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The EU Commission had already made it clear that emission testing would be tightened up from 2017 but they have now announced that they will be going several steps further. As a result of growing mistrust of the emissions testing procedures which were to reflect real life motoring conditions by 2017 the Commission has announced a number of additional rules.

First of all, instead of randomly selecting cars off production lines to test they will in future be selected from cars that are already on sale as well as cars from production lines. Recalls will be issued if cars are found to emit different levels of regulated emissions than those suggested by the manufacturer. Financial ties between European test centres and the manufacturers will be cut (I didn’t know there were any), thus making the system fairer.

It seemed that testing could be carried out in any country within the EU in the past for it to be accepted across the EU. So manufacturers were having cars tested at centres where they knew controls were more lax. This is being address with greater controls being imposed upon the test centres.

The Commission is also applying for additional powers to suspend, restrict or withdraw the number of services that a test centre can offer if it is performing at a less than acceptable level. The Commission is also pushing for access to new car ‘software protocols’ and the ability to restrict the use of such devices as the ‘defeat device’ used by VW. I’d have thought these sorts of devices should be banned rather than just restricted!

Whilst it seemed to be a move in the right direction there were some observers who believed the new rules still ‘lacked teeth’. In a damning statement Greg Archer, green vehicles director at campaign group Transport & Environment said, ‘Without the threat of future EU sanctions, it will be  mission impossible to break the strong bond between national regulators and their car makers that has protected the industry but at the cost of higher emissions.’

And I thought I was outspoken! The EU Parliament is now considering the proposals ahead of a debate and vote. If approved the new rules will come into force immediately = as if that could happen! Ridiculous! By Graham Hill

It now seems that you are more likely to suffer a speeding fine when travelling abroad than in the UK. It was a few years ago when the DVLA became obliged to provide driver details if a Brit was caught speeding, or committing any other vehicle related crime, in another EU member country.

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But you only received a fine if you were stopped by roadside police, you would not receive a fine if caught on a speed camera. But that is about to change. The European Parliament has now voted in favour of new laws that give police forces on the Continent the power to track drivers home and pursue payment of fines.

Authorities in any member EU country can now use the number plate picked up by the speed camera to identify the driver and his home address then issue the fine and even take court action if the fine remains unpaid. As it goes I don’t know too many people who nip across to France simply to put the Ford Focus through its paces on a French motorway, sticking two fingers out of the car window as yet another speed camera catches them exceeding the motorway limit.

In fact quite the opposite, for at least half their trip, as the car strains to get much beyond 30 mph as it carts back to the Ferry 40 cases of the mega hypermarket’s finest red ‘for personal use only’. What I do see, living not that far from Dover, is cars and trucks with foreign plates breaking just about every law going so I was pleased to see that the laws apply across Europe so we will be able to pursue foreign drivers breaking the law in the UK.

The new laws that come into force in May include offences such as speeding, ignoring red lights, drink & drug driving and using a mobile phone. In the past the only offence that could be pursued was speeding. Whilst the new laws come into effect in May the DVLA has been given a 2 year extension to adapt their systems before it is legally bound to share data on UK drivers caught abroad. At the moment the laws only relate to fines but next year the EU is looking into harmonising penalty points.

If this comes about it means that UK drivers could end up losing their licences through breaking the law abroad. Our roads minister, Robert Goodwill (no I’d never heard of him either) has said we will oppose such a move and we would vote against such a move. This whole issue raises questions over data protection. We like to think that our systems in the UK are robust but what happens when data is requested by other EU countries, could the information be used for other purposes? A question that hasn’t been answered. By Graham Hill

On the question of fuel, if you have been convinced that bio fuel is a much better option and your car is still covered by the manufacturers warranty you should check to see if using bio fuel affects your warranty. Unlike the EU it has ruled that each country can set its own levels of biodiesel concentration and that there is no mandatory need to label fuel at the filling stations. It is well known that a concentration of over Read more »