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Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions have warned drivers to ensure that they don’t risk their lives and the lives of others by missing services on cars. In a study carried out by Ford it was shown that 15% of Britons miss out a service in order to save money during this recession whilst 18% don’t have breakdown cover. The biggest culprits are the 18-24 age group who miss services with over a third not having a breakdown Read more »

Great news for those that like driving long distances on A roads but wish that there were service station like motorway service stations along the way. Well you should be careful what you wish for. Welcome Break is about to set up shop on A roads, the first of which will be the former Little Chef on the A34 Peartree Interchange near Oxford. The new facility will be opened on the 5^th July and will feature Waitrose, Starbucks Read more »

Vehicle tracking is often seen as a bad thing by drivers who have them fitted in their vehicles as they tell their boss or the transport manager where they are at all times. However, the tracking device fitted in the van of an employee of Fords of Sidmouth, may have saved him from a prosecution and a fine. Another driver reported the van for speeding and running into him causing damage to his car. However, Read more »

Considering the particularly bad winter that we suffered there are suggestions that we should follow other European countries and introduce winter tyres. Whilst not wishing to go the compulsory route it has been suggested that we should adopt the Dutch system of making winter tyres widely available. After making the tyres available about 10 years ago it is understood that about 50% of drivers switch each winter. Read more »

Weird idea of the week – OK, some students at Milan Polytechnic have come up with an idea to make potholes safer. Seems this is a massive Eurowide problem, what the local authorities do is lay asphalt inside the pothole coloured with a fluorescent paint before repairing it so that when the top layer of asphalt starts to break up again the bright fluorescent asphalt will shine through and alert motorists and the local authorities that a problem is about to appear! Hmmm, why not fix the pothole properly in the first place? Apparently the idea is being trialled and will come to the UK if successful, no doubt as an EU directive. By Graham Hill

Daft gadget of the week award – Tyrepal. That’s probably a little unfair because this new device monitors the tyre pressures and tyre temperatures and therefore could prevent an accident and even save a life. You fit four sensors on your tyre valves to replace the valve caps and a small screen that looks a bit like a sat nav monitors each wheel and warns of any dangers, all done wirelessly. The device, according to Read more »

Mobile phone users who still use their phones whilst driving without a hands free kit are back in the news as conviction figures show another fall. Recently published figures show that convictions in England and Wales were down to 116,000 in 2008/9, down by 5% on the previous year, which in turn was down on the 167,000 convictions in 2006/7 even though the use of a mobile phone whilst driving was introduced as Read more »

To say that Toyota have had a bit of a rough time is somewhat of an understatement and the repercussions continue on. After they dismissed cars flying across roundabouts and over cliffs, having been unable to stop following uncontrolled acceleration, as being a problem with dopey drivers being unable to fit carpet mats back in their cars after cleaning them, they have paid a hefty price. That ‘bigotgate’ moment Read more »

There are now 3 EU research projects under way to trial ‘talking’ cars, which can communicate with each other and road infrastructure such as traffic signs, lights and congestion management centres. Vehicles will receive information about hazards ahead such as congestion, accidents, oil spills, potholes, debris etc. Drivers will then be alerted by dashboard communications. Developed into prototypes by three Read more »

Road safety charity Brake carried out a poll to see how much support existed for the dropping of the drink drive alcohol limit from 80mg per 100 ml to 50, in line with most of Europe. Their findings showed a 70% support which has prompted the Government to take action and consider dropping the level which would criminalise the Sunday pint in a country pub according to an article in Auto Express. But they Read more »