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Used car values for both petrol and diesel stayed strong in August, but used electric vehicles (EVs) and some hybrids continue to struggle, says Cap HPI.

For the third month in a row, values for EVs have reduced, it reports, with feedback from the market suggesting that EVs continue to look expensive compared to their internal combustion engine equivalents.

For the volume models, price pressure continues to be around the three-year-old EVs, which are coming back into the market, says Cap HPI.

Derren Martin, head of valuations UK at Cap HPI, explained: “2017 saw an increase of around 40% in EV new car registrations over the previous year, so it is no surprise that as more vehicles come back into the used market, values will be exposed to supply and demand dynamics.

“Some examples of models that have dropped in value at that age are the BMW i3, Kia Soul and Nissan Leaf.”

Some hybrids that have moved down in value at the three-year point are the Toyota Auris, Toyota Prius, Lexus LS and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Some of this is due to a reduction in activity in the private hire industry, where demand for these vehicles has historically been strong.

Overall, pricing experts at Cap HPI say that the used car market remains strong in August, with values up by a minimal 0.2% at the three-year point, which equates to around £30 on average.

So far this year, there has only been one month where values dropped and that was during the run-up to lockdown in March.

On average, used car values when calculating the same models at the same age and mileage point as a year ago, are some 7% higher than they were in August 2019.

Martin said: “The used car retail market has remained robust throughout August, making it the third consecutive month since car showrooms reopened with remarkably strong consumer demand.#

“Looking at the retail advertised data received by Cap HPI, it is clear that across all mainstream sectors, prices have edged up slightly on average. This is unsurprising since trade prices have increased overall and consumer demand is so strong.

“If ever there was a time to increase asking prices and maintain margins, the last three months has been it. These small average increases have not adversely affected days-to-sell.”

Martin says that consumer demand is still being driven by people wanting to avoid public transport, buyers downgrading and savers looking to upgrade.

The SUV sector saw smaller models increase in price, while larger ones were under more pressure due to significant availability, meaning prices dropped slightly.

The trend was most acute at younger ages, and at six-months-old, larger SUVs have fallen by around £225 on average, whereas smaller examples have increased by around £150.

The Citroen C4 Cactus, Dacia Duster and Renault Captur have increased in value the most of these smaller models. There is generally a very different customer for these two sizes of SUV.

Martin concluded: “Since the unexpected upturn in June, particularly at older ages, Live values during July and August have stayed very stable, as we predicted.

“September will result in more part-exchanges and fleet returns hitting the market, as new car buyers opt for the 70-plate, but it is unlikely that volumes will be as high as in previous years.”

He continued: “The reduced volumes of cars would typically lead to strong prices. However, with the furlough scheme coming to a close and an economic downturn continuing, consumers are likely to become more prudent.

“The pent-up demand from inactivity during lockdown will come to an end, as will people buying to avoid public transport – that was always likely to be a short-term dynamic. Those upsizing due to grants or savings made during the last few months will also wane.

“In short, predictions are that the next few weeks will remain stable, as there is currently no weakness in the market. However, from the end of September and into October, prices are likely to come under more pressure. What is clear is that viewing valuations in real-time and keeping vigilant will become more important than ever.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News.

A review by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has cast doubt on whether police forces are doing enough to monitor and improve road safety.

The Department of Transport (DfT) have estimated that the national cost of all road traffic collisions is £36 billion per annum.

Since 1979, whilst the numbers killed in road accidents in England and Wales had been reducing, there have been recent increases.

In 2013 the number of deaths was 1541, but this had increased to 1624 by 2018, with an additional 23,931 serious accidents where often life changing injuries were suffered.

It is accepted that one effective measure for maintaining road safety is the placement of speed enforcement cameras.

Whilst some police forces have adopted parts of the national roads policing strategy, some were unable to provide any evidence a strategy was in place to reduce deaths and serious collisions on roads.

Most forces were unable to demonstrate that placement of cameras was based on consideration of the causes of serious collisions on roads in their area.

Whilst police forces do not receive funds from fines and fixed penalties, they can recover costs for administration and provision of educational schemes.

