Backseat drivers’ comments are steering motorists to danger.

As most drivers know, there are many factors that can distract you from concentrating when you are driving, both externally and internally, which can lead to dangerous conclusions.

In recent years, the most reported distraction has been the dangers of talking on your mobile phone whilst driving. In the UK, the law states that it is illegal to drive whilst using a mobile phone, with police ever being able to prosecute drivers when they are using a hands free devise if they think their driving performance is poor whilst using one.

A recent study by esure however has looked at another dangerous distraction that many believe to be harmless, but in reality is the reason for one in seven road accidents or near misses - backseat drivers.

This new study reveals how backseat drivers’ comments have increasingly become the cause of many road accidents, with partners being the worst offenders. This is becoming an increasing risk for many drivers, mainly because they underestimate the effects that distractions have on their driving. The study also shows that men are the worst culprits to take their eyes off the roads for a chat. But even when drivers keep their eyes on the road, backseat comments can cause distractions which may lead to the driver not spotting hazards on the road.

The study highlighted other top distractions for drivers, which included eating, drinking and changing music, but driving with other passengers was seen as a bigger distraction by those who took part in the study, with backseat comments topping the bill (51% of motorists citing this as the worst distraction).

What’s even more surprising is that even though this study showed that most people recognised backseat drivers as a distraction, almost all (91%) motorists who took part in the study admitted to being backseat driver themselves when travelling in another car!

You may find it difficult to manage distractions whilst driving. Some distractions are unavoidable, but there are some precautionary steps you can take to reduce the risk of becoming distracted. For example, you need to recognise what is causing the distraction. If it’s a backseat driver, you need to ensure they are aware that they are causing a distraction. You may think you are being rude to the passenger, but this is a much better outcome than being involved in a road accident.

Also, if you are aware that you are a backseat driver, like many who took part in this study admitted to being, it’s essential to learn to respect the driver of the vehicle and understand that you are more than likely going to be more of a hindrance rather than a help with your comments. Distractions are everywhere for motorists, so you should not add to these with your ‘helpful’ comments!

There is currently no law against back-seat drivers, but there are laws that focus on not engaging in distractive activities. Motorists can be charged with careless driving or failing to be in proper control of their vehicle. In other words, a backseat driver might not receive 3 points on their licence, but their comments may lead to the driver getting into trouble with the law if they become too distracted.

Above all, remember to simply focus on your driving. This needs to be a priority for all drivers, even if you’re driving on a route you regularly take. It may seem a pretty obvious, but many motorists forget this, which makes them victim to distractions like backseat drivers’ criticisms. And remember, if backseat drivers persist with their comments, you can always kindly remind them where the nearest bus stop is!

Visit eCar, an online insurance solution that will let you manage your car insurance whenever is suitable for you. As well as annual car insurance, we provide short term car insurance from 1 to 28 days and monthly car insurance in the form of a flexible Pay As You Go car insurance policy.

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Cheapest way to travel in London? Chauffeur-driven luxury cars!

When getting around busy cities in the UK such as London, many of us tend to take public transport, with the bus or tube being popular choices. Most of us would much rather travel in a more luxurious form of transport rather than squeezing onto the tube for the daily commute. Unfortunately, the general consensus is that luxury travel would be out of most people’s price range, with public transport costing much less. But in reality, is public transport really the cheapest choice?

According to new research by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), it would seem that a cheaper option to public transport would be the Rolls-Royce Phantom!

For those who don’t know much about the Phantom, here’s a brief overview:
Nearly 20ft long and 6ft 6in wide, suicide doors that close electrically, a 6.75 litre V12 engine which goes 0-60 in 6 seconds and has a price tag of £250,000. In other words, it’s a far nicer experience than slotting yourself into a tube carriage that’s already full to the brim. But how on earth can it be cheaper to use one of these over public transport?

