Specialist motor insurance loss adjuster Claims Management & Adjusting (CMA), part of the QuestGates group, has praised police and carmakers as new Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency figures show UK car thefts down 4.5% and recoveries up 2.3% year-on-year.
In terms of the most stolen models, the top three in 2024 were: 1) Ford Fiesta, 2) VW Golf and 3) Ford Focus and Philip Swift, a former detective, now Technical Director at CMA, said, “For the first time since the pandemic, the annual DVLA stolen vehicle figures contained some much-needed good news for both the public and the UK motor insurance industry.”
Nearly 800 children have been caught driving or riding without insurance in the past four years with one in ten of these aged 14 or below.
Since 2021, there has been a significant increase of 2100% in the number of children receiving uninsured driving endorsements, according to a Freedom of Information request made by the UK’s leading road safety charity IAM RoadSmart to the DVLA, and they have been stopped on e-scooters.
Monmouthshire council said it had conducted a comprehensive review of 20mph speed limits after residents flagged up 143 roads where they felt a return to the 30mph limit was more appropriate.
Four roads were selected to be reassessed, with the authority concluding the lower speed limits should remain in place in accordance with revised Welsh Government guidelines after a massive protest petition and call for the lower limit to be scrapped.
CarCondor.co.uk says the Top 200 most stocked car dealers in the UK reported sales of second-hand cars jumped by 56.12% in December 2024 to 175,033 units.
Revenue soared by 53.81% on the last month of 2024 to £3.64bn, while stock inventories jumped by nearly 26% to 151,473 cars as used car dealers stocked up to start off the year, suggesting buyers are seeking out better value used models and turning their backs on new cars.
A quarter of drivers (25%) who find vehicle headlights too bright are driving less at night as a result, while 22% say they wish they could, shows a major new study from the RAC on headlight glare.
Findings from what is believed to be the most in-depth research into motorists’ views on the issue reveal that three-quarters (75%) of those who drive less do so because intense headlights make the experience uncomfortable or more difficult and a further 49% say it’s because they feel less safe, while one-in-20 drivers (5%) have stopped driving at night altogether.
New data from Scrap Car Comparison has revealed that the demand for car scrapping across the UK has increased by around 13% over the past 12 months, based on the average from 87 towns and cities, though there are some cities where more people are looking to ditch their motors.
Sheffield tops the list, with a 44% increase in demand for quotes over the last year – the city implemented its Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in 2023, so experts feel that drivers have likely been re-evaluating their vehicle usage as the impact of these charges became clearer.