Deployment of speed cameras is mainly carried out by road safety partnerships.

The report found that this has resulted in safety partnerships preventing use of fixed cameras in areas where the safety partnership has deployed mobile speed enforcement cameras.

Not surprisingly, this has raised suspicion with police officers that the focus of activity for use of speed enforcement cameras was influenced more by increasing revenue than by reducing serious accidents in areas where a higher incidence of collisions was found to exist.

It should be noted, the number of dedicated road policing officers has decreased.

Spending on road policing has fallen by 34% in England and Wales from 2012/13 to 2019/20.

This has been found to have resulted in enforcement action lacking focus and appropriate evaluation of outcomes.

The report makes a number of recommendations and encourages police forces to share best practice on analysis of vulnerable road users, repeat offenders, or the causes of collisions.

It was also recommended that roads policing training should be standardised and accredited.

The report noted that whilst motorcyclists make up only 0.8% of traffic, they make up 26% of those killed or seriously injured.

With a likely significant increase in the number of cyclists using the road network, given one of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that road safety is given a high priority by police forces and road safety partnerships. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Local authorities in London and Cardiff have raised £58.2 million from drivers committing moving traffic offences in just one year, with the same powers due to be rolled out to other councils.

Moving traffic offences include stopping on a yellow box junction, making an illegal turn or driving down a ‘no entry’ road.

The only local authorities that currently have the power to enforce these offences in England and Wales are London boroughs and Cardiff Council.

Figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request suggest they collected £58.2m in penalty charge notices (PCNs) in 2018/19 – 25% (£11.5m) more than in 2016/17 (£46.7m).

The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed on July 27 that it plans to extend these enforcement powers to all local authorities in England and Wales.

Currently, local authorities outside of London and Cardiff only have powers to enforce bus lane contraventions. 

RAC head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes, said: “It’s plain for all to see that London boroughs, TfL and Cardiff are generating phenomenal sums of money from the enforcement of moving traffic offences.”

In 2016/17, councils issued 752,871 PCNs, rising to 1,007,405 in 2018/19 which equates to a 34% rise.

Yellow box junctions were the biggest revenue generator, bringing in £31.4m in 2018/19 compared to £22.3m for ‘no turn’ offences and £4.4m for ‘no entry’ contraventions.

Looking at Cardiff alone, nearly four times as many PCNs were issued in 2018/19 compared to 2016/17 (74,142 compared to 19,080) translating to a £1.8m hike in revenue (£593,160 to £2.4m – 313%).

The most profitable offences for Cardiff are ‘no turns’ yielding £1.4m in contrast to £826,424 for yellow box junctions and £182,782 for ‘no entry’ offences.

Of the London boroughs which provided data to the RAC a total of 933,263 PCNs were issued in 2018/19, 27% more than two years ago (733,791). This, however, only translated to a 21% increase in revenues (£46.1m to £55.7m).

Yellow box junctions

Of the authorities which benefitted the most from the enforcement of yellow box junctions, Transport for London (TfL) topped the table with a revenue of nearly £10m (£9,969,545 – 135,923 PCNs) in 2018/19.

But in terms of single councils, Hammersmith and Fulham came out top with a £3.5m yellow box revenue pot (from 53,576 PCNs) generated from 16 enforced junctions out of 23 in its area – £1.1m ahead of its nearest rival Redbridge on £2.4m (34,782 PCNs from 14 enforced junctions out of a total of 35).

Merton, the only other council to pocket more than £2m in yellow box penalties, was third on £2.2m (31,081 PCNs from 27 enforced junctions, no overall total of junctions available).

In terms of average revenues per enforced junction, Westminster recorded the highest figure with a single junction generating £333,295 from 4,595 PCNs.

Hammersmith and Fulham had the second largest average on £223,472 (£3.5m from 16 enforced junctions) and Richmond had the second largest average revenue with £156,117.

TfL has 399 yellow box junctions but declined to disclose how many are enforced.

