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Road pricing 'would have to be sold to car insurance holders'

18 Mar 2010

Posted by Michael Brown

Road pricing may be the answer to congestion, but it will have to be sold to car insurance policyholders, according to an expert.

Kevin Delaney, head of road safety at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, was commenting on a report by the CBI which suggested that road pricing should be considered for building new routes or extra lanes.

The organisation said that experience from overseas suggested the public would support a toll on a new road if it was the only way to get it built.

"You have to make it clear to motorists that there is some benefit in it for them," stressed Mr Delaney.

He suggested that the charges would have to be localised, with car insurance policyholders being able to see that their money is going into projects within their area.

"If they are talking about a national scheme then the money isn't going to go to anything local," Mr Delaney commented, suggesting that it would most likely be devoted to national projects.

In that case, car insurance policyholders would just see road pricing as another form of taxation, he suggested.