Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 4 nov 2012:
Just when you thought it was safe to get behind the wheel: this week, the news cycle has been filled with some rather silly points made about van drivers.
One initial report, published just a few days ago, has sounded the alarm that we’ve a new endangered species here in the UK: The White Van Man. A new survey found that out of those under the age of 30 that are entering a trade, only four per cent of them are in need of a van.
The commercial van insurance provider that conducted the poll discovered that this simply wasn’t true across all age ranges. In fact, anyone over the age of 40 that was planning on changing careers has an 80 per cent chance to be going into a position that requires a van, the insurer found.
What’s behind the demise of young Brits getting behind the wheel of big white vans? Well, nearly one out of every three said that if it wasn’t increases to the price of a litre of petrol, it was rampant insurance and road tax hikes as well driving them into the arms of jobs that didn’t require them sitting in traffic for hours and breathing exhaust fumes; meanwhile 25 per cent of younger drivers said they had no desire to be lumped in with the rest of the White Van Men due to their horrid reputations.
Believe it or not, there may be a bit of truth to the whole ‘horrid driver’ stereotype when it comes to those who drive a van for a living. The research conducted by the car insurance provider found that around 15 per cent of van drivers surveyed had driving offences.
While that’s not a terribly high figure, the next one will definitely blow your mind: around one out of every five van drivers reported actually having sex in their vehicle! Hopefully this wasn’t on the clock – and even more hopefully this wasn’t while the van was in motion, though it would explain some of the poor driving people always complain about, wouldn’t it?
