The Young Marmalade founders, hoping to cut road deaths involving young people
August is National Road Victims Month and this year attention is being drawn towards trying to save young lives.
Every year 1.2million people die around the world in traffic accidents and one third of these are young people under the age of 25.
An AA spokesman said: “Government figures show eight out of 10 accidental deaths, from any cause, of men aged 15 to 19 are on the road — as drivers or passengers in cars. This is much, much more than drugs, stabbings or work-related accidents, which tend to grab headlines.”
According to the World Health Organisation Youth Road Safety Report in 2007, Young men aged 17 to 21 are three times more likely than women of the same age to be killed in a road traffic accident.
August is a poignant month for road safety because it sees an increase in the numbers of children being injured on our roads while they are off school.
Young Marmalade, the provider of insurance for young drivers, are members of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, they are directly involved in the government’s policies towards safety on our roads.
They are offering a new kind of insurance policy for young drivers designed to inspire careful driving by improving access to newer and safer cars and cheaper insurance.
They have teamed up with 13 car manufacturers and sell new (or nearly new cars) to young drivers. They use the volume sale discounts to subsidise the cost of insurance. Youngsters are required to complete a Pass Plus driving course before being eligible.
This year, Young Marmalade’s learner-driver arm, Provisional Marmalade, signed up with motoring accessory giant Halfords to provide young drivers with the extra road practice time that they need. This new, radical type of car insurance allows provisional drivers to purchase fully comprehensive insurance on a family or friend’s car for only £3 per day.
Halfords spokeswoman Diane Perry said: “The high insurance premiums for young drivers deprive many of the opportunity to gain that vital practice needed to supplement tuition from qualified driving instructors.”
“The Driving Standards Agency recommends over 20 hours of private practice alongside professional tuition and this insurance policy has removed one of the biggest concerns facing parents when helping their children behind the wheel – the risk to their No Claims Bonus. We believe this insurance product will help save young lives,” said Nigel Lacy from Young Marmalade.
Young Marmalade was presented with a road safety award by Prince Michael of Kent last year.
2 comments so far
1 catcompare // Aug 3, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Some research suggests men are more likely to have a more serious car accident (women more likely to have minor car accident), which it has been suggested is related to aggression and greater use of alcohol.
Best of luck
2 john carlisle // Oct 1, 2010 at 4:48 pm
did no-one pick up the ridiculous figure of 1.2 million casualties on the UK roads in one year?!
Getting it wrong by a couple of hundred in 10,000 may be forgiveable – by by a factor of about 500 is ludicrous.