Safe drivers paying for road accidents

Safe drivers are paying the cost of other people's road accidents through taxes, according to new research from Privilege Insurance.

Drivers are indirectly paying over £200 a year in taxes to cover police, medical and ambulance costs, damage to property and administration costs of accidents.

And the research reveals that almost nine in ten safe drivers do not believe they should have to help pay for the costs of road accidents.

Instead, 60 per cent believe they should only contribute to the cost of accidents they are involved in.

With the Road Safety Bill entering its final stages in Parliament, 83 per cent of all drivers believe the government should adjust vehicle excise duty (road tax) to compensate the 77 per cent of motorists who haven't had an accident in the last four years.

Ian Parker, managing director of Privilege Insurance, said: "Safe drivers, who have had four or more years of claim free motoring, clearly feel penalised by the current road tax system which sees them contribute to covering the cost of accidents which they have neither caused or been involved in.

"While the practical implications of drivers' views will need to be examined in more detail by the government and a tax reduction is just one possible approach, it does seem that more could be done to reward safe drivers."

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