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Research by licence checking company, CFC solutions, revealed that whilst there is a common held belief that young drivers and older drivers have more points on their licences than those in their middle age, it’s not as simple as that. The theory held good and younger and older drivers (17 – 25 & 65+) certainly do have a higher frequency of points on their licences but it was found that those in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups, when they had points, they were more than in the other age groups. Read more »

Electric vehicles are too quiet! I mentioned this in one of my very early articles about the introduction of electric vehicles. With no engine, only a fairly quiet motor, electric vehicles could pose a danger to pedestrians and cyclists. Modec, manufacturer of electric commercial vehicles has said that of all the vehicles built over the past 3 years, only one customer, Royal Mail, has asked for noise awareness equipment to be fitted. They say this is because the vans are being used in large hangers so Read more »

I loved the story about those responsible for vehicle fleets attending the recent Fleet Van conference. These people are all responsible for making sure that drivers act lawfully and adhere to all areas of vehicle, driver and employee legislation. But whilst they were listening to the speakers, ATS Euromaster had nipped out to the car park with their tread gauges and checked all the vehicles. The attendees were then confronted by the fact that 9% of the vehicles were given Red Tyre warnings. This Read more »

There’s a scandal out there that no-one realised. Yep, you guessed it we’re talking exhausts here. Dirty exhausts. Emission testers Emission Test Facility UK, based in Longbridge, West Mids. tested scores of aftermarket exhaust systems against manufacturer’s own with some shocking results. Some emitted up to 20 times the level of nitrogen dioxide and twice as many hydrocarbons. One well known brand’s £300 Read more »

I recently reported that a large number of recalls don’t get the level of publicity that they should after Toyota took a beating over the brake recalls but were then found not to hold the record for the most numbers of single model cars being recalled this year. However it was put into perspective recently when Bentley had to recall 300 UK cars. The major concern affected Arnage, Azure and Brooklands models built Read more »

Whilst all fatalities on UK roads dropped last year the figures are still too high. 2,222 people died on the roads of Britain last year, down 12% on 2008. Car occupant deaths fell 16%, pedestrians 13%, cyclists 10% and motorcyclists 4%. Whilst speed awareness courses are often not taken seriously by drivers who have been caught speeding and prefer to attend a course rather than suffer a conviction, the courses have been known to improve drivers’ attitudes towards speeding. This is particularly Read more »

Graham Hill’s in depth review of a new car gives the new Jaguar supercar the C-X75 the once over. Whilst I’ve never been a big fan of the big cat even I have to say that the car, being showcased at the Paris motor show, looks absolutely amazing. The car is driven by two gas turbines with a hybrid combination consisting of four electric motors. In fact the car has a battery only range of 68miles. The car can reach 205mph from 970bhp and accelerates from a standing start to 62mph in a staggering 3.4 Read more »

Graham’s gadget of the week is the CG-Lock system, which you fit to your seatbelt. The system causes you to be held into your seat more firmly which makes your belt safer and improves your posture. The system comes highly recommended and finance company Arval who has been testing out the system with their staff. The device is palm sized and takes up the slack in the seatbelt keeping the user in the safest position. It also keeps the seatbelt across the pelvis rather than the stomach. Arval Read more »

Buying a used car from a dealer? Then you should be more aware of your rights according to the Office of Fair Trading, who have reported that the number of complaints against dealers, for faults that have come to light within the first 3 months, has increased by 18% during the first half of 2010. The Office of Fair Trading Direct received over 38,000 complaints and, as Michele Shambrook of the OFT pointed out, ‘Most of the faults that come to light are the dealer’s responsibility.’ Had a bad used car experience when purchased from a car dealer, please let me know? By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Second-hand car complaints soar (bbc.co.uk)

Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond revealed in a speech that 84% of all journeys made in the UK were made by car. This means that there is little prospect that we will move away from cars and onto public transport in the near future. However, the Campaign for Better Transport has carried out a survey, in which they found that certain towns and cities were more dependent on cars than others. The worst offenders and those most car-dependent were: Read more »