Accidents Caused By Drivers Not Maintaining Cars
Friday, 5. February 2010
Brake, the road safety charity and Direct Line have issued a warning article about the care of safety components such as tyres and brakes, things I have touched on previously. The fact is that far too many drivers rely on a service or MOT to identify faults and wear when in fact drivers should take more responsibility themselves. Andy Goldby, director of underwriting at Direct Line said ‘Drivers seem to be willing to drive their vehicles when they are not safe, endangering the lives of themselves and others. Many may find that if they were to have an accident that is attributed to the fault, they could invalidate their insurance and end up with a criminal conviction. Drivers need to take responsibility and undertake regular inspections of their vehicle, rather than believing that a once a year check, such as a service or MOT, is a guarantee of safety for the next 12 months.’ Now to the frightening stuff. Department for Transport statistics show that 23 people are killed or seriously injured by defective vehicles EVERY WEEK in Britain. In 2008 134 people were killed and 1,101 seriously injured in crashes on British roads where one or more vehicle defects were reported as contributory factors in causing the crash. Selena Muscroft, 20 from Rotherham accepted a lift with her 2 year old daughter from her lodger who was driving a car with bald tyres. The car crashed as a result of the bald tyres and Selena died from a broken neck and internal bleeding whilst her daughter spent 6 days in hospital recovering and is now left without a mother. The driver was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and sent to prison for two and a half years. In 2008/9 36.3% of cars and light vans failed their MOT test. Failure reasons included defective lights (18.9%), brakes (17.1%) and tyres (8.1%). Time to get your car checked I believe, most brake and tyre fitters will do the check for you for free. By Graham Hill