The ETA has worked out that currently, a tube ticket in central London can cost up to £24 per mile. The Phantom will set you back £200 per hour (which includes your very own chauffer), which works out to around £16 per mile in Central London.

The only downfall on travelling in the Phantom is its lack of regard for the environment. The ETA state that driving one kilometre would emit 377g of CO2 which is around five times more than that generated on the tube.

This research has highlighted the ever-rising cost in public transport, which is putting many people off using it. The fact that hiring one of the most luxurious cars available today can be cheaper than the tube certainly should raise some eyebrows for those involved in public transport fares. So the next time you’re in London and decide to treat yourself by hiring or even buying (if you’re lucky and have a spare £250,000 lying around) a luxury vehicle, you may save a few quid on travel expenses! Just make sure you’re insured before you set off!

Visit eCar, an online insurance solution that will let you manage your car insurance whenever is suitable for you. As well as annual car insurance, we provide short term car insurance from 1 to 28 days and monthly car insurance in the form of a flexible Pay As You Go car insurance policy.

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Britons still reluctant to take out travel insurance – but at what cost?

It’s that time of the year again – Britain’s unpredictable ‘summer’ weather is here which means that holidaymakers across the UK will takes their chances abroad for warmer weather.

Planning on what one needs to take with them on holiday can usually be a stressful experience. Whilst trying to make sure all the essentials are packed such as tickets and passports; new research has shown that holidaymakers are choosing not to pack one vital item... Travel Insurance.

Around 12 million Brits have made plans to visit friends and family abroad this summer, with many more expected to book last minute deals online. However, despite this huge figure, only half of young people have taken out insurance. Research published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) found that 39% of people who were visiting friends and family in Africa did not take out travel insurance on their previous trip and only 48% took out travel insurance when visiting relatives in South Asia.

Many people feel that travel insurance is redundant when visiting friends or family abroad, regardless of where they are travelling in the world. In reality, it’s the most important item to pack in your suitcase. The foreign office are reminding those who don’t take out travel insurance run the risk of facing a colossal medical bill, whether they are visiting friends and family or not.

In order to tackle these alarming statistics, the FCO have launched a new ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign, which aims to remind Brits to make sure they have obtained appropriate travel insurance before they jet off. The FCO has also released some examples of foreign medical costs. For example, a broken arm in Spain can cost £5,000, whereas getting an air ambulance in Australia can leave you with a bill of £100,000.

The same costs can apply to potential diseases you may catch while abroad. For example the Health Protection Agency (HPA) have recently warned that the rise in malaria cases in UK, which has seen a 30% increase in cases, is potentially down to travellers staying with friends and family abroad and not taking the necessary precautions. The HPA believes that this is because many travellers staying with people they know believed they would not be at risk when they know the area they were visiting. However, those who have not taken out insurance will not be able to rely on the Foreign Office to arrange better medical treatment or pay bills for any British travellers.

Besides these facts, many still see travel insurance as an unnecessary extra when planning a holiday, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. This blog only scratches the surface of potential risks travellers face when going abroad, with many more (for example, ash clouds cancelling flights) that could also be detrimental to travellers and their wallets. Even the slightest injury abroad or losing an item of luggage could leave you with a bill that costs more than the holiday itself.

With the ability now to obtain online travel insurance at a cheap and affordable price, there really is no excuse. It should be a priority after you’ve booked your flight and accommodation. You can then get back to the other important task... looking forward to your holiday!

Check out eTraveller to see how much money you can save on your travel insurance. You can get a quote in seconds, with a choice between Essential and Extra cover to suit your own individual needs. Click here to see how much money you can save.

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Hitchhiker Cat Travels Over 400 Miles from Home

Charlie is a one-year-old black and white moggy. Recently she vanished from her owner Natasha Jones, 18, only to be found four months later... 400 miles from home!

