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I’ve spoken about this subject before and whilst I support the objectives of the Government it is simply introducing a law that is virtually impossible to police. I’m talking about smoking in cars with children under 18 also in the car. From the 1^st October the ban on smoking in cars with children under 18 present comes into force.

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This follows a similar ban in Wales and is being considered in Scotland. The ban won’t apply to anyone smoking alone and it won’t apply to convertibles with the roof down. Public Health Minister, Jane Ellison, said, ‘Three million children are exposed to second hand smoke in cars putting their lives at risk.’

OK as a lifetime non-smoker I have never got my head around the need to suck smoke into my lungs, it simply makes no sense at all. Having said that I guess the main reasons why I would never partake is the sight of my dad, first thing in the morning, coughing and spitting his lung lining into the toilet every day having smoked the best part of 40+ untipped cigarettes the previous day, as he did most days.

For a child that was an incredibly frightening experience. My dad smoked in the car but always with the window open – thanks dad and we all (my sister and brother) carried around with us the delightful stench of smoke. So I’m against smoking but I also uphold the individual rights of people to smoke if they want to as long as it doesn’t affect me.

I also agree that smokers should not smoke in cars with children aboard but if you are such an uncaring parent to do it in the first place is a law going to make any difference? Parents shouldn’t smoke in confined spaces with children around through a sense of responsibility, not because the law says so. We are gravely lacking basic life skills in our education system and I’m about to go on a mission to change it.

Kids might leave school knowing the capital of various countries around the world or what the Boston Tea Party was all about but they need basic health and safety skills. Finance skills are essential such as how to open a bank account, take out a credit card and arrange a mortgage. Isn’t it time we educated our kids better in these areas rather than feel the need to introduce laws to prevent people doing things that one would think would be common sense! Good grief! G gets off his soap box! By Graham Hill

I’m feeling the little hairs on the back of my neck starting to bristle! And any regular readers of my newsletter/blog will know that if that happens something or someone has seriously pee’d me off! And I mean seriously pee’d me off (that’s polite speak for pissed me off ).

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

That kindly bumbling old gent, Vince Cable, has done it again. Just as I though he couldn’t manage to do anything more during the course of this government that I would consider to be totally daft he did it again. He recently approved the testing of driverless cars on public roads in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes and Greenwich.

He is following the USA who have allowed the testing of driverless cars in California, Nevada and Florida where they have roads bigger than the whole of the UK. So the odd stupid looking two seater driverless car poodling along a 10 lane 200 mile stretch of road, without the hint of a curve in it, won’t cause too much disruption.

But we live in a country where a dead badger on the opposite side of the road can lead to a 10 mile tailback as drivers take a closer look at the poor creature’s corpse as they drive by at walking speed. Just imagine the tailback as they drive past a car with no driver. ‘Wow kids look at that car – there isn’t a driver.’

Bang as they hit the car in front up the rear end! And the only driverless car I’ve seen being tested in the UK was in Greenwich toodling around at 2mph. Pedestrians were overtaking it for gawd sake! Now I’m not opposed to new technology and I would be happy for driverless cars to eventually be tested on UK public roads but whilst we need money in so many other areas should we be pumping money into such a project so early into the design stage?

And why do they need to test on our little public roads causing all sorts of problems? Here’s my idea, let the developers create driverless cars then when they are ready to test on public roads ship them over to Nevada and let the Americans stare at them and write their cars off in the process. I’m sure there will be some readers who disagree with me but I don’t care! I’m that kinda person! By Graham Hill

Conservative MP Sir Greg Knight has put forward a proposal to Transport Minister, John Hayes to turn off traffic lights on certain junctions at non busy times.

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I understand where he is coming from as I’m sure you do having spent what seems like ages stuck at a set of traffic lights with no other traffic about at all waiting for the lights to turn green. Apparently this isn’t as daft an idea as it might initially sound as it is fairly common in Europe. It saves electricity, it also saves fuel as drivers aren’t kept waiting at lights on tickover waiting for the lights to change.

I saw on our local news a few days ago that they were trialling such an idea in Reading town centre in order to keep busses flowing. The traffic lights were causing busses to bunch up so by the time the busses got out of the town passengers would see 2 or 3 busses all turn up together. By turning the traffic lights off at certain times it was found that busses were spread more evenly.

