With the motoring media world in lockdown, the supply of new models and new model test driving events are all cancelled so instead of road test reviews we are keeping the wheels turning by covering some news items you might just have missed, says David Miles. Adversity is driving innovation at Skoda Virtual showrooms in the car sales industry is not a new thing, its click and view, tick a few … [Read more...]
Travel Features
Dangers lurking on empty roads
Empty roads over the last few weeks have been used as race-tracks by some drivers, police have reported. Opportunist thieves and drug running gangs have also desperately used them to quickly move about, despite the risk of being caught by routine police patrols stopping to check on Coronavirus compliant trips. Now company car and van drivers have be warned to take extra care on the roads as … [Read more...]
Safety checks to laid up vehicles
Drivers will need guidance on returning laid-up company cars to the road when the coronavirus crisis ends, says Meridian Vehicle Solutions. Phil Jerome, managing director at the medium-term rental specialist, said that some vehicles may not turn a wheel for months, depending on the length of the lockdown, and would need to be quite carefully inspected in a risk management context. “Even if the … [Read more...]
Fuel prices collapse but there’s a warning as well
Amid exceptional circumstances, UK petrol prices fell by their largest margin in 12 years in March, triggered by a complete collapse in the world oil price, says the latest RAC Fuel Watch report. While the price of a barrel of crude oil began the month above $50, by the end of March it had plummeted by 66% to under $18, its lowest level in 18 years. This was due to a combination of plunging … [Read more...]
Sunday drive special: Miles around India
When we left the UK for our recent two week tour in India just over a month ago, there was hardly a global mention of coronavirus, just the odd mention of a small outbreak in an area of China, writes David Miles. Now it is a global epidemic. India is the second most populous nation in the world with 1.38 billion people and like the UK it is now in total lockdown for three weeks. But being India, … [Read more...]
Life-changing experiences over coronavirus
Experience of the Covid-19 crisis will transform the way we live, work and travel in the UK, the AA says. AA President Edmund King says anecdotal evidence from people lucky enough to be working during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown suggests that infrastructure funds might be better spent on broadband to support home working. It predicts a permanent reduction in the demand for travel because … [Read more...]
New from old roads
It's the ultimate recycling, making new roads from old. While engineering companies are working round the clock to manufacture ventilators, hand sanitiser and face masks to keep people safe and restrict the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Sheffield based Roadmender Asphalt is doing what it can to help Local Councils and Utilities to keep up with emergency repairs to pot holes and utility … [Read more...]
Newslines 2 April
AIWAYS, the Shanghai-based personal mobility provider, will start taking online orders for its U5 all-electric SUV from European consumers in May. Secured via a small deposit, the U5 will be offered exclusively via a direct-to-customer sales model, and not retailed or leased through traditional dealerships. European pre-sale markets and the required deposit amount will be announced by AIWAYS in … [Read more...]
Rail danger warning comes early
With the schools closed for the foreseeable future and parents seeking to fill their children’s time at home, British Transport Police and Network Rail are urging parents and carersto speak to their children and loved ones about the dangers posed by the railway and the importance of staying off the track. Every year, there is a rise in the number of trespass incidents ahead of the Easter school … [Read more...]
New driving tech is more dangerous than alcohol
Worrying results from a new study released today show that the latest in-vehicle infotainment systems designed to improve road safety are failing and impair reactions times behind the wheel more than alcohol and cannabis use. Among the shocking results, the study – commissioned by the UK’s largest independent road-safety charity, IAM RoadSmart, found that reaction times at motorway speeds … [Read more...]