Be Careful Driving home from Reading and Leeds Festival
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This week festival goers will be embarking on journeys to Reading & Leeds Festival. However, motoring experts from Short Term Motor Insurance provider, ALA Insurance have warned of lesser known laws you could be breaking when travelling to and from the festivals.
Callum Butler from ALA Insurance comments,
“Car sharing when travelling to festivals is a great way to reduce congestion on the roads, and if you’re travelling far, it can help to break up the journey, allowing drivers to take plenty of time to rest without getting behind on your schedule.
“However, before setting off on your journey, I recommend making yourself familiar with these common driving laws that apply to those sharing the driving, or you could land yourself with a big fine.”
Accepting money in exchange for giving lifts
Although your friends might think they are helping out by offering money in exchange for transport to and from the festival, Callum warns there are tricky laws surrounding this.
While it’s acceptable to receive money towards petrol costs, be careful of making a profit on this, because you could be suspected of illegally operating as a taxi service. As a result, you could face fines, points on your licence or even having your vehicle taken away from you.
Overloading the car
Not only can overloading your car be damaging to your vehicle, but it is also illegal due to the risks of lower visibility. Overloading your car could land you with three points on your licence and a fine of up to £300.
When you’re packing for your festival trip, Callum recommends being selective with the items you take and having a method to your packing.
Pack your biggest and bulkiest items first, such as boxes and tents. Never place items on top of your parcel shelf incase of emergency braking, which could cause items to fly forward. Make use of your footwells, storing smaller items to avoid them rolling around in the boot of your car.
Not having the correct insurance to share driving
Although you might believe you are insured to drive someone else’s car through fully comprehensive insurance, Callum warns this might not be the case. Historically, comprehensive cover would allow the policyholder to drive another person’s car with permission, and in case of an accident, they would have third-party cover only, but these policies have recently changed their cover level.
If you’re not sure whether your insurance covers you to drive other cars, Callum recommends adding them as a named driver to your insurance policy, or for shorter term occasions, taking out a short term motor insurance policy to ensure you are fully covered, which covers you from as little as one hour, and up to 28 days.
Driving without the correct insurance in place could land you with up to eight points on your licence and a fine.
Driving with a hangover
It’s expected that following the festival, there might be a few sore heads hitting the road to get home.
Even if you have slept in between drinking alcohol and driving home, you could still be over the legal drink driving limit. Not only can driving with a hangover reduce your reflexes and road awareness, but it could also lead to a criminal offence if you’re caught.
Callum comments,
“The amount of alcohol in your system can only lessen with time, so to avoid facing delays to your journey home, I recommend designating your drivers for the next morning on the last night of your festival, and reducing their alcohol intake, ensuring they have plenty of time between their last drink, and the time they set off in the car.”