Natasha currently lives in Tywardreath, Cornwall. She bought Charlie, along with her brother Bruster from a nearby farm over the Christmas period. Both cats were being house trained before they were let outside to roam the neighborhood. However, when both cats were let out for the first time in February, only Bruster returned a few hours later with Charlie nowhere to be seen. Weeks went by and with still no sight of Charlie, sadly she was presumed dead.

Natasha frantically attempted to find her beloved cat by posting flyers across town, hoping that someone would spot her and hand her in. It was not until 4 months later that Natasha received a call, explaining her cat had been found 400 miles away in North Wales.

 Representatives from the RSPCA said that it’s quite common for cats to wonder away from their homes, but for Charlie to travel such great a distance was unbelievable.

Charlie was found injured on the side of the road at the port of Holyhead, North Wales. RSPCA Inspector Mike Pugh said that they only realised that the cat had an owner when they spotted her collar. When she was found, she was reported to have been in a lot of pain and was terribly frightened.

As to how she ended up 400 miles from home is currently unknown. The most likely explanation would be that she hitched a ride with a van or lorry. The RSPCA have begun asking many van drivers who travelled from Cornwall to the north of Wales in February to get in touch if they have any further details on this story.

This story, although having a happy ending, highlights a valuable lesson in keeping our pets safe. Pets have a tendency to get themselves into trouble and it is up to the owners to ensure that they are kept out of harm’s way as much a possible. Many pets that have gone missing have been reported to have been found again hundreds of miles from their homes, months or even years after they have been reported missing. So getting your pets microchipped should be a necessity for all families.

Also many lost animals, like Charlie, don’t have enough experience in wild environments, which means that the chances of them being hurt or injured are very high. This means that families may have to pay thousands in veterinary bills. Therefore, pet insurance should be something all families need to consider.

Natasha has been reunited with Charlie and is now being nursed back into good health. They are now also getting Charlie microchipped just in case she decides to set off on another long distance adventure!

Visit ePet for pet insurance to protect against unforeseen incidents that can affect both your pet and your pocket. ePet offers a variety of policies to suit you and your pet. Each year 1 in 3 pets are injured or become ill and need urgent veterinary treatment. We can help cover the cost of these unexpected bills for as little as 13p a day, leaving you with the important job of helping your important member of the family back to full recovery.

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Are you covered for the festival season this year?

The summer is almost upon us, which means that the festival season has arrived. The UK is spoilt for choice in terms of festivals, ranging from small local festivals featuring the best of the local talent, to the mammoth Glastonbury Festival where over 130,000 will gather to see the likes of Coldplay, U2 and Beyonce.

Those who are planning to go to any festivals this year are being warned that as well as making sure the essentials have been packed (sleeping bag, toilet paper, tent!), they should also make sure that they will be fully covered with a good insurance policy throughout the event.

Many experts have reinforced the importance of being on guard against opportunistic thieves. Festival goers will spend most of the day away from their tents to watch various bands and artists perform throughout the day. This means that tents will be left unguarded for hours at a time. Potential thieves could enter someone else’s tent and take something without anyone knowing, due to the difficulty of not knowing which tents people own. It is therefore invaluable for festival goers to ensure that their insurance policies will in fact cover them during the course of the festival they attend.

Many insurance policies state that if you need to make a claim, it’s vital that you report any lost or stolen items within 24 hours, as some policies may become void if policy holders fail to do this. Other insurance policies will not cover any items that have been left in a tent that doesn’t have a lock, so to avoid any hassle, it’s best to ensure all valuable items are kept with you at all times, keeping a vigilant eye out for potential pickpockets.

As well as having insurance to protect your valuables, those attending festivals also need to consider checking their car insurance if there is more than one driver on the way to the festival and back. Second driver cover may vary between insurers. This is important advice for festival goers, who mainly consist of young drivers and on average are more likely to have an accident. Breakdown cover is also worth checking, especially if you have to travel a great distance.

