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Did you know that as of 1^st October 2014 tax discs exist no more? It would seem that half the drivers in the UK are unaware of this fact so let me explain what is happening. But before you get excited it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to tax your car it simply means that you don’t have to display a disc which is expected to save the DVLA £10 million each year in this move to go paperless.

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It also means that as of the 1^st October, if you already have a disc, you can take it out of your windscreen, all part of the announcement made by the Government in the Autumn statement. In addition to no longer being required to display a tax disc there is another move over which car traders and dealers may not be so happy.

Cars used to be sold or part exchanged with a bit of tax left on it either giving the buyer some refund to trouser or giving the seller something to negotiate with when selling her pride and joy. In future, as soon as the DVLA are notified that a car has been sold a refund for the balance of unused tax will be sent to the previous owner. As before refunds will only be issued for complete months that are unused whilst the new owner must apply immediately for the tax using the relevant portion of the V5C.

Another, somewhat strange change, given the way that road tax has been coming down as CO2 emissions continue to reduce, is the ability to pay monthly. Paying monthly will increase the annual cost of the licence by 5% but drivers will be able to pay by direct debit to avoid forgetting and receiving a fine. In what I thought was a funny twist, paper tax discs are still being sent out till the end of September but the DVLA ran out of perforated paper so drivers are having to cut them out themselves.

I can just imagine the dog’s dinner that some have ended up with after attacking the disc with a pair of nail scissors or garden shears! So to sum up: You can still pay for your disc at a Post Office, online or monthly and you’ll still get a reminder. You can no longer transfer the tax, it is automatically refunded when the car is sold or scrapped and the DVLA advised. You will be able to check the tax status of any car by going online and typing https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax then typing in the car registration and make.

In future you won’t see traffic wardens peering through car windows unless they are being nosey or are perverts. In future tax checks will be carried out by police with plate recognition cameras, wardens will have access to the DVLA database and static plate ID cameras will crop up and will enable the authorities to raise instant fines to those drivers whose cars are captured without tax or insurance.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And don’t forget that you need to do nothing other than remove your tax disc on the 1^st October and maybe keep hold of to hand down to your grandchildren for posterity. By Graham Hill

Related articles

• DVLA about to ‘run out’ of tax disc paper (telegraph.co.uk)

Sadly we are coming to the end of what wasn’t a bad summer other than August that was complete rubbish! Nights are drawing in and whilst we are still enjoying some late sunshine we should be making plans for the winter months ahead.

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.

Fleet News has provided a few pointers and given us a few things to think about. Inevitably there will be a few days when it will be difficult, if not impossible, to either drive to work or use public transport (bit of wind, snow, leaves on the train line, volcanoes erupting, landslides etc.) so do you have a back up plan that enables you and/or staff to work from home in the case of an emergency?

Don’t forget if you employ staff you are responsible for their health and safety and could leave yourself exposed if you insist they come to work when the authorities or experts have advised against it. With regard to your car, have you considered swapping to winter tyres to reduce tyre wear and increase grip. Many of the national tyre fitters now offer a service whereby they will swap over tyres for you between summer and winter and store your summer tyres till spring.

Fleet News also suggest that you consider 4WD cars but I disagree. I don’t recall one day last winter when a 4WD car would have avoided taking any time off work and I have to say that unless you have taken a 4WD course the chances are that you will be no better off driving a 4WD car than a 2WD car. Oh and a little tip if you are stuck in snow, try letting a little air out of the drive tyres to increase grip or better still buy a set of snow chains and a spade to dig yourself out.

Make sure that your car has been serviced and there is enough anti freeze in your radiator and plenty in your windscreen wash. In fact make up some anti-freeze screen wash and keep it in a bottle in the boot, it is so easy to run out of screen wash on a trip and end up not being able to see out of the windscreen. Give yourself a few minutes to sit in the car with the engine running in order to warm up the heater.

If it is cold or raining and you drive straight off you will find the windscreen heavily misting up before it starts to demist making it impossible to see where you are going. Remember it is an offence to drive a car if you cannot see through the screen due to either dirt or mist. Oh and another tip, get yourself some Marigold rubber gloves and stick them in the boot.

Snow chain at the front wheel. Photographer: Devchonka. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The best type of gloves to wear when clearing snow or frost off the car or even to wear when fitting snow chains or digging out the snow. They are totally waterproof and surprisingly warm. I’ll add a few more tips into my next newsletter as the countdown to winter continues. There are lots more tips to come so make sure you read them and stay safe! By Graham Hill

Telematics is a fairly new word that started its life within the terminology used by fleet managers wishing to track drivers of their vans to ensure that drivers were not driving too many hours and using the most economic routes. It normally takes the form of a tracking device that records everything from time spent driving to the routes taken by the driver, fuel consumption and even the driving style of the driver.

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 process was intended to improve driver safety, improve efficiency and ensure that the driver was involved in as few accidents as possible. But these days the same technology has moved into the consumer market with insurance companies prepared to give discounts to drivers who fit telematics type systems to their cars providing greater discounts to those who drive least and most carefully.