Whilst it might seem like a good idea Hayes has said that there are no immediate plans to switch off the traffic lights. So another good idea bites the dust! By Graham Hill

I live just outside Brighton, a newly formed city that I rarely visit during the summer because of the traffic and the inability to park, but I had cause to pop down there last week and ended up parking in Hove Actually and walking back into Brighton. It was a pleasant walk but as I was passing cars parked at the side of the road I started to notice that people had left nickable items on clear display inside the car.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

I saw all sorts from laptops to tablets, mobile phones, sat navs, piles of shopping spread across the back seat and several bags of all sizes, from handbags to sports bags, left on display on the front passenger’s seat or on the back seat. It made me think because I had only just read a report by Mike Waters of Arval who, in my opinion, stated the bloody obvious when he explained what people should do to prevent car thefts.

He was commenting on the number of prestige cars that were being stolen on a regular basis and what measures you should take in order to avoid your car being stolen. Having witnessed what I saw I thought that maybe I should share this nugget as some readers (not you of course) could be dopey enough not to understand the basic rules of protecting your car.

The first rule is of course to leave nothing on display. Anything of value should be left at home and if that isn’t practical lock it in the boot. You may not be too concerned about the loose change left in the centre console for use in car parks but that £2 contributes towards a can of Special Brew to some.

They are 2 quid better off and you are £75 worth of glass insurance excess the worse off.  Mr Waters says, ‘Always lock your vehicle and close the windows and sunroof. I have to say this seems obvious but how often do you or people you see leave their car on a garage forecourt whilst they pay for their fuel with windows open and the car unlocked?

There are thieves who target garage forecourts to either steal cars or their contents. Keep car keys out of sight, never put them down and even at home make sure they cannot be seen from the outside through a window or letter box. It is easier to break into a house and steal the keys than break into the car and have to hotwire it to get it started. Secure your number plates with tamperproof or clutch head screws.

Not sure about that one. False plates with a bit of double sided on the back can be stuck to the old number plate in seconds. Another suggestion that I don’t necessarily agree with, lock your car in a garage and lock both the car and the garage. I have found, and reported in the past, that if you show that your car is parked in a garage overnight when applying for insurance it can be more expensive than parked in the street. It can be easier to steal a car if the thief can carry out the theft whilst the car is in a garage rather than out in the street.

When away from home, try to park in a well lit, open location, or a police approved ‘ParkMark’ car park. I would add – in sight of a CCTV camera. Finally fit a tracking device to your vehicle and have the car registration number etched on all windows. By Graham Hill

Emission Analytics have found that the economy ratings on tyres can be misleading and inaccurate. The way that the economy ratings are shown at the moment may not give the full story if their findings are to be believed.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The company specialises in emission data and carried out a series of tests on tyres with various efficiency ratings only to find that those with a lower efficiency rating can perform just as well as those with a high efficiency rating. The test compared F- and B- rated tyres and found that between 40 – 55 mph the more expensive B- rated tyre only saved about 4% in fuel.

The gap between the two only widened when the speed increased to 70mph when the economy tyre returned a 13% saving. The company found that at mid-range speeds, F rated tyres can perform as well as B rated tyres.

Nick Molden, founder of the company, expressed concern that buyers and fleets were paying extra for tyres that weren’t providing the return they were expecting if the journeys are confined to urban routes. He went on to say, ‘Tyre-efficiency labels don’t provide enough information for buyers to make an informed choice.’ He is calling for action to better inform tyre buyers who could be making decisions based on fiction. By Graham Hill

Many years ago, when my namesake was racing cars I watched a demonstration by one of the F1 drivers showing how to avoid a skid by rapidly tapping the brake pedal. The driver applied and released the brakes in quick succession which gave greater control as the tyres moved round increasing the grip and avoiding a skid.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

It is the principal that developed into what has now been used for many years called ABS. Thousands of lives have been saved as a result of the fitting of ABS to all cars but now Thatcham have called for the latest brake development to be added to ABS and ESP as standard requirements on all new cars.

The new system known as Autonomous Electronic Braking (AEB) is already available or fitted to 23% of all new cars but Thatcham feels that more should be done by the Government to encourage the fitting of this technology by offering a £500 incentive to drivers that have it fitted.