No turn offences

Three authorities topped £2m in revenue from ‘no turn’ offences with Ealing even managing to outdo TfL with a revenue of £2.6m (from 44,612 PCNs) versus £2m (£2,093,651, from 28,978 PCNs). Hackney had the third highest total on £1,888,845.

No entry offences

Harrow was top for ‘no entry’ offences with a revenue of £549,785 followed by Southwark on £420,760 and Islington on £357,265.

Lyes said: “The vast majority of drivers we’ve surveyed agree that those who stop on yellow boxes, make illegal turns or go through ‘no entry’ signs need to be penalised, but when it comes to extending powers to other councils many are concerned, with 68% thinking local authorities will rush to install cameras to generate additional revenue.

“Four in 10 drivers (39%) also believe that road layouts and signage will be made deliberately confusing to increase the number of PCNs issued.

“Clearly, the priority for enforcement should be to improve road safety and reduce congestion.”

The DfT’s decision to extend the same enforcement powers to other local authorities, however, Lyes believes should come with guidance setting out where enforcement should be targeted and the types of signs that must be used to make drivers aware that enforcement cameras are operating, and for what type of moving traffic offence.

“It should also make clear the circumstances in which a PCN can be appealed and where mitigating circumstances may apply such as stopping in a yellow box to allow an emergency services vehicle to go by,” continued Lyes.

“We welcome proposals that first offenders are sent a warning letter before subsequent penalties apply. This is particularly important where changes are made to urban road layouts. What we do not want is this being seen by cash-strapped local authorities as a way to generate revenue.

“In addition, we would urge local authorities to publish annual reports of moving traffic offence receipts by type and by junction.

“We would also encourage them to monitor hot spots where an unusually high proportion of PCNs are issued as this is more than likely a clear indication of a problem with signage or road layout.”

Tables

Key: NA – Not available; DNE – Does not enforce; DNR – Did not respond

Summary – all authorities in England and Wales with power to enforce moving traffic offences
All – London boroughs & Cardiff	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
Box junctions	404,618	455,129	510,065	£25,893,253	£28,943,627	£31,410,486
No turns	290,094	384,356	419,801	£17,119,308	£21,908,787	£22,377,326
No entry	58,159	62,490	77,539	£3,725,794	£3,563,781	£4,453,518
Total	752,871	901,975	1,007,405	£46,738,355	£54,416,195	£58,241,330
Change – year-on-year		149,104	105,430		£7,677,840	£3,825,135
			+12%			+7%
Change 16/17 to 18/19			254,534			£11,502,975
			+34%			+25%

Cardiff	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
Box junctions	4,163	8,165	23,752	£150,876	£296,030	£826,424
No turns	14,917	42,862	44,747	£442,284	£1,388,241	£1,438,732
No entry	0	4,474	5,643	£0	£160,292	£182,782
Total	19,080	55,501	74,142	£593,160	£1,844,563	£2,447,938
Change – year-on-year		36,421	18,641		£1,251,403	£603,375
			+34%			+33%
Change 16/17 to 18/19			55,062			£1,854,778
			+289%			+313%

London boroughs	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
Box junctions	400,455	446,964	486,313	£25,742,377	£28,647,597	£30,584,062
No turns	275,177	341,494	375,054	£16,677,024	£20,520,546	£20,938,594
No entry	58,159	58,016	71,896	£3,725,794	£3,403,489	£4,270,736
Total	733,791	846,474	933,263	£46,145,195	£52,571,632	£55,793,392
Change – year-on-year		112,683	86,789		£6,426,437	£3,221,760
			+10%			+6%
Change 16/17 to 18/19			199,472			£9,648,197
			+27%			+21%