But this has led to legal questions about what data is provided and how it is used. Basic tracking information used for health and safety or economic reasons may be all well and good but what about the times when the company vehicle is being used for personal use and if information is fed to your insurer when is the data likely to cross over into an infringement of personal privacy?

Marc Dautlich, head of information law and partner in the technology, media and telecoms team at international law firm Pinsent Masons, believes employers using such technology need to tread very carefully. It is also believed that Insurers and those collecting data on their behalf need to be equally cautious. Legal issues stem from data protection and employment law, as well as article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, under which an individual has a right to ‘respect for one’s private and family life, home and correspondence.’

Not only could telematics systems leave drivers vulnerable to the miss-use of data but as cars now have access to the likes of Google, Facebook, Emails and your mobile address book how is the information that may be stored in your car protected? I reported quite recently about the case of a celebrity’s wife selling her car and the new owner finding the previous owners phone list still stored in the car’s memory, including the home and mobile numbers of numerous famous people.

There are many advantages to having telematics fitted to your car, especially when proving a driver’s speed just prior to an accident but this could all fall apart if data is found to be miss-used by employers or insurance companies. Anyone using the data collected must make it clear to the driver what information will be collected, how it will be used and how long it will be kept for. By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Do You Really Want Your Insurer Monitoring Your Driving Habits? (cheapautoinsurance.org)

You may not have heard the name Marina Usaceva but a court ruling, following an accident in which she was involved, could change your attitude to what you do whilst driving.      Marina was considered responsible for a fatal accident in which the other driver involved died. She had been using a mobile phone but not at the time of the accident.

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.

Her barrister explained that there was a 6 minute difference between the time it was shown she was using the phone and when she had the accident. Described as ‘clear water’ and provided as mitigating evidence the plea was still ignored by the judge when he sentenced Marina to 6 years imprisonment.

Evidence showed that she had sent and received texts on two phones during the 20 minutes before the accident. In summing up before sentencing Judge Sean Enright said, ‘If you were not sending texts at the time, then you were fiddling with your phone and that is what caused the collision. Mobile phone use whilst driving is a plague on our society,’

This is a clear warning that the courts will consider the use of a mobile phone whilst driving as a contributing factor to an accident, even if not being used at the time of the accident. Labour Peer Lord Ahmed was jailed for 12 weeks after admitting to texting at the time he was involved in a fatal accident on the M1 in 2009. Since then the law has tightened and sentences greatly increased.

At the time the case was ground breaking because the judge didn’t link the texting directly to the accident but described the texting as ‘prolonged, deliberate, repeated and highly dangerous.’ So the warning, as repeated by Lucy Whitaker of legal firm Rothera Dowson, is that courts are now increasingly willing to consider the use of a mobile phone, prior to an accident, as a contributing factor.

As the law stands at the moment if a driver is found to be using a mobile phone whilst driving he will usually receive a fine of £100 and 3 points on his licence. Using a mobile when involved in an accident causing a serious injury or fatality would be considered to be driving without due care and attention with a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment along with disqualification and potential fine.

Beyond that, death by dangerous driving carries a maximum jail sentence of 14 years and a minimum disqualification of 2 years, a discretionary re-test and possible fine. Whilst there is still no suggestion that telephones should be switched off whilst driving, if you have an accident, even whilst using a hands free phone, this could still be considered by a judge to be an ‘unnecessary distraction’ and be treated the same as if you had been using a mobile phone without hands free.

As pointed out by Lucy Whitaker, ‘There is no real ‘safe time’ to use a phone, hand held or otherwise, whilst driving.’ Be warned that it is standard practice for police to confiscate mobile phones from drivers at the scene of very serious accidents as part of the information and evidence gathering process. Casually using mobile phones without consideration of the consequences is irresponsible so stop it now.

Driver in a Mitsubishi Galant using a hand held mobile phone violating New York State law. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the first 3 months of this year 380 people lost their lives in accidents attributed to the use of a mobile phone, up 13% over the same period in 2013. Campaigners warn that mobile phone use could become a bigger killer in 2015 than drink driving – a sobering thought! By Graham Hill

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• Driver who used two phones at the wheel jailed for killing man (telegraph.co.uk)

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I recently answered a frequent question in one of my standard mailouts which received a massive response so I am reprinting it on my blog for you to come back to if needed. Part 2 will be a further blog when sent out to my database, here is part 1:

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

Road rage is on the increase and is having more of an effect than simply a momentary explosion of anger. A road rage incident can affect both parties to the point of casting a black cloud over their day and negatively affect their mood. It can also, in more extreme cases, lead to more serious verbal or physical violence resulting in injury or worse.

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.

On TV we tend to only see the results of severe road rage when someone is killed but every day road rage occurs on our roads leaving both parties seriously stressed. Black Box Insurer, Ingenie, carried out a survey in which 70% of respondents said they had been involved in road rage over the last 12 months.

65% said that they were not the ones that instigated the road rage although 85% admitted to showing the signs of road rage on occasions. Dr Lisa Dorn of Cranford University is a Driver Behaviour Expert and believes that more should be done in this area. When psychologist, Dr Dorn, started studying this area there were 6,000 – 7,000 deaths each year but whilst this has now dropped to 1,700 this is still too high.

