Motor insurance news
02/08/2007
Swinton calls for laws to protect cheap car insurance rates
Swinton is calling for laws governing what motorists can and cannot do whilst at the wheel to be made more specific, after a survey carried out by the cheap car insurance firm revealed worrying levels of confusion on all but a few key points. While the overwhelming majority know it is illegal to call or text on a mobile phone whilst driving, questions regarding activities such as changing a CD or applying lipstick were clearly a matter of guesswork for most people.
Of the 2,408 drivers who participated in the Swinton survey, three in four said it was okay to swap CDs, but just a third reckoned applying lipstick was legal. 29 percent felt making a 'V' sign at another driver was against the law, and 25 percent said holding hands with a partner was. Opinion was divided almost 50-50 over the legality of eating a sandwich.
In fact, none of these things is prohibited explicitly under British law. Instead, it broadly outlaws any activity which causes drivers not to be 'in full control' of a vehicle; and that, according to Swinton, can lead to many risking a conviction and a cheap car insurance rate by acting illegally without realising it.
"Whether a person is in full control of a vehicle or not remains at the discretion of a police officer and is therefore ambiguous," said a spokesman for the motor insurance firm. "We are calling for a tighter definition of the law so any confusion is removed and drivers aren't unwittingly acting illegally."
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