1 in 10 parents of young drivers are risking a trip to court and a criminal record for ‘fronting’ their child’s car insurance policy, new research has found. GoCompare Car Insurance commissioned the research amongst 1000 parents of children aged 17-25 who have passed their driving test. 10% of the parents admitted that they had insured their child’s car in their name in order to save money. A … [Read more...]
Features
More drunken drivers on roads as police diminish
The number of people killed in road accidents where the driver was over the drink drive limit has risen 45% in two years. Provisional figures released by the Department for Transport estimate there were 290 deaths in 2017 compared with 200 in 2015. There were 230 fatalities in 2016 – so the annual increase is 26%. Hunter Abbott, Managing Director of breathalyser firm AlcoSense said, … [Read more...]
Newslines 13 February
A group of MPs will review ‘Smart Motorways’. Introduced in 2014, the breakdown lane is used in peak times as an extra carriageway but there have been many fatal accidents on them involving recovery operators. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced that a record number of places are available for the company’s 2019 Apprenticeship Programme. Since the programme was launched in 2006, … [Read more...]
Trial clears doubts & raises questions for evs
An extensive 18-month trial has thrown up interesting insights into the UK electric charging network and its use by vehicle drivers. By the time the Electric Nation project ended in December 2018, data had been collected from more than 140,000 electric vehicle charging instances. Analysis suggests that there is likely to be sufficient flexibility to manage charging away from peak electricity … [Read more...]
Newtown bypass to open up Mid-Wales economy
The opening of the Newtown Bypass will be a “momentous occasion” for Mid Wales, according to the Shadow Minister for Economy and Transport, and Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George. Thursday 14 February will see the long awaited opening of the Newtown bypass, over 70 years after the need for a bypass was first suggested. In March 2011, over 30 people joined Russell George in handing … [Read more...]
£86M grants for decarbonising and supply chain
The Advanced Propulsion Centre is helping to lower the barriers for Small and Medium Enterprises to contribute to decarbonising the automotive sector and anchoring the supply chain in the UK. The APC provided financial and mentoring support to 87 SMEs including £86m through its Core Competitions, and its Technology Developer Accelerator Programme (TDAP) since 2013. 60 SMEs have received … [Read more...]
Dangerous drivers and their dogs
Drivers are putting their lives at risk – as well as those of their passengers and other road users – by not strapping their dogs into their cars. Experts say if a car crashes at a speed of 40 km/h (25 mph), an unrestrained dog can develop projection forces 40 times that of its weight. At higher speed it will be still greater, possibly injuring or killing the dog or a human it hits. A poll … [Read more...]
The price of power will surprise you
A new analysis indicates the amount motorists are willing to spend and reveals that horsepower and purchase price aren’t always directly correlated and you'll be surprised by the results. Every buyer has their own priorities when buying a new car: a large boot, comfortable seating, air conditioning, or intelligent assistance systems; yet horsepower remains a consistent customer … [Read more...]
EVs hire scheme to drive change
The InclusivEV Demonstrator project, a €3.8million pan-European project which aims to widen access to electric vehicles through an affordable car sharing scheme, successfully launched its first demonstration site in Solihull, West Midlands in December. InclusivEV addresses the issues facing city neighbourhoods by increasing accessibility to EVs. Through urban car sharing schemes it aims to … [Read more...]
Potholes plague drivers
Drivers are still 2.5 times more likely to breakdown due to potholes than in 2006. Despite the generally mild start to winter RAC patrols still dealt with 1,714 breakdowns in the last three months of 2018 that were more than likely caused by potholes or poor road surfaces. This number of call-outs for damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and distorted wheels represented 0.8% of … [Read more...]