THE ABI’S RESPONSE TO THE DFT CONSULTATION ON RETROFITTING OF DEVICES FOR INDIRECT VISION (MIRRORS) ON MOTOR VEHICLES

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is the voice of the insurance and investment industry. Its members constitute over 90 per cent of the insurance market in the UK and 20 per cent across the EU. They control assets equivalent to a quarter of the UK’s capital. They are the risk managers of the UK’s economy and society. Through the ABI their voice is heard in Government and in public debate on insurance, savings, and investment matters. And through the ABI they come together to improve customers' experience of the industry, to raise standards of corporate governance in British business and to protect the public against crime. The ABI prides itself on thinking for tomorrow, providing solutions to policy challenges based on the industry’s analysis and understanding of the risks we all face.

1.1The ABI supports the proposed amendment to regulation 33 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as outlined in the consultation document. We called for this implementation of the European Community Directive 2007/38/EC in our policy paper European Drivers: Crossing Borders Safely (November, 2007).

1.2In European Drivers: Crossing Borders Safely we identify the growing risk of European drivers on UK roads. In addition to retrofitting mirrors on HGVs, and introducing fixed penalties, as proposed by the Department, we have outlined a number of further measures to reduce this risk, including:

-the UK Government establishing an accurate picture of cross-border driving in the UK;

-the UK Government ensuring information on road laws is available at points of entry to the country, and the European commission creating an accessible website on road laws across member states;

-the European Commission conducting research comparing driver licensing and vehicle standards across the EU and their relationship to collision rates;

-the European Commission encouraging Member States to respect the First Motor Directive requirement to ensure all users of vehicles are insured wherever they are in the EU;

-the UK Government should establish a system of identifying foreign vehicles kept in the UK for more than six months without being re-registered, as these may not be in a satisfactory state of repair, modified for driving on the left, or insured.

Briony Krikorian

Policy Adviser, Risk Pricing and Safety

Association of British Insurers

51 Gresham Street

London

EC2V 7HQ

0207 2167698