21-05-2010

Within days of becoming the new Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond announced plans to end Labours so-called “war on motorists” declaring, “motoring has got to get greener but the car is not going to go away”.

Mr Hammond was critical of Labours’ road safety initiatives and withdrew government funding for new speed cameras. The move has proved popular with many motorists and van drivers, who see speed cameras as an extra tax which does nothing to improve road safety. This view has been supported by Swindon Council, who recently turned off speed cameras and recorded no increase in accidents.

The move however, has been criticised by Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake, who claims that it would be “a scandal” if newly developed speed cameras were not used to increase safety on British roads. She claims “this announcement is like a trip back to the dark ages - if camera numbers go into decline or fail to go up where they are so desperately needed then that will inevitably mean faster speeds and more blood on the streets”.

It has yet to been seen whether the new measures will increase the number of accidents on UK roads. However if the number of accidents does rise - pushing van insurance prices up - it is important to ensure that you are paying as little as possible for your van insurance. Van Compare can help here as they are an independent insurance broker who specialise in finding cheap van insurance for van owners and drivers.