Box junctions PCNs ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19
1	Transport for London	108,151	122,991	135,923
2	Hammersmith and Fulham	65,367	64,316	53,576
3	Barnet	28,530	40,399	38,860
4	Waltham Forest	34,472	23,851	35,423
5	Redbridge	11,723	27,937	34,782
6	Merton	32,589	39,679	31,081
7	Cardiff	4,163	8,165	23,752
8	Brent	12,600	18,032	20,207
9	Islington	2,423	9,392	15,343
10	Wandsworth	1,440	5,517	15,321
11	Richmond	2,995	4,526	15,238
12	Barking & Dagenham	5,219	4,461	12,903
13	Enfield	16,903	10,958	11,018
14	Kingston upon Thames	17,245	15,665	9,654
15	Bexley	11,416	9,079	9,609
16	Ealing	7,126	9,229	9,565
17	Haringey	10,036	13,380	9,205
18	Camden	6,957	5,889	7,407
19	Hounslow	13,442	8,077	7,051
20	Lambeth	1,077	1,927	5,230
21	Westminster	6,946	6,416	4,595
22	Hackney	11	3,217	2,609
23	Harrow	1,835	1,220	1,161
24	Southwark	1,208	804	552
25	City of London	744	2	0
	Sutton	0	0	0
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Havering	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Hillingdon	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Lewisham	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Tower Hamlets	DNE	DNE	DNE
	TOTAL	404,618	455,129	510,065
	Change – year-on-year		50,511	54,936
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			105,447

Box junctions revenue ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19	Number of Box junctions	Numbers currently enforced	Numbers enforced in 18/19
1	Transport for London	£7,622,149	£8,895,998	£9,969,545	399	NA	NA
2	Hammersmith and Fulham	£4,572,143	£4,518,388	£3,575,565	23	16	16
3	Redbridge	£833,095	£1,933,623	£2,463,172	35	18	14
4	Merton	£2,366,302	£2,885,817	£2,253,219	NA	23	27
5	Waltham Forest	£2,337,874	£1,587,932	£1,880,431	27	17	17
6	Brent	£864,875	£1,238,439	£1,241,202	116	59	59
7	Richmond	£156,978	£549,265	£1,092,821	14	7	10
8	Wandsworth	£87,065	£373,946	£982,139	22	11	11
9	Islington	£150,343	£607,728	£979,817	40	37	37
10	Barking & Dagenham	£337,624	£315,083	£917,360	NA	13	13
11	Cardiff	£150,876	£296,030	£826,424	N/A	12	11
12	Kingston upon Thames	£1,119,590	£977,429	£719,618	28	8	5
13	Enfield	£1,063,083	£692,022	£688,123	43	6	6
14	Bexley	£780,377	£606,236	£649,193	11	7	7
15	Haringey	£696,022	£893,305	£606,541	45	23	23
16	Ealing	£496,960	£611,529	£568,492	NA	9	NA
17	Camden	£472,327	£416,741	£543,354	55	6	6
18	Hounslow	£973,161	£576,374	£466,654	NA	NA	26
19	Lambeth	£73,550	£125,003	£356,874	NA	4	8
20	Westminster	£483,011	£475,462	£333,295	NA	1	1
21	Hackney	£195	£229,951	£179,421	23	1	2
22	Harrow	£127,994.93	£81,641.27	£77,154.11	18	5	8
23	Southwark	£84,230	£55,554	£40,073	36	4	4
24	City of London	£43,429	£130	£0	5	0	0
	Sutton	£0	£0	£0	5	1	0
	Barnet	NA	NA	NA	22	17	17
	TOTAL	£25,893,253	£28,943,627	£31,410,486	945	288	311
	Change – year-on-year		£3,050,374	£2,466,859
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			£5,517,233

‘No turn’ PCNs ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19
1	Barnet	21,558	36,745	53,297
2	Cardiff	14,917	42,862	44,747
3	Ealing	43,985	41,716	44,612
4	Hackney	0	2,194	31,327
5	Waltham Forest	23,222	25,757	29,052
6	Havering	4,486	26,080	29,012
7	Transport for London	14,117	26,539	28,978
8	Harrow	15,801	19,062	17,596
9	Brent	30,630	23,171	16,773
10	Westminster	2,264	16,546	16,391
11	Merton	18,454	21,259	15,577
12	Wandsworth	3,125	4,692	11,786
13	Tower Hamlets	1,042	6,612	9,611
14	Barking & Dagenham	7,514	9,294	9,161
15	Islington	9,272	9,634	8,930
16	Haringey	13,337	12,718	8,319
17	Southwark	10,515	9,045	7,297
18	Enfield	7,683	10,281	7,061
19	Camden	9,622	8,409	6,470
20	Hammersmith and Fulham	11,315	10,382	6,180
21	Kingston upon Thames	12,683	6,419	5,932
22	Lewisham	0	2,914	4,648
23	Lambeth	6,601	4,579	3,760
24	Redbridge	4,272	2,463	1,258
25	Hounslow	417	299	954
26	Richmond	2,995	4,526	846
27	Bexley	267	158	172
28	Hillingdon	0	0	54
	City of London	NA	NA	NA
	Sutton	NA	NA	NA
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	290,094	384,356	419,801
	Change – year-on-year		94,262	35,445
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			129,707

