A 150 per cent rise in the number of fatal road accidents in Northern Ireland's Foyle district in the past year has prompted police to step up safety reminders to drivers in the region.

Following similar warnings from Northern Ireland car insurance experts, motorists are urged to "take heed" while driving in winter weather conditions. Speed is identified as the primary culprit in the fatality increase, along with "inattention, talking on mobile phones, and distractions including interacting with children in the back seat".

Road safety education officer Constable Stuart Crutchley tells the Londonderry Sentinel that "even one death on our roads is one too many".

"Our strategy to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads is based around education and enforcement," he adds. "Throughout the year we speak to schools, colleges and universities in an effort to educate young drivers about responsible driving."

Accidents among Northern Ireland car insurance customers would be "greatly reduced", he concludes, if all road users slowed down, left enough time for their journeys and paid attention to the road while driving, in addition to obeying speed limits and refraining from using a mobile phone behind the wheel.

With widespread drops in temperature forecast for Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in the lead-up to Christmas, car insurance experts have offered their tips for avoiding an expensive weather-induced claim in the coming weeks.

According to researchers from the Saga Group, driving in snow and ice is the biggest fear faced by 39 per cent of car insurance customers in Northern Ireland and the wider UK. Heavy rain is the next biggest deterrent to drivers, followed by fog.

Female drivers are almost twice as worried about getting behind the wheel in bad weather, their studies suggest, with an overall fifth of motorists planning to either stay at home or use public transport over the next few weeks.

Those who do venture out are advised by the motor insurance specialists to select second gear when pulling away in snowy and icy conditions, gently easing feet off the clutch to avoid wheel spin. Braking and accelerating should be done gradually, and drivers must remember that stopping distances are ten times longer in ice and snow.

In fog, Northern Ireland car insurance customers are reminded to switch on lights if they can't see more than 100 metres ahead of them.

Car insurance customers across Northern Ireland and the wider UK have become more complacent about vehicle crime in the last year, prompting a warning from experts not to leave expensive items on show as an "invitation" to thieves.

Research by Admiral shows that, although there's been a year-on-year drop in the percentage of customers making car insurance claims because of theft since 2005, the trend is at risk of being reversed if motorists don't make the effort to prevent car crime.

Out of 3,000 motorists questioned by the car insurance specialist, nearly three quarters (73 per cent) admitted leaving items like mp3 players, CDs and handbags on display in their unattended vehicles, marking a two per cent rise on the same figure for last year.

The car insurance provider's Sue Longthorn points out that, during the festive season, more people also tend to leave Christmas shopping in view on their back seats.

"It's a worrying trend that more motorists are happy to leave expensive items on show in their cars," she says. "It only takes seconds for an opportunistic car thief to break a car window and grab what's inside."

On behalf of car insurance customers across Northern Ireland and the wider UK, the AA has welcomed the chancellor's decision not to bring forward April 2010's increase in fuel duty. However, the organisation says car insurance customers are set for a "bumpy ride" when January's VAT increase hits them at the pumps.

Edmund King, president of the AA, commented that Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report "brings some relief but no Christmas cheer" for Northern Ireland car insurance customers.

"We are pleased that the chancellor has not brought forward the projected increase in fuel duty from April," he confirmed. "Petrol and diesel in the UK are already heavily taxed so the VAT increase will hit drivers."

Based on current prices paid by car insurance customers in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, the 17.5% VAT increase from 1st January will add 2.36p to a litre of unleaded petrol and 2.4p to a litre of diesel. For the average Northern Irish family with two petrol cars, that will add £61.41 to their annual fuel costs.

The AA also welcomed the chancellor's decision to exempt electric vehicles from company car tax for five years and introduce initiatives to promote low-carbon technology.

Northern Ireland van insurance customers are being advised to do their bit for the environment while the UN climate change summit is taking place in Copenhagen – and they could bring down the price of their premiums in the process.

Mobile resource management experts Trimble recommend that van insurance customers switch off their vehicles' engines when they are stuck in traffic or a rush-hour standstill, something they say under five per cent of drivers currently do.

"If a driver is parked at the side of the road to complete paperwork or make a call, or [is] even making a delivery which lasts more than ten seconds, the engine should be switched off," suggests managing director Andrew Yeoman. "Idling the engine for more than ten seconds uses up more fuel than switching off and restarting again."

According to Yeoman, enough fuel to drive one mile is wasted for every two minutes an engine is left idle. He cites recent tests carried out on a lorry fleet which illustrated that reducing daily idle time from an hour to 10 minutes could save businesses £614 per lorry since 564 fewer litres of petrol would be needed.

