Few Councils Seem To Want Follow Nottingham With Workplace Parking Charges

Thursday, 9. September 2010

After allowing local councils to levy workplace parking charges it seems that few are actually taking up the opportunity. Nottingham was the first to make a move and it was thought that all local authorities would follow suit but after seeing the reaction of local large employers, who announced they would move their offices rather than pay the parking levy, other councils have viewed the opportunity far more cautiously. Read more »

New Approach To Biofuel Brings It Back Into Focus

Thursday, 9. September 2010

If you are driving behind a car and it seems to be wandering across the road as though the driver had been drinking, it may not be the driver it may just be the car that’s a little worse for wear! Researchers at Edinburgh Napier University have developed a biofuel from whisky by-products. Called biobutanol it’s 30% more powerful than ethanol and is created out of two waste products: ‘pot ale’ from copper stills and Read more »

Outrage Expressed Over The Turning Off Of Speed Cameras

Thursday, 9. September 2010

GATSO Speed Camera
Image via Wikipedia

Surprisingly, there has been a public outcry over the switching off of speed cameras around the country after the Government decided to withdraw funding to local authorities necessary to maintain and operate the cameras. In Oxfordshire the council has announced the turning off of the speed cameras after their payment to the speed camera partners was reduced by 70%. This has outraged residents, according to Read more »

Severe Warning After Driver Dies Whilst Tweeting

Wednesday, 8. September 2010

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

After all the warnings of sending texts whilst driving it was just a matter of time before ‘tweeting’ came under the spotlight. That warning has been issued following the death of a driver who was found to be tweeting whilst driving. The driver, a US plastic surgeon, was tweeting about his dog whilst driving when he had a fatal accident. Frank Ryan, the driver, was driving his Jeep Wrangler along Pacific Coast Highway in Read more »

Children From Wealthy Families Less Likely To Be Victims Of Road Accidents

Tuesday, 7. September 2010

Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall 2005
Image via Wikipedia

Aren’t statistics fantastic? It would seem that statistics show that children brought up in wealthy neighbourhoods are less likely to die or get badly injured on UK roads. The statistics, prepared by Road Safety Analysis, compared accidents linking 0 – 15 year olds to the victims’ postcodes. The UK’s most dangerous area is Preston, Lancs. Here, children are twice as likely to be killed or injured than the National average or five times more likely than the safest area, Kensington and Chelsea in Read more »

Eggs Thrown At Cars – Is It Another Hoax?

Tuesday, 7. September 2010

Another email warning, again believed to be a hoax, warned drivers of attacks from criminals who throw eggs at the windscreen of your car or van causing the driver to operate the windscreen wipers, making matters worse. Driving becomes impossible if the driver then sprays the windscreen with windscreen wash as it reacts with the eggs to produce an opaque goo, making it impossible to drive and force you to stop, which is exactly what the criminal wants. Again, there is evidence of eggs being Read more »

Hoax Threat To Women Causes Concern

Monday, 6. September 2010

There was a hoax warning email sent out at the end of last year and it seems to be doing the rounds again so I’m mentioning it. Not because I necessarily believe that there is any truth in the warning but because it may in fact have the opposite effect of giving an idea to some of the more dangerous criminal minds out there and could result in attacks on innocent women in particular. The warning suggested that criminal types were planting baby seats at the side of rural roads with a blanket covering Read more »

New EU Consumer Credit Directive Affects New & Used Car Deliveries

Sunday, 5. September 2010

If you are about to finance a car in your own name as opposed to through a business, you will need to allow a little extra time between ordering, signing the finance agreement and collection/delivery of the new car. According to the new EU Consumer Credit Directive all agreements that fall within the terms of our own Consumer Credit Act must be given a 14 day cooling off period. In the past, if you signed the agreement on trade premises, for example at a dealership or the premises of a broker Read more »

Unexpected Centres Of Congestion In UK

Saturday, 4. September 2010

If I was asked where would you least like to be in the UK, behind the wheel of your car at rush hour, my immediate answer would be in the centre of London. As I’m sure would be the answer given by most of my readers. But this isn’t the worst place to be, in fact according to Government figures it’s one of the best places to be, the worst being the West Midlands with 4 out of 5 commuters making their twice daily commute behind the wheel of a car. The national average is 10% less at 70%. The next Read more »

Big Drop In Drink Drive Deaths

Friday, 3. September 2010

Drunk driving
Image by usag.yongsan via Flickr

The Government has revealed that drink drive deaths dropped by 5% last year from 400 in 2008 to 380 in 2009. Has the message finally started to get through? Or could it be that last year we were in the grip of a recession and people couldn’t afford the booze or if they did they didn’t go out they simply stayed in and drank indoors? Hopefully it’s because people understand the need to not drink and drive. Serious injured casualties, resulting from drink driving, fell also from 1,620 to Read more »