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...]
News
Welsh racer’s eastern delight
Former Welsh video gamer Jann Mardenborough continues his incredible career as a professional motorsport racer for Nissan in 2019 – his eighth season taking on and beating some of the world’s best drivers on the real world stage. Mardenborough won Nissan’s GT Academy competition in 2011, beating thousands of gamers from around the world to earn a drive at the 2012 Dubai 24 Hour race. The … [Read more...]
Sex drive is directed towards cars, and Audi are passion wagons, say pollsters
Audi drivers are the most attractive to the opposite sex, according to a poll for Green Flag roadside assistance. One in three Brits say they love their cars – with one in six saying they love their car equally or more than their partner. When it comes to splashing out, UK drivers report spending an average of £221 or 17% more on their cars than their partners last year – with the average … [Read more...]
Avoid being driven to distraction
IAM RoadSmart has called for businesses to urgently tackle the issue of distracted drivers at the wheel and overhaul their safety at work policies – to help stem the tide of avoidable crashes on our roads. The UK’s biggest independent road safety charity has just published a white paper called Driving While Distracted: Challenges and Solutions, which examines the reasons why so many motorists’ … [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...]
Love your garage and rate their performance
If you love the services of your garage, the industry want to know about it. With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, a time when many express their affection for one another, The Motor Ombudsman is also encouraging consumers to share their feelings on any accredited businesses that they have used to either buy a new or used vehicle, or to have their car serviced or repaired. Using the Code … [Read more...]
Shopping centres & councils missing out on revenue
Shopping centres and local councils can unlock a significant revenue stream by renting out unused car parking spaces to other motorists, such as office workers needing somewhere to park, advises online parking portal YourParkingSpace.co.uk. The company has already joined into partnership agreements with a number of shopping centres across the UK. Council offices closed at weekends often have … [Read more...]
Newslines 12 February
The along awaited Audi e-tron electric models will go into showrooms in April. There will be two versions from £71,490 after the ev plug in allowance and it will be a their version of the VW Golf sized I D Neo hatchback. The next generation Vauxhall Corsa range will include a plug-in battery-electric model. It will also have the intelligent LED headlights first seen on Insignia and … [Read more...]
MoT test widens to more vehicles from 20 May
More agricultural, delivery, recovery and construction vehicles are now liable to the annual safety test. The DVSA is introducing annual testing for some when their current tax is renewable but others must have a test done by 20 May 2019. Vehicles now needing a test certificate include: mobile cranes breakdown vehicles (not breakdown vans) tower wagons some mobile engineering … [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...]