Northern Ireland car insurance customers have been warned to "be on their guard" if they plan to do any Christmas shopping on 19th December. According to car insurance experts, the day is the worst in the month for vehicle claims.

Research by Virgin Money's car insurance specialists shows that 40 per cent more claims than average occur on the last Saturday before Christmas, mainly because of accidents and theft.

In contrast, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are the two safest days on the road in December, with Christmas Day car insurance claims standing at a seventh of the average and the Boxing Day equivalent less than half the average.

Grant Bather, Virgin Money's spokesman, suggests the rise in car insurance claims on 19th December is down to "the late shopping rush", with more drivers taking to the roads with more presents in their cars.

"Christmas is a time for giving, but maybe drivers should be giving the car a miss on December 19th if they want to keep their no claims bonus," he adds.

Virgin Money's figures indicate that the worst day of the year overall for car insurance claims is 19th October, when the clocks go back.

Car insurance customers living in the Falls area of Belfast are missing out on the UK's more competitively-priced premiums, purely because of their postcode.

The area features in Money Supermarket's latest top ten most expensive regions for car insurance, with the average lowest quote in BT12 standing at a sizeable £805.20. That contrasts with some of the cheapest postcodes, currently found in Scotland, Cornwall and Suffolk.

Cornish capital Truro is number one on the top ten list of cheap car insurance postcodes, followed by the Scottish regions of Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Dundee and Aberdeen.

The comparison site's car insurance experts analysed a million motor insurance quotes over 12 months. Ahead of Belfast in the top ten most expensive car insurance postcodes are Birmingham and Manchester, with drivers in the latter shelling out around £500 more for policies than their counterparts north of the border.

Steve Sweeney, the site's head of motor insurance, notes that car insurance prices are determined by "an array of factors", including crime, population levels and even where a vehicle is parked.

Insurers generally take a blanket approach to policy quotes, he adds, meaning people living in areas deemed 'high risk' pay more to compensate.

Car insurance customers across Northern Ireland and the wider UK are set to shell out an estimated £8 million driving to the shops and £70 million parking their cars this Christmas, on account of parking fees and rising fuel prices.

The price of petrol has increased by 15 per cent since last November, price comparison experts at uSwitch point out. That means, in the last 12 months, the average car insurance customer has gone from paying 95p for a litre of petrol to 109p per litre, despite ongoing pressure on oil companies to lower their prices.

Northern Ireland car insurance customers have already been warned by the AA, meanwhile, that the end of the VAT cut will further add around 2.4p per litre to pump prices from January.

Ann Robinson, consumer policy director at uSwitch, confirms: "Christmas shoppers heading onto the high streets are being stung not once but twice, with high prices at the pump and astronomical car park fees."

Of all the car insurance customers across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, Robinson notes that London motorists are hit hardest by an average of £18 in fees for up to four hours' parking.

Nearly 13 per cent of young people in Northern Ireland and the wider UK have decided not to drive because car insurance prices are too high.

That's according to the latest research, which concludes £5,731 is the cost of getting young drivers on the road today. Car insurance considerations make up two-fifths of that estimated total.

Gocompare.com polled 1,500 parents and 70 per cent said they contributed to their children's driving lessons, a third have provided help with buying a car and 30 per cent have chipped into the cost of their offsrping's car insurance policy.

Driving lessons and vehicle costs aside, the comparison site's experts say car insurance is the most significant expense facing young drivers across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

"There is no getting away from the fact that insurance for young drivers is expensive, but all insurers treat the problem differently and therefore it is young drivers who benefit most from shopping around," states the site's Lee Griffin.

To put the brakes on motoring costs for young drivers, parents are advised to consider guiding their children towards slightly older vehicles and insuring them on a third party, fire and theft basis.

Northern Ireland car insurance customers often don't benefit from the large discounts associated with protecting their No-Claims Bonus (NCB).

According to research by comparison site Confused.com, younger drivers in particular can end up paying the most for protection since some car insurance providers choose to "cash in" on cautious motorists. The average cost of NCB protection for a 23-year-old male motorist in Northern Ireland or the wider UK stands at 12 per cent of their premium, while some providers allow drivers to protect their NCB for no additional charge.

"Whilst NCB can be a valuable asset when it comes to keeping car insurance costs down, it needs to be seriously considered if motorists are looking to cut costs," says Will Thomas, the site's head of motoring.

He explains there is currently "no consistency" in the motor insurance industry when it comes to putting a price on guaranteeing a clear claims record, with some car insurance providers offering it for free and others requiring almost a third of policy prices.

Confused.com's study suggests the maximum NCB is commonly accepted to translate to a discount of 60-75 per cent, depending on the car insurance provider, leading many customers to choose the option.