New driver insurance news - Road humps and first time car insurance holders

Road safety news - First time car insurance holders say farewell to road humps

Many first time car insurance holders may be pleased to hear that the Department for Transport (DfT) has given its approval on a new scheme which will see a reduction in the number of road humps.

In recent years, as road safety campaigners made calls for the speeding problem in the UK to be tackled, road humps appeared all over the country attempting to slow both new driver car insurance holders and more experienced motorists down.

But road humps, or sleeping policemen and traffic bumps as they are also known, have received a lot of bad press.

A road hump costs a council around £450, but they can damage vehicle suspension, reportedly increase carbon emissions, and generate complaints about vehicle noise from people living near-by.

Less controversial traffic calming methods such as speed limit sign posts and road surface warnings cost around £175 and £45 respectively, but reportedly, the reason these cheaper options are often ignored by councils is that, currently, putting a sign up or painting the speed limit onto tarmac means filling in a greater amount of paperwork.

Now, Norman Baker, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, who is in charge of road safety, has decided that councils will no longer need to seek approval from Whitehall when they want to install a sign or paint the speed limit onto the road.

"Signs can do the job cheaper and more effectively without annoying people," the road safety minister stated.

Fewer road humps may mean easier driving conditions for first time car insurance holders who need to be focussing on other road users and hazards rather than trying to swerve to avoid hitting a speed hump.