‘No turn’ revenue – ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
1	Ealing	£2,683,701	£2,656,095	£2,685,346
2	Transport for London	£1,012,411	£1,903,322	£2,093,651
3	Hackney	£0	£133,420	£1,888,845
4	Havering	£459,856	£1,698,206	£1,872,821
5	Waltham Forest	£1,526,667	£1,688,329	£1,865,539
6	Cardiff	£442,284	£1,388,241	£1,438,732
7	Brent	£1,969,815	£1,756,762	£1,317,666
8	Westminster	£88,507	£1,195,813	£1,177,011
9	Merton	£1,322,351	£1,548,912	£1,132,455
10	Harrow	£1,044,236	£1,245,682	£1,096,385
11	Wandsworth	£175,279	£302,830	£718,888
12	Barking & Dagenham	£472,662	£631,866	£620,809
13	Tower Hamlets	£4,616	£395,168	£569,120
14	Haringey	£921,276	£853,553	£535,393
15	Islington	£553,306	£554,082	£495,051
16	Southwark	£706,394	£607,718	£463,048
17	Camden	£633,714	£578,576	£445,899
18	Enfield	£484,953	£656,839	£421,395
19	Kingston upon Thames	£805,522	£369,325	£399,809
20	Hammersmith and Fulham	£771,727	£710,464	£399,250
21	Lewisham	£0	£180,653	£263,818
22	Lambeth	£438,396	£315,769	£246,080
23	Redbridge	£287,682	£155,448	£81,444
24	Richmond	£214,526	£310,580	£61,407
25	Hounslow	£28,767	£19,388	£52,803
26	City of London	£53,942	£41,543	£20,215
27	Bexley	£16,719	£10,204	£11,034
28	Hillingdon	£0	£0	£3,412
	Sutton	£0	£0	£0
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Barnet	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	£17,119,308	£21,908,787	£22,377,326
	Change – year-on-year		£4,789,479	£468,538
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			£5,258,018

No entry PCNs ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	PCNs – 16/17	PCNs 17/18	PCNs 18/19
1	Harrow	2,209	3,223	8,286
2	Southwark	5,213	5,309	7,000
3	Islington	6,954	5,210	6,845
4	Haringey	7,379	6,049	5,825
5	Cardiff	0	4,474	5,643
6	Hackney	471	1,979	5,099
7	Lewisham	3,396	3,760	5,092
8	Enfield	3,665	5,029	4,086
9	Merton	172	39	3,673
10	Barnet	838	4,072	3,640
11	Waltham Forest	1,030	3,324	3,103
12	Hillingdon	0	0	2,974
13	Sutton	0	556	2,830
14	Camden	3,647	2,475	2,116
15	Kingston upon Thames	17,379	5,505	2,086
16	Redbridge	0	181	1,826
17	Lambeth	1,216	1,185	1,442
18	Hounslow	129	4,177	1,355
19	Tower Hamlets	116	646	1,326
20	Ealing	715	947	1,197
21	Westminster	NA	1,353	1,023
22	Barking & Dagenham	392	660	339
23	Transport for London	2,717	989	339
24	Bexley	145	191	204
25	Havering	227	949	113
26	Brent	127	201	75
27	Wandsworth	22	7	2
	City of London	NA	NA	NA
	Hammersmith and Fulham	NA	NA	NA
	Bromley	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Richmond	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	58,159	62,490	77,539
	Change – year-on-year		4,331	15,049
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			19,380