Even though many people don’t want to think about these things when they’ve bought their festival tickets, most experts say that it’s worth the hassle. Festivals are great experiences that can easily be ruined if you find that one of your valuables has been pick-pocketed and your insurance can’t cover it. Festivals are also very expensive, so extra costs which could have been avoided can be very annoying.

So to make sure you are fully covered on the policies you currently hold, check your home insurance can cover any valuable items you take away with you and also ensure your car insurance has breakdown cover and that any second drivers are also covered. Doing these simple checks shouldn’t take long and will put your mind at ease for the festival season, so your only worry will be finding the best place to stand that is close enough both to the stage and the beer tent!

Visit eCar, an online insurance solution that will let you manage your car insurance whenever it’s suitable for you. As well as annual car insurance, we provide short term car insurance from 1 to 28 days and monthly car insurance in the form of a flexible Pay As You Go car insurance policy.

Furthermore, visit eHome for an online insurance solution which allows you to buy your insurance any time of the day or night. We are completely online, so we don’t have to invest in expensive call centres. This means we can pass the savings onto our customers in the form of lower premiums! We can offer you great deals in Building Only, Contents Only or  Building and Contents policies.

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Citroёn to recall over 20,000 cars to resolve ‘passenger brake’ problem

BBC television programme Watchdog has recently uncovered a serious issue with Citroёn’s new range of C3 Picassos. It was discovered by investigators that the brakes in the car could be operated by those seated in the passenger seat.

The fault is due to the conversion made to the French cars exported to the UK market, to make the initially left-hand drive cars, right-hand drive. This leaves a section of the braking system on the footwell on the passenger’s side. Currently, this mechanism is only protected by a thin piece of felt, which means that those seated in the front passenger seat can activate the brakes if they apply enough pressure on the footwell.

This issue was first raised by a cleaning company, which had 3 of the vehicles in question in its fleet. They discovered the error when travelling down the motorway at 70mph, only to find their car suddenly reducing speed to 50mph after a sharp brake that wasn’t initiated by the driver.

Upon hearing about this incident, investigators from the programme, ‘Watchdog’ tested two different cars of the same model in dealerships in South-East England only to find the same issue.

This is a major concern for the Citroёn company, which prides itself on the safety of their vehicles. Ironically, Citroën’s website explains how the C3 Picasso has an innovative and comprehensive braking system, but it’s doubtful they thought a fault like this would occur. Since the programme aired on 19^th May, Citroёn have issued a statement on their website to address this issue. They claim that since the C3 Picasso model launched in 2009, they have had no incidents like this previously reported to them. However, they are offering all 22,000 people that have purchased this vehicle in the UK to go to their nearest Citroёn dealership to have an additional component fitted which will isolate the braking mechanism from the front seat passenger. This will be completed free of charge.

This isn’t the first time in recent years that particular models of cars have had to be recalled due to some major faults. In early 2010, Toyota had to recall around 4.1 million vehicles worldwide due to an accelerator issue, in which some cases found the accelerator to stick in a depressed position.

The advice given to C3 Picasso owners is to continue to use their cars as normal and to contact Citroёn with any questions or queries regarding this issue. Reports from Watchdog suggest that if car owners want to check their own vehicles to see if they are affected by this issue, ensure the handbrake is on and that the vehicle is stationary. Then ask someone to sit in the front passenger seat and apply pressure to the footwell. If the driver can see the brake pedal moving down on its own when the passenger applies pressure, then they will need to contact the manufacturer immediately. But again, ensure the handbrake is ON before testing your vehicle.

It’s also a good idea to make sure your car insurance is in order as well to make sure you are covered if this fault or any other potential faults may occur. Visit eCar, an online insurance solution that will let you manage your car insurance whenever is suitable for you. As well as annual car insurance, we provide short term car insurance from 1 to 28 days and monthly car insurance in the form of a flexible Pay As You Go car insurance policy.

To contact Citroёn regarding this issue, call the Citroёn Contact Centre on 01753475862 or email cuk_contactcentre@citroen.com.

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