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Last year saw the lowest number of road deaths since records began 80 years ago. The Department for Transport revealed that deaths fell by 7% last year from 3,172 to 2,943 despite indications that levels of traffic rose. Road deaths have been slowly dropping year on year but last year saw the biggest drop over recent years. In 2007 car driver and passenger deaths dropped by 11% and the number of seriously injured and other casualties dropped by 9% and 6% respectively. Whilst the latest drop was welcomed by the RAC Foundation and RoSPA  both organisations warned against complacency. Whilst the figures have dropped significantly there are still thousands dying on our roads each year. By Graham Hill

Warnings have been issued by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare regarding the lack of eye tests being insisted upon by employers. They recommend that all employees that drive a car as part of their job should have their eyes tested every year and at worst every other year, if not this lack of management could lead to prosecution of the employer in the event of a fatal injury. Their investigation found that 84% of employers recognised the need for Read more »

More than half of motorists believe their commute to work has got longer according to a poll carried out by Motorpoint. It found that motorists spend more time than ever behind their wheel during the rush hour wasting their time and using up a record amount of fuel getting to work. David Shelton, managing director of Motorpoint said ‘With the prospect of congestion charging becoming commonplace, getting to work is likely to become more expensive.’ Bit obvious that one David, maybe your comment was taken out of context! By Graham Hill

Sheilas’ Wheels have reported that more than three quarters of female motorists drive while hungry even though nearly half say that driving whilst hungry causes a loss of concentration. For 40% they say that feeling hungry increases their tiredness on the road. When asked why they drive whilst hungry the general response was it ‘slips my mind’ so the message must be if you want to be safe in a car with a woman driver listen out for the danger sounds, not tyres squeeling or knocks coming from the engine but a rumbling tummy and take a bag of chocolate to fix the problem. By Graham Hill

Researchers from the University of Alabama have proven that every cloud has a silver lining. We are all moaning like mad about rocketing fuel costs but the researchers have claimed a direct correlation between increasing fuel costs and decreasing road deaths as people look to save fuel by driving slower or not driving at all. The study showed that if petrol remained at $4 a gallon or higher, for a year or more, traffic deaths would drop by 1,000 every month across the country. Co-Author Michael Morrisy said Read more »

When I first started driving I drove an Austin Nash-Metropolitan, a rather cool car with a bench seat, column gearchange, low slung windows that you could really lean out of and wait for it – a built in valve radio that could pick up the pirates a treat although it did take a trip of more than 20 minutes to warm up! I could snuggle up to the latest squeeze whilst driving with my right arm nearly scraping the road whilst squeeling round corners on two remoulds a cross ply and a radial (Pirelli – naturally) having been to a disco and drunk to the point of being probably twice the legal drink drive limit by today’s standards then believing that I could drive at Read more »

The Sentencing Guideline Council who advise magistrates and judges as to the recommended maximum term felons should face if committed for particular crimes have issued new guidlines for the the newly established crimes of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving. The new laws and associated prison sentences cover such things as momentarily looking at a map, adjusting their sat-nav and talking on a hands free phone, each of these will result in a maximum of Read more »

If you are hell bent on driving a 4 wheel drive I would make the most of it now as auction house Manheim have reported exceptional losses sustained by leasing companies when re-selling end of contract 4WD cars. At the moment manufacturers are offsetting poor resale values with big discounts and bonuses but the long term view is that manufacturers will scale down production and switch the lines over to smaller more desirable ‘greener’ cars. This will mean that they will give away less by way of bonuses making the lease cost of gas guzzling 4WD cars very high.But whilst we are in this honeymoon period and you like 4WD’s now is the time to take one because by the end of the year rates will potentially be horendous and deliveries even worse. Hands up who wants a Hummer? By Graham Hill

I recently warned anyone who has a car they own to get out of it as soon as possible and get into a lease car that carries no residual risk and reduces cash flow. The drop in used car values achieved at auction has again been highlighted by British Car Auctions who reported an average monthly drop in May of 3 year old cars of 2.6%. This continued into June with the average drop reaching 4.2%, the largest single month’s movement for several years. Again, get out of car ownership and into a form of finance which takes away all of the residual risk. By Graham Hill

Whilst identity fraud continues to increase and cause concern to the leasing companies that often pay out tens of thousands of pounds for cars after receiving just a few signed documents and an advanced rental cheque, often for less than £1,000, motor finance fraud is relatively low compared to say credit card fraud or online purchase fraud. But there has been a steady increase in some more sophisticated organised fraud that results in professionals having their identities used in order to Read more »