‘No entry’ revenue ranked by 18/19
Rank	Council / Authority	Revenues 16/17	Revenues 17/18	Revenues 18/19
1	Harrow	£145,187	£209,595	£549,785
2	Southwark	£346,670	£343,540	£420,760
3	Islington	£393,285	£300,862	£357,265
4	Haringey	£453,605	£365,735	£339,607
5	Hackney	£27,468	£121,885	£307,539
6	Lewisham	£203,876	£217,105	£288,870
7	Merton	£12,287	£2,738	£243,063
8	Hillingdon	£0	£0	£198,979
9	Sutton	£0	£24,127	£190,571
10	Waltham Forest	£67,943	£210,741	£189,606
11	Cardiff	£0	£160,292	£182,782
12	Enfield	£197,406	£232,101	£179,249
13	Kingston upon Thames	£890,944	£308,018	£145,360
14	City of London	£434,750	£246,878	£145,180
15	Camden	£187,193	£153,129	£142,585
16	Redbridge	£0	£12,560	£115,166
17	Hounslow	£8,933	£223,070	£89,933
18	Tower Hamlets	£649	£39,489	£89,318
19	Lambeth	£79,154	£75,269	£87,269
20	Westminster	NA	£89,178	£73,395
21	Ealing	£29,972	£44,714	£49,843
22	Transport for London	£186,964	£70,586	£23,409
23	Barking & Dagenham	£20,996	£31,541	£17,980
24	Bexley	£9,253	£13,373	£12,512
25	Havering	£21,067	£51,291	£7,073
26	Brent	£6,826	£15,574	£6,353
27	Wandsworth	£1,365	£390	£65
	Hammersmith and Fulham	NA	NA	NA
	Barnet	NA	NA	NA
	Bromley	NA	NA	NA
	Greenwich	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Kensington and Chelsea	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Richmond	DNE	DNE	DNE
	Croydon	DNR	DNR	DNR
	Newham	DNR	DNR	DNR
	TOTAL	£3,725,794	£3,563,781	£4,453,518
	Change – YOY		-£162,013	£889,737
	Change 16/17 to 18/19			£727,724

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Driver offender rehabilitation courses, such as the Speed Awareness Course, may be permanently held online, following successful delivery during the coronavirus lockdown.

TTC Group, the UK’s largest provider of UK Road Offender Education (UKROEd) accredited courses, says support for virtual courses continues to gain traction from all stakeholders.

The benefits of holding courses online include; availability, time saved and reduced travel requirements.

Virtual classrooms have also given rise to specific benefits for special populations – individuals overseas, those in rural areas and, more specifically, TTC Group hosted a course dedicated to the hard of hearing.

Sharon Haynes, TTC Group’s client services director, said: “It’s all about making a positive difference, whether that is by creating safer motorists or by addressing key social issues in the areas we operate in.

“Online or in person these rehabilitation programmes can have a positive, life changing influence on people and it is so important to offer as many people as possible convenient access to them.

“The move to virtual classrooms continues to prove a major success and we look forward to understanding more of the impact of this in the near future.”

During the pandemic, TTC Group switched to virtual courses and transferred all pre-booked ‘physical’ National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme course attendees to a digital solution.

Haynes added: “This really did change the face of the driver offender rehabilitation programme and acts as a great template to consider what we can do in association with UKROEd moving ahead to benefit all key stakeholders from individual drivers, police forces, other road users and employers alike.

“However, there is still much work to be done behind the scenes and we are working alongside UKROEd to ensure the emerging benefits are supported by key data insights.”

Courses currently available in digital classroom format include: National Speed Awareness Course; National Motorway Awareness; Safe and Considerate Driving; and What’s Driving Us?

Lockdown speeding increase

Easy access to courses remains key while social distancing measures are in place across the UK, with demand remaining strong as speeding and other motoring offences continue to rise.

Motorists were speeding three times more frequently during lockdown compared to normal, according to analysis by telematics firm AX.

