Saturday, 5. March 2011
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This next item is something that has affected me on many occasions. The closure of the Blackwall Tunnel. It has been shut an amazing 1,200 times in the past 9 months and drivers have been blamed. The tunnel in east London carries 100,000 vehicles a day through the twin tunnels under the River Thames – when it’s open. One of the tunnels was shut a total of 157 hours. Oversized vehicles were a problem whilst vehicle breakdowns were responsible for 287 closures, a third of which were due to Read more »
Friday, 4. March 2011
DVLA figures show that one in ten motorists have points on their licence. The figures have been broken down by age sex and number of points. It also shows that the Government has collected £280 million from the 3.9 million drivers with points on their licence over the last 4 years (the minimum amount of time before points are cleared. That’s out of a total 37 million licence holders. The majority of drivers with points have just 3 points (3.2m). Just under 600,000 have 6 points and 92,000 Read more »
Tuesday, 1. March 2011
As fuel prices continue to rise the Government is under continual pressure to shelve the fuel duty hike. In April the duty will rise from its current 59pence per litre by inflation plus 1p, estimated at 3 to 4 pence per litre. Diesel is already at an all time high and still rising without the duty hike, causing the AA, RAC, Auto Express, RMIF and others to call on the Government to put the brakes on. The RAC pointed out that there have been 8 tax rises applied to petrol over the last 2 years making the Read more »
Sunday, 27. February 2011
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Following on from the news that windscreen replacement company, Auto Windscreens, has gone into liquidation we hear that our roads are in the worst condition ever, despite an extra £600 million being spent on them last year. The information regarding the condition of our roads comes in a report called the Highways Condition Index (HCI) released by the Department for Transport. The report shows that only 68% of the roads were classified as ‘Good’ whilst 26% were ‘Reasonable’ and 6% were Read more »
Saturday, 1. January 2011
After a short respite it seems that the GATSO’s that were switched off earlier this year, due to withdrawn grants to run them, are set to be switched back on. The 72 cameras in Oxfordshire that were switched off in July will be switched back on in April 2011. A new agreement, adopted by 24 police forces, will mean that they will be given a portion of the cash collected from drivers who attend awareness courses in lieu of points on their licences. Whilst this will again cause those who are against Read more »
Friday, 31. December 2010
During the recent cold spell a new type of crime has emerged causing the police to issue a warning. They are advising motorists not to leave their cars unattended whilst they wait for the screens to defrost, following a spate of incidents whereby cars have been stolen whilst left unattended with the engines running. The latest case was a Vauxhall Corsa stolen from a drive in Merthyr Tydfil when the owner left the engine running whilst he went back into his house. In another incident in Thurrock, Essex a man was de-icing his Peugeot when a thief got in and drove it away. The thief crashed the car causing £500 of damage, then ran off. The police have warned that motorists that warm their cars up this way are making it easy for thieves. Known as ‘frosting’ this type of theft will also leave drivers potentially without insurance cover as insurance companies may argue that the driver was not taking reasonable care. Heated windscreens will help to cut the number of frosting incidents but for those who want to clear the frost the best way is with some de-icer rather than leaving the engine running. Do you leave your engine running whilst clearing the ice off the windscreen? By Graham Hill
Sunday, 28. November 2010
I know it’s a subject I talk about a lot but as we run up to Christmas I’m onto drink driving. It was shocking reading for the Government, about to launch their Christmas campaign, that one in four drivers admit to drink driving recently. The survey was carried out on behalf of insurer Quinn Direct but the real shock was that nearly 80% of under 24’s said they had never driven under the influence of alcohol whilst 25% of the over 55’s admitted to driving whilst over the limit. 31% of men admitted to Read more »
Friday, 26. November 2010
I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that there are ways to get hold of dodgy MOT test certificates although since everything is on central computers now I believed that it wasn’t possible to fiddle certificates any longer. Well to prove me wrong a garage owner has been jailed for 6 months for passing 2,500 vehicles without failing a single one. Video evidence was collected against Noor Hussain for presentation at Preston Crown Court. It showed cars going in and out of the test bay in 7 Read more »
Monday, 22. November 2010
A new code of conduct is set to be launched this month by the Retail Motor Industry Federation, the association responsible for dealers and workshops. The scheme is set up to promote best practice and help to maintain standards for motorists, covering servicing and repairs. However, not everyone is impressed as there are already others operating similar controls, such as the AA, who argue that there are already too many in operation. AA technical specialist Vanessa Guyll said, ‘Multiple codes Read more »
Monday, 25. October 2010
If you ever drive into London along the M4 past Heathrow you will know only too well the frustration of sitting in a queue of traffic whilst the red bus lane is empty waiting for the odd taxi or bus to come zooming by. Of course if you dare to put a wheel into the bus lane a million cameras will provide the evidence necessary for you to receive a hefty fine. If this causes you frustration I have some good news for you Read more »
