The RAC is advising UK drivers to make sure they check their tyres regularly to avoid problems.
Having asked drivers about tyres it seems that a number of them are unaware of legal requirements regarding tread and also the general condition of the tyre. The RAC survey found 45 percent of drivers did not know that the minimum tread depth of a tyre is 1.6 mm. For female drivers this went up to 60 percent being unaware of the figure.
Tyres can be forgotten about quite easily but they are very important for road safety, general performance and also fuel economy. The RAC would like drivers to check their tyre condition and pressures at least weekly to avoid having a problem on the road.
The largest insurer in the UK, Norwich Union, has suspended what had been described as a ground breaking form of car insurance that used a black box to track every journey.
The idea was to set premiums based on the risks faced by drivers. This would mean that drivers avoiding rush hour or late night driving would pay less for their car insurance. Norwich Union cited a slow take up of the idea and too few customers as the key factors for withdrawing the car insurance scheme.
There has also been a certain amount of mistrust from drivers regarding the black box. Having every journey monitored is not what Britain is about and there could be situations where a drivers Norwich Union car insurance policy could be negated if a vehicle was seen to be speeding at any time, or even have the data passed to the police. All in all most people feel the withdrawal of the black box idea is a good result and hope that it will not see the light of day again.
It comes as little surprise to anyone that the young drivers on our roads today are being charged much more for their car insurance than their older counterparts. The differences though are considerable.
A study has been carried out by an independent body, looking at the typical premiums being paid to car insurance companies such as Swinton Insurance and others like them. The research has found a difference of 115 percent between the national average car insurance cost and that paid by young drivers. The average figure for the nation is GBP439, while young drivers are paying GBP989. This works out for the young driver at nearly 70 percent of their cars value.
Could this be the reason some young drivers go without insurance it has been asked. In fact some young drivers have even had insurance declined simply because of their age, though Swinton are not understood to be one of the insurers that has done this.