New Drive By Spies Raise £8 Million In Fines

Friday, 6. August 2010

Smart fortwo 1
Image via Wikipedia

Have you seen one of the new CCTV Smart cars in your travels? If you have then they have probably been spying on you. It’s the latest idea to catch motorists doing illegal things like parking. Known as ‘Drive by spies’ these cars have raised £8 million in fines over the last 12 months from 188,000 motorists. There are 54 CCTV equipped Smart ForTwo cars operating in different towns and cities. In Essex the units Read more »

The Strange Case Of The Missing Manhole Covers!

Monday, 5. July 2010

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 »

Few Claims For Pothole Damage Have Been Paid Out

Wednesday, 23. June 2010

As I’ve reported on several occasions following the particularly bad winter the roads of Britain are covered in potholes. Our local authority was quick to act and I’m pleased to say that the roads of West Sussex appear to be in pretty good order now which has probably avoided a lot of claims for damaged vehicles. Which is just as well because it seems that getting a payout, as a result of pothole damage, isn’t easy Read more »

Weird Idea Of The Week

Saturday, 15. May 2010

Weird idea of the week – OK, some students at Milan Polytechnic have come up with an idea to make potholes safer. Seems this is a massive Eurowide problem, what the local authorities do is lay asphalt inside the pothole coloured with a fluorescent paint before repairing it so that when the top layer of asphalt starts to break up again the bright fluorescent asphalt will shine through and alert motorists and the local authorities that a problem is about to appear! Hmmm, why not fix the pothole properly in the first place? Apparently the idea is being trialled and will come to the UK if successful, no doubt as an EU directive. By Graham Hill

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Foreign Trucks Cause Huge Damage To British Roads

Thursday, 6. May 2010

You would no doubt have followed my reporting of the major pot hole problem that local authorities face following the harsh winter with no money to spend. But it wasn’t just the bad weather that led to the problems, it was the increase in Johnny Foreigner trucks covering 600 million miles on our roads last year. The problem, according to the Department for Transport, is that these trucks use our public roads but Read more »

Potholes Damaging Insurers As Well As Cars

Tuesday, 9. March 2010

According to tyre provider, Protyre, pothole damage is increasing whilst local authorities are unwilling to carry out repair work until the bad weather is over, for fear that any work done now will be wasted if the cold weather continues and re-pops out the filler. Protyre suggest that 300 new potholes are being identified in Britain every day with hundreds of pounds of damage being caused to tyres and suspension. Read more »

Pothole Damage Reaching Frightening Levels

Tuesday, 23. February 2010

According to tyre provider, Protyre, pothole damage is increasing whilst local authorities are unwilling to carry out repair work until the bad weather is over, for fear that any work done now will be wasted if the cold weather continues and re-pops out the filler. Protyre suggest that 300 new potholes are being identified in Britain every day with hundreds of pounds of damage being caused to tyres and suspension. Read more »

Government To Spend Money On Street Lighting

Saturday, 20. February 2010

The Government is finally starting to realise the importance of street lighting in fighting crime. The Transport minister, Sadiq Khan (Who? I thought it was Lord Adonis, oh no he’s Secretary of State for Transport, so who is Paul Clarke, ah he’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, hang on that’s the same title that Chris Mole goes by – confused? No wonder they seem to get sod all done) has just announced Read more »

Potholes Continue To Get Worse As Authorities Leave Them

Tuesday, 26. January 2010

Following the bad weather there have been reports from all over the country that pot holes, some the size of a small cave, have opened up on not just minor and B roads but also on A roads. Even some motorways have some nasty craters on them as I experienced a few evenings ago on the M25. This is clearly the result of budget cuts and either Bodgit and co – road workers carrying out the work or those gentle folk that Read more »