Thatcham claims that the device would save 1,220 lives over 10 years and reduce casualties by 136,000. So what is AEB? It detects vehicles in front and applies the brakes in an emergency in time to prevent a front to end accident. In the more sophisticated systems the ‘radar’ can detect pedestrians and cyclists as well as solid vehicles.

At the moment if the system is fitted to a company car this will increase the driver’s benefit in kind tax and class 1A National Insurance Contributions, this is wrong according to Thatcham as the device is as much for the benefit of those outside the vehicle as inside.

Thatcham have shown that with AEB third party injury claims drop by 18%, whilst studies in the USA have put the reduction at 26%. Amazingly in Switzerland and Sweden front to rear crashes would drop by 31% and 48% respectively.

Whilst I have seen various claims relating to the benefits of AEB it is clear that this technology, if fitted, could save lives so I’m behind Thatcham and hope that they can convince the Government to do something to encourage the fitting of this life saving technology.

It might also help to prevent some of the crash for cash insurance claims so maybe the insurance companies should contribute something. Just a thought!

Related articles

• New AEB brakes ‘safer’ for cars (bbc.co.uk)

I remember years ago whilst training as an accountant an economics professor saying never assess what the Chancellor is saying at the dispatch box when announcing the budget because the devil is in the detail and the detail is in the small print. And so itr was with the latest budget.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

Whilst company car drivers seemed to have been left alone whilst benefitting from fuel duty freeze in the small print was the ‘leaving alone’ of a previous announcement that benefit in kind (BIK) bands that kick in 12 months from now will continue to 2017 and 2018 tax years. This is the increase of 2 percentage points for each tax band per annum.

So by 2018 the BIK tax applied to cars with a CO2 emission of 76-94g/km will be 19% of the car’s P11D value. So much for looking after the motorist. In 2018 this will raise £240 million for the treasury with a further £480 million in 2019. Those that drive low emission cars will suffer the most as we will see cars under 51g/km dropping into the 13% band with 51-74g/km up to 16% by 2018.

And all this came after the Chancellor announced at the dispatch box that he is ‘increasing the discount for low-emission vehicle.’ I think it is about time for a re-think because this will take anyone currently considering an electric vehicle from a benefit in kind threshold of zero to 13% in 4 years. But it gets worse!

Because if you look at the cost of an electric vehicle compared with the equivalent petrol vehicle the BIK tax is horrendous. Take for example the Nissan Leaf, the Tekna version has an on the road figure, according to What Car of £30,490 before the Government subsidy is applied (and therefore the figure that BIK will be based upon).

Compare this with a Nissan Juke 1.6 petrol Juke, this costs £16,295, the Leaf is nearly twice the price. I seriously think that the government needs to think again about zero emission cars and the disincentive that this brings. By Graham Hill

Nissan Leaf at Tokyo Motor Show (RHD). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Insurance bloody insurance, I seem to write something about this every week but for once I have something to report on that shows we aren’t so badly off after all. Young drivers pay more for their insurance than they pay for their cars unless they drive a car with pedals, have a tracker embedded in their arm and only drive between 10.00 and 11.00 in the morning.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The days when your dad took out insurance on the kid’s car and named the youngster as named driver are long gone. In fact they have even given this heinous crime a name, it is called ‘fronting’ and if your youngster has an accident the insurance loss adjuster will turn somersaults to try to prove that your son or daughter is the main driver in order to decline the claim.

But just as I thought that our car insurers are the worst on the planet I read about the way that US insurance companies assess the risk of drivers over there. Everything looked fairly similar until I read that when you took out insurance in the US the insurer carried out a credit search.

Not for the obvious reasons that they want to convince themselves that you will make the monthly insurance premium payments but to use your credit score in assessing your risk!! What? It’s true. According to one of their large insurers if you have a low credit score you are believed to be more irresponsible and more likely to have an accident.

I couldn’t believe it when I read it. Are they for real? Now this fact has come to light various driver groups are campaigning to stop this ridiculous assessment. And I totally agree. Over here they don’t go through a full credit assessment even to assess whether you will make your monthly repayments, as the insurer would simply take you off cover if you didn’t pay.

But to suggest that you would be more of a car insurance risk because you have a low credit score is bloody ridiculous! So it would seem that the insurers in the UK are not so bad after all. By Graham Hill