Steering column: Insurance, speeders, car names and our competition winner

Under 25? We don’t trust you dot com

NOT content with infecting the airwaves with their insipid, mindlessly repetitive adverts, or churning out wave upon wave of meaningless and ill-researched press releases, insurance firms this week called for a ban on young drivers from getting behind the wheel between 11pm and 4am.

Fortunately, the British Government is not the Iranian Government and flatly rejected the Association of British Insurers’ list of absurd, sweeping anti-youngster demands, which also included making drivers under the age of 25 have a minimum one-year learning period before taking their driving test, making newly qualified drivers under the age of 25 have to sit a second test two years after passing their first test, and limiting the number of passengers new drivers under the age of 25 can ferry around.

Dignifying this self-serving drivel with a response, road safety minister Mike Penning said the Government was not proposing to place any restrictions on new drivers. “Britain has some of the safest roads in the world and the majority of new drivers are safe and responsible,” he said.

“We do not propose placing any restrictions on new drivers as we do not want to unfairly penalise responsible young people who rely on driving to get to work or college.”

But ABI director of general insurance Nick Starling hit back. He said: “Ministers need to worry less about losing votes from young people and start taking seriously the threat young drivers pose to themselves, their passengers and other drivers. Both this Government and its predecessor have talked a good game on young drivers but have failed to grasp real reform with the result that claims have continued to rise and costs of insurance for young drivers have become too high.”

Too right they have. Try spending less money on animated meerkats and opera singers and we might see our premiums come down a little.

Relative speed

Most motorists think a family member drives too fast, according to an AA/Populus survey.

As many as 51 per cent of those questioned reckoned a member of their family drove at excessive speed while 26 per cent had a colleague who went too fast, the study showed.

Of the 16,961 motorists polled, 56 per cent said they had a family member who was scared of driving on motorways, while 35 per cent had a relative who drove while using a mobile phone, eating, shaving or putting on make-up.

Conversely, when questioned about their own driving skills, most motorists were confident of their abilities.

As many as 71 per cent said they were quite, or very, good at sticking to speed limits and 89 per cent said they were quite, or very, good at keeping a safe distance.

AA president Edmund King said: “A worrying number of us think our friends, families and colleagues have illegal and dangerous driving habits.”

The star’s the car

ROONEY, Angelina and Prince William are among the bizarre names Brits give their cars, a study released today has revealed. The monikers emerged in a study of 3,000 drivers. The NCP Car Names Report quizzed 17-45 year olds on their car-naming habits and found six in ten have named their car at some point. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of drivers said they liked to name their cars after celebrities. Bizarrely, the study found that 3 per cent of us name our cars after work colleagues.

Key player

Last week we offered a BMW M5 (keyring) to the Facebook follower who came up with the best alternative – and clean – meaning for BMW. Well done to Yvonne Poole from Livingston, whose “Braw Moturz, Weeman” won us over.