Young Driver On the Road has partnered with iKube to offer novice driver insurance from £22 a week, along with affordable car leasing with Vauxhall. With one in four parents (24 per cent) admitting the high cost of car insurance is putting them off encouraging their child to learn to drive at 17, the UK’s leading pre-17 driving school has pledged to end insane premiums for new … [Read more...]
Education
Smart motorways outwit dangerous drivers
With hundreds of miles of smart motorways across England now using the hard shoulder as either a permanent or part-time running lane, the RAC found more than a fifth of motorists have driven in a lane closed by the red X sign in the past year, potentially putting lives at risk. Twenty-three per cent of drivers surveyed by the RAC admitted to having broken this new rule of the road by … [Read more...]
Newslines 8 March
The forthcoming Aston Martin DBX going into production in Wales later this year has been undergoing cold-weather testing in Sweden's arctic circle. Pirelli’s R&D Sottozero Centre at the Flurheden Proving Ground provides a range of extreme environments, from snowy roads to ice handling courses, allowing Aston Martin’s vehicle dynamics specialists – led by Aston Martin Chief Engineer Matt … [Read more...]
Independent Air Index will clear confusion
The smog surrounding car emissions starts to clear with the launch of the AIR Index an international, independent and standardised rating system that reveals accurately how much pollution a vehicle produces when it is used in towns and cities. The slump in diesel car sales shows that car buyers across the world are confused about petrol and diesel emissions following Dieselgate, but until now … [Read more...]
Technology’s ticking time-bomb in trade
A new technology time-bomb is ticking in the used car trade. Rapidly changing vehicle technology means that the remarketing sector is going to have to undergo an unprecedented period of upskilling over the next decade, says the Vehicle Remarketing Association. The organisation – which represent companies that handle, sell, inspect, transport or manage more than 1.5 million used vehicles … [Read more...]
Tradelines 6 March
A proposed ban on commercial vehicles using tyres over ten years old has attracted qualified support from the Freight Tansport Association. It says many member fleets would need tyres replacing inside a decade but some very low mileage vehicles should be exempt from the ban. About 79M cars were sold worldwide in 2018, say the manufacturers. There was a noticeable drop in Chinese … [Read more...]
Honda, MB and SEAT Off-Roaders get top marks for safety
The new Honda CR-V, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and the SEAT Tarraco have passed tough new safety tests with the highest marks. All three cars get a maximum five-star rating against Euro NCAP’s tough 2019 requirements. The new SEAT Tarraco shares Volkswagen’s MQB platform with the Škoda Kodiaq, rated as five-stars by Euro NCAP in 2017. Against the more stringent protocols of 2019, the … [Read more...]
Wales beat England on the road
Drivers in North Wales are the most roadworthy in Britain, according to the results of the Halfords Autocentres Roadworthy Quiz. The UK's leading MOT, car service, brakes, repairs and tyres specialist surveyed over 22,000 motorists as part of its Roadworthiness Week campaign, testing drivers’ knowledge of road laws, car maintenance and safety. The leading county in Britain was Gwynedd, … [Read more...]
Cardiff drivers are worst in Wales
More than 2.5 million drivers across England and Wales currently have at least three points on their driving licences. Bristol officially has the worst drivers, with 6.8% of the population having at least three penalty points on their licences, while 220 of them have nine points, according to the latest DVLA data analysed by car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk. By contrast in Wales … [Read more...]
The new driving test changes and you
Just over a year ago, the UK’s driving test witnessed its most significant shake-up in 20 years. Changes seen included those sitting a practical examination having to undertake different reversing manoeuvres, following directions provided to them by a sat nav, participating in the independent driving portion of the test for 20 minutes and answering a vehicle safety question while … [Read more...]