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As I get older I’ve stopped doing many of the things I did as a young driver, mainly revolving around road rage. If someone pulls out in front of me on a roundabout now I no longer lean on the horn whilst screaming blue murder over the thumping sound of  Will I Am’s latest dance release, sticking two fingers up at the driver then spending the next 10 minutes trying to cut the dopey old 90 year old up at every opportunity to ‘teach her a lesson’!

These days I’m as likely to even slow down and let the driver pull out in front of me on the roundabout, only the one of course, my benevolence doesn’t stretch to being courteous to more than one driver at a time – behave! But there is still one thing that still causes me to see red and that is to be driving behind a car and the driver or the passenger in the car in front dispose of the remains of a Chicken McBucket meal for 4 out of the driver’s window.

Of course there are a few with a social conscience who either get the passenger to throw the rubbish out of the passenger window so that it doesn’t end up on the screen of the car behind, or if there are no passengers in the car open the passenger window and lob the rubbish out from the driver’s side contributing to the 700,000 bin bags of rubbish collected annually from the roadside.

Either way it causes me to get angry because it’s one of those things that I can honestly say I’ve never done. It’s despicable to mess up the roadside with rubbish. It’s no big effort to keep the rubbish in the car till you get home, to work or fill up at the garage – isn’t it? But having said that I don’t go knocking on car doors armed with a tyre lever to point out the error of their ways for two reasons.

Firstly cars no longer come with a tyre lever and to walk up to a car window armed with a can of Holts Tyreweld would be more than mildly silly. Secondly I heard of an old lady who became incensed when she saw the passenger of a parked car happily dropping the packaging and remains of their lunch on to the road from their window, asked politely to pick up their litter before they left, and ended up in traction for her efforts.

I’m not that brave over an empty crisp packet but I’m please to say that the law is tightening up on litter louts. From later this month local authorities in London have the power to issue £100 fines to those caught dropping litter out of cars and can be caught using CCTV cameras.

Caroline Spelman, Environmental Secretary is also considering rolling this out across the country with an increased fine of £200 and making the owner of a car responsible for the fine even though the rubbish may have been ejected by a passenger whilst the car was being driven by someone other than the owner.

The fact is that dropping litter is a criminal offence and you can be fined by a magistrate up to £2,500 so it is already serious but a fixed penalty of £200 may work better. Something else that makes me see red is seeing a driver either texting or driving with a mobile phone lodged under their chin – no that isn’t hands free! Oh and then there are the times when you let someone pass cars on their side of the road and they don’t even raise a finger in gratitude oh and then ……………… By Graham Hill

Something I’ve reported upon before is the increase in fuel theft but with the latest increase in cost at the pumps the number of thefts is increasing again. Farmers, heating oil and tankers have long been the targets of organised thieves but with an average family car holding around 60 litres of fuel this can represent about £80 (more if diesel) to regular Read more »

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 »

A rather strange type of crime has emerged around the country putting drivers lives at risk – the stealing of manhole covers. The thefts have left gaping holes in the roads and local authorities with big bills to pay. The covers cost up to £400 to replace. Surry County Council has had 536 stolen costing £160,000 to replace. This has hurt councils even more as hundreds of millions of pounds have already been slashed from Read more »

The Government is planning to apply a £15 surcharge to fixed penalties. Known as a victim’s surcharge it is currently applied to more serious offences such as criminal damage or domestic violence and can only be handed out by the courts. It was introduced in 2007 as a way to contribute towards the victim support services. The recently announced plans will attach the surcharge to fixed penalties where the Read more »

A row has broken out between the Government and the Magistrates Association over proposals by the Department for Transport to introduce fixed penalties for careless driving. The proposal will give the police new powers to impose a fixed penalty of £60 and 6 points on the licence where a driver admits to an act of careless driving. The Magistrates Association is furious as they feel it diminishes the serious nature of Read more »

Car crime statistics are misleading and could be causing drivers to be complacent according to vehicle security provider Cobra. Contrary to Home Office statistics which show car thefts falling, believed to be as a result of more cars being fitted with anti theft devices as standard, more surveillance cameras and more local community police, Cobra’s survey suggested quite the opposite with car crime still on the Read more »

Fraud and forgery crime increased by 16% in the 3^rd quarter of last year blamed on the credit crunch. Attention has been drawn towards brokers that arrange mortgages and finance as some of the main culprits helped along by the increasing acceptance of the Internet. As I recently reported things are getting tough for most of us involved in the finance industry and as happened in the last recession desperation Read more »

Most car cloning has been carried out to avoid parking tickets and speeding tickets but insurer Direct Line has warned of another reason for cars being cloned, to carry out a crime. The most common, according to Direct Line is forecourt petrol theft. According to the British Oil Security Syndicate, thieves are stealing a significant amount of fuel with the average offender escaping with fuel worth Read more »

Fraud is on the increase as consumers and small businesses are driven to desperate lengths. Not only are applicants providing incorrect details and proofs, brokers are also falsifying documents in order to ensure that applications are accepted and they earn their commissions. There has also been an increase in premeditated motor finance crime with multiple applications being made in the expectation that Read more »