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Now here’s a funny story that I came across in Business Car. Apparently Essex police are urging drivers not to stop if they are requested to do so by ‘anything other than a marked police car’ following two van thefts earlier this month. In both cases a van was pulled over by disguised police men in an unmarked silver Mondeo equipped with blue flashing lights.

They requested a VW Transporter and Mercedes Sprinter to pull over on the M11 and the M25. The two men in the Mondeo wore fake uniforms with one of them reported to be also carrying a gun. In each case the drivers of the vans were left at the side of the road unharmed.

According to Essex police they have instructed officers to avoid stopping motorists whilst in an unmarked car except in an emergency. DCI Stuart Smith from the Kent & Essex Serious Crime Directorate said, ‘Anyone who is signalled to stop by an officer in an unmarked car should not stop but phone 999 immediately to verify whether the vehicle and its occupants are genuine’.

Can you imagine explaining this to a genuine police officer at the side of the M25 when they finally pull you over for speeding then add into the charges ‘using a mobile phone whilst driving’? All a bit worrying! By Graham Hill

After a series of sad cases where people have been badly injured and the driver has walked away with a minimal fine and a couple of months in prison the government is about to crack down on those driving dangerously resulting in serious injury. A new offence – causing serious injury by dangerous driving has been recommended by Justice Read more »

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Evidence shows that drivers are not attentive 66% of the time. This was revealed by Dr Nick Reed, senior researcher into human behaviour at the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), at a seminar into driver distraction organised by road safety charity, Brake. If it wasn’t such a serious subject I could reveal a few distractions that could easily lead to Read more »

One in a hundred company vehicle drivers is within a point of a ban according to recent research. One in five company car drivers is one offence away from a ban with 20% having between 3 and 11 points on their licence, hence the need for regular licence checks to be carried out on drivers’ licences. The research, carried out by CFC Solutions, shows that a driver who is one offence away from a ban is a significant Read more »

We tend to be pretty reactionary when it comes to the way we act in our day to day lives. We hear that there has been an increase in paedophile activity in public parks so we keep a closer eye on our children when taking them out or even stop the kids from going out at all. Hear that Swine Flu will become a pandemic and we rush out to get vaccinated – and rightly so. So when we hear that road injuries sustained Read more »

Fears are growing regarding the safety of cars on our roads as drivers put off service and maintenance work in order to save some money during the recession. There has also been an increase in employees either asking to be put on a cash for cars scheme or for their employers to introduce a scheme. It is felt the motives are purely financial with employees looking to downsize their car and pocket what equates to an Read more »

Lex Autolease have carried out a study on 21,000 vehicles used for business with some startling results. Driver negligence has not only pushed up maintenance and repair bills but also resulted in fines for drivers and even loss of licences. The biggest cost burdens have been misfuelling, windscreen damage, illegal tyres and vehicle downtime. Average cost to replace a windscreen is Read more »

I’m not sure if this applies to all motorists but LeasePlan has found that the most dangerous day of the week to drive is Monday, replacing Tuesday in previous years. More company cars are involved in accidents on a Monday than any other day of the week with the most dangerous time to travel being between 8.00am and 10.00am. They also found that 10% of the accidents involved cars hitting stationary objects. Is this a good reason to turn up for work late on a Monday? I’m not sure but could be worth having a word with your boss. By Graham Hill

Apparently the use of hand held phones whilst driving has increased because of, wait for it, the recession! Yep, it’s true according to a survey carried out by ING Car Lease. Apparently more drivers who drive cars on business feel under pressure to receive and make calls when driving rather than miss important calls that may result in Read more »

We all know we shouldn’t drink and drive but following a study carried out by Lloyds TSB Insurance we shouldn’t have a cold or flu and drive. According to their survey they found that over 125,000 crashes last year were caused by motorists that were suffering with either a cold or flu. This equated to one in ten collisions being caused by people with either of these viruses costing around £350 million in claims. The survey found that Read more »