Ban Car Magazines

esure and First Alternative call for under-21 ban on 'irresponsible' car magazines

(24 February 2005)

Online car insurers, esure and First Alternative, are this week calling on MPs to help bring about a ban on the sale of car magazines that the companies believe are 'irresponsible' to under-21-year olds.

Two main examples, Max Power and Fast Car Magazine, combine soft pornography with advice on modified - and modifying - cars, often to change the bodywork or increase engine power, both of which could have adverse effects on both the insurance costs and safety of cars.

Max Power's is now one of the UK's largest-selling car magazines and its motto is: "The Definitive Guide to Arsing Around in Cars". It has a recorded profile of readers which shows that 37% are aged between 15 and 19, with 66% under the age of 25. Nearly a quarter of the magazine's readers also spend less than £3,000 on their cars, but clearly buy the ....cont/

magazine with a view to changing their car's performance or look.

In the UK, drivers under the age of 21 are responsible for 20% of all motoring offences, with 88% being committed by young men. Young males are also responsible for a disproportionately high percentage of insurance claims and accidents; they also have the most serious and costly accidents on average*.

esure and First Alternative are also concerned that the high representation of uninsured drivers among this age group** could be exacerbated by drivers being encouraged to spend limited money on modifications that will inevitably make insurance far more costly and harder to find.

Mike Pickard, Head of Risk and Underwriting, at esure said: "It is disturbing that these magazines are promoting many of the things that are probably least advisable for this section of the driving population. Young men who modify cars in attempts to make them go faster are often increasing the potential risk to ....cont/

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themselves, their passengers and other road users.

Gary Thomas, Head of Underwriting at First Alternative said: "We believe strongly that cars can always be potential lethal weapons and must be seen as such by all drivers - but particularly those most likely to have accidents: nowhere is this more true than among young men. At a time when the Government is focusing increasingly on motoring issues and road safety, we think there should be an age limit on magazines that actively promote behaviour that we believe is irresponsible."

esure and First Alternative are writing to all MPs who have shown a prior interest in motoring or road traffic accident related matters through their support of Early Day Motions and Bills to call for their support in introducing an age requirement for buying publications such as Max Power and Fast Car.

* Sources: Home Office, Offences relating to motor vehicles England and Wales 2002 , ABI figures 2005 and The Greenaway...cont/

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Review of Uninsured Driving in the UK: July 2004 "All of the evidence we have available suggests, conclusively, that the highest risk group of motorists is young drivers and in fact young males. Moreover, this is not a characteristic peculiar to the UK; it is also true of other countries, for example the US, Australia and New Zealand."

** Source: The Greenaway Review of Uninsured Driving in the UK: July 2004 "In 2001 there were almost 267,000 findings of guilt in all courts in England and Wales for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks. Three things stand out from closer examination of this data. First a very striking gender imbalance: over 90% of those convicted in recent years in England and Wales were male. Second, an even more striking age imbalance: almost 60% of male convictions are aged under 25 and almost half of these are under 20."