Car insurance news
Government plans threaten cheap car insurance
Millions of drivers' right to a cheap car insurance deal could be under threat after revelations that the Government plan to narrow the width of motorway lanes in order to cram more vehicles onto the road.
According to The Times, the plans are due to be unveiled next month by the Highways Agency and are being proposed as a cost-cutting alternative to widening the motorways. Instead of actually constructing wider roads, the hard shoulder will be removed and each lane will be reduced by six inches, resulting in the creation of four-lane carriageways. Variable speed limits will also be introduced which will change depending on the time of day and the volume of traffic.
The M62 between Huddersfield and Leeds and the M1 between Chesterfield and Leeds have been selected for initial trials and work is scheduled to begin in 2010. The cost of the changes is estimated at nearly £1.3billion, which the Government claim is a "fraction" of what it would cost to construct an entire new lane.
A spokesperson for Duck2Water Car Insurance Services, the cheap car insurance experts, questioned the proposals, saying, "Cars are wider nowadays and there are more heavy lorries than there were when most of our motorways were built, so is it really all a good idea?
"Cost-cutting is fine, but not if it's going to cause accidents and increase people's motor insurance premiums."