Car premiums may not be reduced as road deaths rise

Motorists are faced with the prospect of higher car insurance premiums as fears grow that the effects of penalty points are wearing off.

The insurance industry warned last night that it will not reduce premiums, as expected, if it becomes apparent that road safety has not improved despite the introduction of penalty points last November.

"If the current trend continues, you are not going to see any further reductions in premiums. And companies who have already given reductions may be going to think twice," the chief executive of the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF), Mr Mike Kemp, told The Irish Times.

The IIF warning comes after a weekend in which seven people were killed on Irish roads, five in the Republic, two in Fermanagh.

A spate of fatal accidents in the last 10 days has pushed the number of road deaths in June to 35, one more than in the same month last year.

Road deaths for last month also exceeded the figure for the same period last year. A total of 38 people lost their lives on Irish roads in May, compared with 20 in May 2002.

The number of lives saved since penalty points were introduced has gradually reduced every month, with the IIF claiming last night that the effects of penalty points had clearly worn off.

A spokesman for the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, accused the insurance industry of being unwilling to become part of the solution to road safety since the introduction of penalty points. Instead, it was "sitting back and waiting for figures" to emerge. "It is crucial that insurers should not chip away at confidence in the system," he said.

The Minister is meeting assistant Garda commissioners in the next week to discuss the issue of enforcing penalty points. The talks are to centre on the need for high-visibility policing and the need to convince motorists that the chances of being caught speeding are getting greater every day, said the spokesman.

While the Minister was "disappointed" at the road death figures for May and June, his spokesman pointed out that almost 50 lives had been saved under penalty points and serious accidents had been reduced by 20 per cent.

On Tuesday the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise and Small Business will hear submissions from the IIF, Hibernian Insurance and Quinn Direct on reforming the insurance sector. And on Thursday the committee will hear submissions from AXA and FBD. According to the IIF, the current approach to road safety enforcement is "disjointed", and a holistic approach is needed.

Mr Kemp called for the issue to be properly co-ordinated by the Departments of Justice, Transport and Health, working with the emergency services and gardaí.