aged 17, who had passed his driving test just in time to become the youngest driver in the world car rally championship.
Just what the world needs, another "boy" driving a killing machine and one more place that sells them.
And when I looked at the refreshed page approximately three hours later, there were four new stories of fatal car accidents and convictions for dangerous driving.
So I'm left feeling sombre and more than a touch angry because people still complain that the price of car insurance is too high. Surely, if we want our insurance for cars to be cheaper, we need to start thinking hard about road safety and driving behaviour. Perhaps Mercedes-Benz have got it right - additional training is the key. It's just a shame that it has to be these terrible reports and statistics that make us stop and think about the way we drive.
I carried out the search at 11.45am on Friday 28th November and the stories included a drunk-driver from Wales who caused death by dangerous driving, a woman charged with drink-driving who caused £50,000 of damage to a bungalow near King's Lynn, and another driver, an 18 year-old from Nottingham, who was also convicted of dangerous driving after an overtaking manoeuvre went badly wrong and he ended up needing lifesaving surgery.
In the most chilling of the reports, a 16-year-old girl was killed when the 17-year-old driver of the car she was a passenger in failed to negotiate a left hand bend. His vehicle careered off the road and collided with a brick wall. The young male driver was badly hurt and the other front seat passenger suffered life threatening injuries.
Also reported was an incident of extreme road rage. A van driver, who chased another motorist through Newton Abbot, was jailed for a year after pleading guilty to charges of affray and damage to property. A driving instructor who witnessed the event said, "They both stopped at traffic lights at Shaldon Bridge. The defendant got out screaming and tried to open the victim's car door. He punched the driver's window six times and kneed the side of the car."
And in the final negative driving-related story of the first ten results, a series of reports regarding Mercedes-Benz World told of their initiative to prevent some of the annual 27% of crashes involving work-related driving. They claim that courses for employees who drive as part of their job could make the roads a safer place.
The non-negative (sorry, I can't really call them positive) UK driving stories related to the building of the largest new and used Mini showroom in Britain, and a boy (yes, the piece actually called him a boy) aged 17, who had passed his driving test just in time to become the youngest driver in the world car rally championship.
Just what the world needs, another "boy" driving a killing machine and one more place that sells them.
And when I looked at the refreshed page approximately three hours later, there were four new stories of fatal car accidents and convictions for dangerous driving.
So I'm left feeling sombre and more than a touch angry because people still complain that the price of car insurance is too high. Surely, if we want our insurance for cars to be cheaper, we need to start thinking hard about road safety and driving behaviour. Perhaps Mercedes-Benz have got it right - additional training is the key. It's just a shame that it has to be these terrible reports and statistics that make us stop and think about the way we drive.
Labels: car insurance, dangerous driving, insurance for car, road safety
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