It found serious speeding events – the most severe category of excessive speed – occurred every 136 miles on average in April, compared to every 443 miles in February.

Major speeding events were also significantly more frequent, taking place on average once every 32 miles in April, down from every 94 miles in February.

It wasn’t just a case of motorists covering shorter journeys either, with major speeding events occurring on average once every 4.3 trips in April compared to every 9.8 trips two months earlier.

 Van drivers proved to be much more obedient than car drivers, with telematics devices detecting major incidents twice as often as normal compared to four times as frequently for car drivers.

Director of Investigative Services at AX, Neil Thomas, said: “It’s fascinating to see how driver behaviour has been influenced by the impacts of COVID-19.

“Whether it was simply down to reduced traffic levels during lockdown or perhaps drivers assuming police forces had bigger priorities, the data shows that given the opportunity, many drivers are clearly willing to speed and quite often significantly so.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The volume of cars, vans and trucks now being seen on the country’s roads is on a par with what would be expected at this time of year, new data suggests.

However, the figures from the Department for Transport (DfT), also show that trains, tubes and buses are still only carrying a fraction of the passengers typically seen, as people continue to work from home and avoid public transport. 

National trains were carrying just 25% of the passengers they would have expected on Monday (August 10). London underground performed marginally better at 28%, while London buses were carrying around half (53%) of their normal passenger numbers.

National bus usage is worse still, with the DfT data showing it stood at 39% of where it should be expected on Monday.

Light commercial vehicle (LCV) and HGV usage both stood at 100%, with car traffic just below par at 90%.

RAC Breakdown, however, estimates drivers are planning on making some 45 million daytrips in August.

Half of the drivers it questioned (49%) will be packing up the car for a day at the seaside, tourist spot or attraction before the end of the month.

And, more than a quarter (28%) say they will be taking more outings than last year – perhaps indicating the extent of the Covid-19 staycation.

RAC Breakdown spokesman Simon Williams said: “Our research shows that August is set to be a massive month for daytrips as families look to try to make the most of what’s left of the school holidays and pack in some family fun now the lockdown has been eased.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Black remains the most popular car colour on Britain’s roads, with 6.5 million vehicles, but white is the most popular choice for new cars registered.

Looking at data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for every car registered as of March 2020, the number of white cars rose by 269,314 compared to a year earlier, giving an overall total of just under 5m (4,954,510).

The growth in black cars was much lower, with 11,806 units added in 2020. In March 2019, the figure was 112,035 and in 2018 it was 132,641.

Black’s nearest rival is silver, which has 5.7m (18% share of all cars). There were 363,485 fewer silver cars on the roads in 2020 than there were at the same point in 2019, and more than 1m fewer than in 2016 (1,084,780).

Blue occupies third spot with 5,593,298 – down 87,865 on 2019 but still accounting for 17% of all cars on the roads, with grey in fourth on just under 5m (15.2% share of all cars) – down 236,027 since March 2019, and white in fifth place.

The DVLA data, collated by RAC Insurance, also shows that red is the next most popular colour, with 3.5m, while it is followed by green, which only accounts for 667,000 cars, representing 2% of the whole car parc. Orange (8th), beige/buff (9th) and brown (10th) complete the top 10 colours, each only making up under 1% of all cars.

Pink is the least popular car colour with 22,728 but that has increased very steadily since 2017 when there 19,959 – only multicoloured cars are less popular with just 6,724 down from 7,455 in 2017.

RAC Insurance spokesman Simon Williams said: “While black continues to top the car colours popularity chart, the appeal of white is still very much on the up.

“In fact, today there are 1.5m more white cars on the roads than there were in 2016. It remains to be seen whether white will make its way into the top five car colours, however. If it does, it will have to depose grey, blue or silver.”

He continued: “It’s always very interesting trying to work out at what point a colour goes out of fashion. Clearly, this is what happened with silver which was the number-one choice in 2017 but fell back into second a year later and has remained there ever since.

“While taste in car colours is very individual and subject to what manufacturers offer, there must come a point where drivers feel a particular colour has become too common and think they should opt for something else, after all it wouldn’t be much fun if we all drove the same colour cars.”