Road safety has greatly improved with the development of technology, both inside and outside cars, road signage has improved and roads are better engineered, all of which has improved the accident and death rate. According to Dr Dorn ‘The way in which you need to continue to improve road safety is by educating drivers.’ According to the good doctor drivers take risks that have nothing to do with their skills or knowledge, they take them because of their emotional condition, the situation they are in.

There are the sensation seekers who are looking for a ‘buzz’. They can often find it through driving. For this character an open country road with lots of bends and hills on a sunny day would be a great temptation which would lead to some very erratic and dangerous driving. These conditions would act as a trigger for those seeking an exciting experience that could often lead to road rage in them if they are stopped during this experience by a tractor or slow driver in their way.

The other type of person most likely to become embroiled in road rage is the angry person. Being angry, for non driving reasons, can result in aggressive behaviour behind the wheel. Dr Dorn says, ‘Put that into a traffic situation and you have a driver who frequently experiences frustration and may intimidate other road users. The focus is not on the road but tunnelled towards letting off steam.’

If accidents are to be avoided and bad feelings resulting from road rage to be eliminated drivers’ attitudes must be changed but there is no ‘silver bullet’ that will resolve this psychological problem. Having said that Dr Dorn points out that, ‘There is a psychology tradition to behavioural change and dealing with different personalities and a methodology that is fairly well researched.’

She points out that there is a need for drivers to develop the ability to self reflect on their personal driving style. Pass your test and you never have to do anything ever again, you are a safe and competent driver. But there are many times during your lifetime of driving when something happens to heighten the risk to your driving performance. For example, being pregnant, being sleep deprived, stress at work, divorce, loss of a loved one, financial worries, all could have a major effect on your alertness and driving.

There are laws and regulations that govern the roadworthy condition of the car but what about the condition of the driver? It might seem crazy (and it does to me) but she is suggesting that just as you unlock the car, put your seatbelt on and start the engine without thinking you should also ask yourself, ‘How is my driving going to be affected today?’

A moment of focus on your driving rather than your need for a buzz or the problem that is pre-occupying your mind may help with your attitude towards your driving. Other suggestions are, be aware of anyone trying to pass by tailgating you, keep an eye in the rear view mirror and find a safe place to move over and let them pass. Focus on the present moment and your driving, not your destination. Hold your hand up by way of an apology to a fellow motorist if you make an error whilst driving, it’s surprising how that small gesture can take the immediate heat out of a potential road rage situation.

Avoid making eye contact with an aggressive driver in a confrontational situation. Dr Dorn also suggests that everyone should take responsibility for their driving and consider their mental condition to be as important to their safety as putting on a seatbelt. My opinion is make sure you buy a car with air conditioning and make sure that it is working, staying physically cool whilst driving is as important as staying mentally cool. By Graham Hill

Now here’s an idea that I threw out there a couple of years ago which attracted the usual amount of attention that my ideas receive but am I disappointed – nah cos I just keep on throwing the ideas out there till one day I get recognised as the man that made a difference.

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 have just read that the Government has made yet another U turn regarding motorway speed limits. It wasn’t that long ago when Stephen Hammond said that it was the Government’s plan to introduce an 80mph speed limit on motorways. We then received the caveat that this would be a ‘zero tolerance’ limit.

In other words, crack on at 81 mph and you’re nicked sunshine. But chat to any traffic cop and they say that they use as a very rough guide, speed limit + 10% + 3mph before they light up your rear view mirror with a mass of blue lights. So let me see (gets out calculator), umm, 70mph + 10% = 77mph + 3mph = would you believe it 80mph.

So no sodding change! Added to which, for fear of losing votes, Mr Hammond’s boss came out immediately after and said he wasn’t considering a change to motorway speed limits. Back to square 1. But not quite because the greenies amongst us, having heard Mr Hammond, decided to make the case for the environment and insist that rather than increase the speed limit the Government should decrease it to 60mph. Good grief!

So then the Government decided that they should carry out experiments on stretches of ‘Smart’ motorways, currently undergoing widening, where it would be possible to set limits on specific stretches of road whilst the Highways Agency stood at the side and assessed the air quality under different conditions.

Having decided that this was a good idea (I don’t for the record) and to be in place as soon as the motorway improvements were completed on the M1 and M3, Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, has decided to shelve the idea and instructed the Highways Agency to look for other ways to improve air quality rather than drop speed limits.

This announcement was not necessarily a vote winner, more likely not a vote loser. Look the answer is simple. It is already an offence to hog the centre lane on a motorway but why not go one step further and say if there are no cars to the left of a driver he must move over or be fined, flogged and receive 3 points.

This would result in the freeing up of tens of thousands of motorway miles and help traffic flow. My original suggestion was rather than impose a fine and points make the tar on the inside lane fine and therefore low noise in the car, middle lane a little courser and outside lane much courser increasing the noise, at speed, in the cabin.

Constant drumming in the car whilst hogging the outside lane would soon move them over! Sorted – job done! Thank you very much! By Graham Hill

60KM/H Speed limit sign in Australia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)