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Trying to get more drivers off the roads and onto public transport won’t work if we continue to be charged ridiculous fares on the trains. A recent study revealed that UK rail travellers pay more than anywhere else in Europe. I bought a return ticket to London today and it cost just under £40 to take a round trip of about 70 miles, it’s ridiculous. By Graham Hill

Calls for a total mobile phone ban have come from safety experts following a landmark case. Lynne-Marie Howden, a director and head of sales at business consultancy Insights was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. But she was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving which resulted in a 12 month ban and a fine of £2,000. Ms Howden was talking on her hands free phone to a works Read more »

If you are a business you need to be aware of the tax changes coming into force in April. I have been through this before but as we are now nearly there let me refresh your memory: 

• Cars with CO2 emissions of more than 160g/km will be written down at 10% on a reducing balance basis. Read more »

Cloning is still on the increase but what do you do if you suspect that your car may have had it’s number plate cloned or you are in fact suspicious about any part of the car you are about to buy, is the registration document correct (V5C) or is the MOT certificate genuine? There is a new organisation that has been set up to combat vehicle fraud called the Vehicle Safe Trading Advisory Group. You can get lots of information and help by visiting their website www.vstag.co.uk By Graham Hill

Hopefully as we move into spring we will see some warmer weather but following one of the coldest winters for years many local authorities now have the job of sorting out the damaged roads left behind. The increase in potholes has resulted in an increase of 13% in pothole related axle and suspension damage. Insurer Warranty Direct suggested that the repairs may be slow to fix with some roads being left as there is Read more »

Fuel prices seem to have settled for a while but concerns have been raised about the differential between petrol and diesel. In November 2007 the difference was 2.6 pence per litre. When the cost of a barrel of oil increased to $147 in July 2008 the price differential increased to 14 pence per litre. Whilst oil prices have dropped back to less than $50 per barrel the differential between the two fuels is still at 3 times the Read more »

In times of recession is there any good news? Yes there is. According to the Department for Transport there are fewer cars using the roads resulting in quicker and safer journeys. According to the DfT motorists travelled 3.1 billion less miles last year which has got to be good on so many fronts, fewer accidents, less CO2 in the atmosphere, less wear and tear on our roads, less of our precious fuel used. The number of Read more »

More and more people that either bought or leased cars over the last two years are either holding onto their cars or extending their leases. Leasing companies have been encouraging extensions putting back the need to sell the end of lease car till as late as possible in the belief that used car prices will recover. But as I reported recently this drop in demand for new cars hasn’t led to a mass of unsold cars finding their way Read more »

A debate is going on about spare wheels and tyres fitted as standard. Should manufacturers continue to provide a full sized spare wheel, a skinny emergency wheel or fit run flat tyres that would enable manufacturers to not fit any spare at all? Puncture callouts to the RAC and AA are increasing, in 2002 the RAC was called out 160,908 times but by 2007 this had risen to 230,196, whilst the AA was called out 330,000 Read more »

Car maker Saab, owned by struggling US manufacturer General Motors has filed for bankruptcy protection in Sweden whilst they look for a new parent. The Swedish government refused to match the $420 million investment that was offered by GM in order to turn the company around. GM would only provide the money if the Swedish government matched it. As the government was not prepared to risk tax payers Read more »