Every Christmas Eve Santa whizzes around the world at top speed, without incident. But Santa’s unblemished driving record was not enough to satisfy some people.
A rotary club in the West Midlands was forced to fit a belt to Santa’s sleigh or face a £200 increase in its insurance premiums.
It was reported that Santa reached a maximum cruising speed of only 5mph, as a Land Rover pulled the sleigh to give the reindeer a rest.
A spokesman from the club was quoted as saying:
“We have done the sleigh round the towns for something like 20 years. Every year we have made sure Santa gets to go through town and wave to the children. But this year we found out we actually needed a much more wide-ranging insurance policy for Santa riding on the sleigh because of health and safety rules. It would have run into a four-figure sum.”
The verdict
There are no laws stating that Santa must wear a seatbelt.
This is clearly a case of the insurers having concerns about potential personal injury claims.
A spokesperson from the Association of British Insurers was quoted as stating:
“Personal injury awards are rising by 10% every year and this, coupled with the growing compensation culture, means that insurers are paying out more and more.”
Luckily for Santa, one of the Rotary Club members owned a garage and took the sleigh in to be refurbished, with a big harness fitted to reach around St Nick’s belly.