News Archive
Council Cuts Could Impact Car Insurance
May 21, 2012
Local councils have cut their road safety budgets by an average of 15% in the last year, saving £23 million. However, whilst this figure may be good news for local councils it could see an increase in car insurance claims.
Recent research by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has revealed that less emphasis is being put on road users’ safety as a result of these cuts.
There is a fear that the reduction in spending may result in cut backs for rehabilitation courses for speeding motorists as well as road maintenance and training for young drivers. Without adequate training and rehabilitation in place there could be an increase in car insurance claims.
Commenting on the cuts the chief executive for IAM, Simon Best stated:
“Austerity is forcing councils to make difficult choices, but the fact that these cuts only represent the first year of savings under the coalition’s spending review is deeply worrying. Cutting road safety so hard makes no sense. The average wage of a lollipop lady is £3,000 a year, while the cost of each road fatality is £1.6 million. So the returns on investment are huge."
Mr Best added that cuts of this scale risk lives and the government should be looking to bring back casualty reduction targets to ensure that local councils are making road safety a priority.
Another concern IAM expressed was that the "patchy" spending on road maintenance is unlikely to keep pace with the UK's crumbling roads.
Source: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/2166.html