Lawford Kidd's Blog

A survey from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has found that the legal costs for making third party whiplash-type injury claims has fallen by 65%.

According to the IFoA, the introduction of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013 has not only led to a reduction in the cost of legal fees, but also a reduction in the cost of making a genuine whiplash claim. The introduction of the act has also led to a decrease in the number of bogus claims throughout the UK.

The IFoA findings show that the cost of whiplash-type bodily injury claims has fallen by 19%, with the frequency of the claims also dropping by 12% from the previous year.

Companies are being urged to step up their commitment to safer business driving on UK roads, by recommending organisations they employ or hire carry the ISO 39001 accreditation, which shows their drivers have met some of the highest safety standards.

The call comes from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), which recently conducted a survey revealing that 72% of people who drove for business reasons had been offered no training by their employer at all – even though 44% of them said they would welcome the opportunity.

The figures relating to driving for work accidents are alarming:

Traffic education should become an integral part of the National Curriculum, in an effort to cut the numbers of young people killed and injured on UK roads, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has said.

The call ties in with a survey by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), which found that only seven of 15 European countries had mandatory traffic education in schools.

Although the numbers of people killed and injured on UK roads have been steadily decreasing for many years, the rate of decrease has been slowing down recently.

As many as one in seven (15%) drivers who use a sat-nav admit making illegal or risky manoeuvres to correct mistakes when following sat-nav instructions, putting themselves and other road users at risk of a devastating crash.

The survey by road safety charity Brake and Direct Line also found that:

• one in 14 (7%) drivers have had a near miss, having to swerve or brake suddenly to avoid a hazard, because they were distracted by a sat-nav (rising to one in 10 (11%) among young drivers (17-24);
• one in 14 (7%) drivers also admit to having a similar near miss because they were fiddling with their stereo (rising to one in 10 (11%) among young drivers (17-24)).

Through its drive smart campaign, Brake is calling on all drivers to make a new year’s resolution to stay alert and keep their mind and eyes on the road. Research shows almost everyone is unable to multi-task at the wheel without driving performance being badly affected. Carry out a secondary activity and you’re two to three times more likely to crash: more for complex activities like talking on a phone or texting.

Drunk pedestrians can be a major cause of traffic accidents, according to new research by price comparison website Confused.com.

The research shows that over 6,000 ‘drunk’ pedestrians have been injured on UK roads since 20111, and many of these ‘drunk walking’ accidents are happening over the Christmas period.

Drunk pedestrians are most at risk of injury on UK roads between the times of 22:00-23:59, perhaps as a result of a long night of drinking. Men are apparently the most likely to drink-walk, and account for more than three quarters (79%) of all drunk pedestrian road incidents.