LONDON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — New data from InsureandGo Travel Insurance reveals the top 10 destinations where British holidaymakers think it’s OK to hire a motorbike or moped and risk riding without a helmet.
Thailand tops the danger list – with 30% of survey respondents saying it would be the norm to ride a hire bike or moped without wearing an approved helmet. Many people felt the same to be true for India (26%), Jamaica (18%), Brazil (18%), Italy (18%), Spain (17%), Maldives (13%), Ibiza (13%), USA (10%) and Lanzarote (9%).
The new InsureandGo data suggests a significant proportion of British holidaymakers could be putting themselves at risk when going on holiday this year. Nationally, 21% of people said they were inclined to hire a moped to have some holiday fun – and 16% favoured a motorbike road trip – even though survey respondents acknowledged these were not activities they would normally do at home in the UK. Compounding the significant safety risk of people doing things they are unfamiliar with on holiday, not wearing an approved helmet on a moped or motorbike will usually invalidate a travel insurance policy – leaving holidaymakers exposed to personally covering the cost of huge medical bills.
Also of particular concern, older holiday makers were most inclined to hire a motorbike or moped as a special holiday experience, doing something they don’t usually do at home. The over 55s were most likely to think it was alright to go on a motorbike trip without an approved helmet in Thailand (35%), and for India it was the over 45s most likely to consider hiring a moped or motorbike without a helmet (31%).
When the nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults was asked why they wouldn’t wear a motorbike or moped helmet when hiring a motorbike or moped on holiday, 20% said it was OK not to wear one if they were visiting a country where helmet laws were not strict or enforced (20%) and 15% said they would fit in with what the locals did. A further 17% said they wouldn’t wear a helmet if the weather was hot and sticky and 20% wouldn’t feel the need for a helmet if they were only travelling a short distance.
Chris Rolland, CEO at InsureandGo, comments: “Everyone wants to have some care-free fun when abroad – and as a leading travel insurance provider we want to make it easy for them to go without the doubt – but safety is also of prime importance. Hiring motorbikes and mopeds on holiday can be risky, especially if biking is something people don’t do at home. Added to this, wearing a helmet is vital. In Thailand, helmets are mandatory but many people choose not to wear them and the law isn’t enforced. While there may be a temptation to do what the locals do, the simple truth is if holidaymakers hire a bike and don’t wear a helmet, they will invalidate their travel insurance. The last thing anyone needs on holiday is to be involved in a traffic accident, which is stressful enough, only to find there’s also huge medical bill to pay personally if their travel insurance cover is then invalidated.”
InsureandGo is one of the best-known names in travel insurance in the UK. Based in Southend-on-Sea with over 100 staff, it is a multi-award-winning travel insurance company founded in 2000. InsureandGo are travel insurance specialists, and have covered more than 27 million travellers during the last 23 years. To discover more visit InsureandGo.com.
