Insurance premiums would soar if a proposal to blame car drivers for any accidents involving cyclists is adopted, experts warn.
A change in civil law has been suggested by Cycling England, an agency funded by the Department for Transport, that could make the more powerful vehicle in an accident automatically liable for insurance and compensation.
As part of a number of ideas to encourage drivers to ditch their cars in favour of bicycles, Phillip Darnton, chief executive of Cycling England, said the “legal onus” should be placed on motorists.
However, the Association for British Insurers has warned this could cause a hike in insurance premiums across the board.
“A significant increase in claims would mean higher premiums,” said a spokesman. The AA agrees. “Insurance premiums would go up without a shadow of a doubt,” said Paul Watters, its head of public affairs.
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Re: Cycle plan could hit insurance
As I mentioned on the previous thread on this subject the only fight I have ever been involved in was thumping an otherwise mild mannered, middle aged man in a Rover 75 who ran my wife and her bike off the road inspite of her having the right of way. The thing is, as a motorist, when someone cuts me up all I suffer is an adrenaline rush or at worse a dent in my car. As a cyclist I can easily die.
Re: Cycle plan could hit insurance
I didn't claim *you* had said it. But it is something that was mentioned earlier in this thread, and hence I wished to discuss it further.
Are you really suggesting that currently, if someone damages your car, you'd just shrug and leave it because of "the problems and expense of going to court"? I'm fortunate in not having to have made many insurance claims, but I don't recall them being exactly hassle free. I recall months of wrangling with intransigent insurers, keen to wriggle out of their obligations. So nope, still not sure how insurance changes that one.
Given motorists are hardly particularly law abiding, I'm not sure of the relevance of that point. A significant number of both motorists and cyclists seem keen to avoid obeying laws if they feel they can get away with it - be that speed limits, traffic priorities, yellow boxes or traffic lights. The difference is, cyclists rarely maim or kill people when they get it wrong; motorists do all too often.
In Seattle you can stroll across a car park and motorists *expect* to stop and wait for you, regardless of zebra crossing markings. In the UK, you can expect an angry glare for daring to hold up a car for microsecond if you fail to sprint out of their way.
In Switzerland, cars *expect* to stop and give priority to bicycles on cycle lanes that cut across roads. In the UK, our cycle lanes require the cyclist to stop every few hundred yards to give way to minor roads.
In the UK, walking or cycling along a road, the motorist *expects* bicycles and pedestrians to leap out of their way on roads without footpaths or cycle lanes - only a small minority make an effort to slow down and wait for space to properly pull out and overtake without trying to squeeze past at high speed. Should a car happen to be coming the other way at the time, well the cyclist/pedestrian won't mind being pushed into the hedge will they?
You don't go walking down the street barging old grannies out of the way because they're weak and vulnerable, so why is it any more acceptable for a vulnerable road user to be bullied by someone sitting in their comfy safe car, isolated from the rest of the world?
Re: Cycle plan could hit insurance
When did I say that, get your facts right before posting.
It changes it because all they have to do is give you their insurance details and hay presto, problem solved. No going to court and all the problems and expense that causes to both parties. Jeez its not a difficult concept to undertand.
Cyclists attitudes to UK traffic law is truely shocking. UK cyclists could learn alot from their european couterparts when it comes to not mowing down pedestrians and acting in a generally anti-social manner.