Speed cameras

High costs for young drivers
High costs of car-ownership are also causing young drivers to consider alternative ways to buy their first motor. One in 10 (11 per cent) have considered buying a vehicle with friends, with a quarter (25 per cent) agreeing it’s a good way to share costs. An eco-friendly 45 per cent of these youngsters also believe buying a car with friends is better for the environment. Statistics reveal that over 20,000 ** 18-25 year olds currently share a car with friends. The first ever Young Drivers’ Poll from Direct Line, the UK’s largest private car insurer, reveals that despite the high cost of d... Read more...

Homeowners to fork out
Homeowners to fork out Homeowners set to fork out 17 billion in winter repairs. Scotland proved itself the frozen north, with nearly one in five homes having burst or frozen pipes. Direct Line Insurance plc. Read more..

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Speed Cameras

Speed cameras

Speed cameras are triggering a nationwide surge in the number of drivers on the brink of being banned, with close to a million* Brits one conviction away from losing their licence, according to research by Direct Line.

Convictions have dramatically increased in the last five years and the number of drivers with three points on their licence has increased by seven per cent just in the last two years. One in 10 (14 per cent) of the drivers with nine points on their licence would lose their jobs if their licence was taken away, over 125,000 people across the UK.

Despite speed cameras only being launched 13 years ago, 92 per cent of those receiving motoring convictions in the last two years are for speeding and fines can be as much as £2500 for a first time offence. Within the past 12 months motorists have paid out over £121 million** in speeding tickets.

Yet, motorists are cynical about the rise in speed cameras, and their subsequent fines. Six in 10 (61 per cent) believe they are revenue raisers and one in 10 (11 per cent) think that they are there to pay for the bonuses of local authority workers.

Unapproved Building Work
Ground floor extensions 16 per cent Loft conversion 10 per cent. Garage/car port 5 per cent. In 2005, delayed or aborted projects cost an average of £10,441, which means that an estimated £313million was wasted by homeowners. Top five unapproved projects discovered by homebuyers. Brits wasted £300 million1 on home building projects last year because they ignored, were unaware of the need for, or misinformed about planning rules. Read more...

Overall 4.8 million (16 per cent) drivers now have penalty points on their licence, however despite the risk in getting caught by cameras motorists say they are failing to deter them. Over half claim that speed limits (56 per cent), cameras (57 per cent) and fines (74 per cent) have no impact on their speedometer.

In addition to knowingly flouting the law, many motorists have no idea what the speed limits actually are. Direct Line research reveals that despite 93 per cent of motorists claiming they have a sound knowledge of speed limits, in reality only half of all UK motorists are unable to correctly identify the limit on a dual carriageway (70mph).

Emma Holyer, Direct Line’s Motor spokesperson, said:

"Despite the growing number of speed cameras in the UK and the increase in motorists receiving penalty points our research shows that drivers are still speeding. Although the Government is current reviewing speed cameras as part of the Road Safety Bill, drivers need to take notice of the speed limits – and cameras – regardless of whether they agree with them or not as they could lose their licence if they choose to ignore them.

“Speed cameras exist because speeding is one of the biggest dangers on UK roads with one in three road deaths attributed to it so motorists do need to keep their speed down and be aware of the limits. ”

Speed camera facts:

• Speed cameras were first introduced in London in 1992

• There are now more than 6000 fixed and mobile speed camera sites across Great Britain

• In 2003 – 04 speeding fines generated £112 million. Of that, £92 million was ploughed back into installing and operating the cameras (Department for Transport)

• The Road Safety Bill may bring in graduated fixed penalties for speeding, whereby higher levels of points would be awarded to those exceeding the speed limit by a wide margin. The lower level of two points and a smaller fine would go to motorists just over the speed limit. The aim of the Road Safety Bill is to improve road safety measures and reduce casualties on the roads.

No Claims Discount
Scenario one: male, 21 years old, three years driving experience on his dad’s policy would get a 50% discount. Direct Line is the only insurer to honour NCD for named drivers and estimates that 18 million motorists are currently driving on someone else’s policy, all with the potential to earn their own NCD. The new policy is now open to all customers and for existing customers can be backdated to a maximum of five years. · The discounts will be backdated to the date that the driver was added to the primary policy. Read more...

First reading of the bill occurred on 11 January 2006. The Road Safety Bill is due to have its second hearing in the house of commons.

The research was carried out on behalf of Direct Line car insurance by YouGov. A nationally representative sample of 2,430 UK adults were questioned online between 6th to 10th January 2006. Results are weighted to be representative of the UK adult population. YouGov is a member of the British Polling Council.

*There are 33.8 million drivers in the UK (Census data, 2001) and according to the YouGov findings 16 per cent of all motorists hold penalty points on their licence and of these three per cent are currently three points away from losing their licence and 14 per cent are six points away from losing their licence. 0.16 x 33,809,493 = 5,409,518. 0.17 x 5,409,518 = 919,618.06.

**There are 33.8 million drivers in the UK (Census data, 2001) and according to the YouGov findings six per cent of motorists in the past 12 months have paid out an average speeding fine of £60. 0.06 x 33,809,493 = 2,028,569.58 (motorists). £60 x 2,028,569.58 = £121,714,174.

Unroadworthy Cars
Results are weighted to be representative of the GB adult population. **According to the findings three per cent of drivers have broken down whilst driving an unroadworthy vehicle and a further three per cent have been involved in a road accident with an unroadworthy vehicle. “Many motorists say they are failing to fix their cars because they can’t find a mechanic they trust but this really isn’t an excuse for driving an illegal car. Read more..

Sales spending spree
“It may have been a quiet Christmas on the high street, but it looks like shoppers will make up for it in this year’s sales, picking up luxury goods for a fraction of the price they would have been before Christmas. Brits predict that they will spend £5.5billion in total this year, compared with the £3.7billion they spent last year.2 The most popular buy this year will be electrical goods, with sales shoppers intending to spend £316 on MP3 players, televisions and DVD players. Adults predict they will spend an average of £122.20 each in the 2006 sales = £5,560,100,000. Read more...

Lack of driver education
The present practical driving test does not include driving on the motorway at all and it is up to the driving test examiners discretion as to whether learners are tested on dual carriageways. Accidents involving HGVs are becoming more common with statistics showing a 19% increase year on year*. This lack of confidence is causing a serious problem on the UK roads. Read more...

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