Rank	Colour	Mar-20	Share
1	Black	6,578,946	20.1%
2	Silver/Aluminium	5,756,535	17.6%
3	Blue	5,593,298	17.1%
4	Grey	4,954,510	15.2%
5	White	4,395,922	13.5%
6	Red	3,486,735	10.7%
7	Green	667,000	2.0%
8	Orange	215,535	0.7%
9	Beige/Buff	208,349	0.6%
10	Brown	196,089	0.6%
11	Yellow	166,799	0.5%
12	Purple/Mauve/Violet	112,037	0.3%
13	Gold	105,065	0.3%
14	Bronze	90,901	0.3%
15	Turquoise	35,283	0.1%
16	Maroon	29,964	0.1%
17	Cream/Ivory	29,875	0.1%
18	Pink	22,728	0.1%
19	Multicoloured	6,724	0.0%
		32,652,295

Hmm, 30,000 cream/ivory – really? By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The theme for UK Road Safety Week 2020 has been announced as ‘No need to speed’, following findings that a quarter of people think vehicles travel at a safe speed on the street they live on.

Coordinated by Brake, the road safety charity, Road Safety Week 2020 will take place between November 16-22 and will encourage everyone to learn the what, why and the where of speed and will highlight that the speed of traffic matters to people’s safety.

‘No need to speed’ was chosen as the theme for Road Safety Week 2020 following the findings of the ‘How safe are the streets where you live?’ survey, conducted online by Brake over the past year.

The survey of over 1,700 members of the UK public, found that only a quarter believe that vehicles travel at a safe speed on the street where they live.

Brake also found that six in ten people feel that the speed of traffic on their street negatively affects their wellbeing and two-thirds identify motorised traffic as the biggest threat to their health and safety on their street.

The week-long Road Safety Week campaign is supported by funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) and headline sponsors DHL and Specsavers and will use the collective voice of members of the public, schools, communities, organisations and the emergency services to demonstrate that there is ‘no need to speed’ on the road.

To participate in Road Safety Week, people are invited to register for a free action pack.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, said: “Road Safety Week provides a unique opportunity, every year, to focus attention on how the safety of our roads impacts all our daily lives.

“Speed plays a part in every crash and just 1mph can mean the difference between life and death on the roads. This Road Safety Week we want to help everyone understand why speed matters and to join together to say there is ‘no need to speed’ on our roads.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Ford has temporarily suspended sales of its new Kuga plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV and issued a recall after four have caught fire due to over-heating batteries.

The brand has issued a safety recall for all affected models, and said repairs will commence later this month once the required parts are available.

A report by Autocar this morning stated that existing owners of the Kuga PHEV model have been told not to charge their cars “until further notice”.

Ford admits that this overheating can occur “when the vehicle is parked and unattended or is charged”.

The magazine also said that Kuga PHEV owners have been asked to keep the car in its “EV Auto” drive mode – steering clear of zero emissions ‘EV Mode’ – until further notice.

Concerns surround vehicles built before June 26, according to Ford, which told Autocar that “information from the field indicates that four vehicle fires are likely to have been caused by the overheating of the high-voltage batteries”.

It is estimated that 27,000 models worldwide are affected.

While petrol and diesel versions of the new Kuga remain available, the PHEV version has already proved popular with buyers and fleet customers, becoming the most popular model.

Prices start at £33,095 – the same as the two-litre turbodiesel equivalent – and the front-wheel-drive model combines a 2.5-litre petrol engine and electric drivetrain to deliver a combined 225PS.

Ford claims fuel economy of 201mpg alongside CO2 emissions of 32g/km. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The Government is being warned a ‘no deal’ Brexit could impact vehicle costs and prove fatal to the wider UK automotive sector.

A recent Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) survey showed one-in-three automotive employees was still on furlough at the end of July, with up to one-in-six jobs at risk.

The impact of the coronavirus crisis is being felt across the sector, but jobs could also be threatened by the prospect of a ‘bare bones’ or no-deal Brexit, says the UK automotive trade body.

If the EU and UK do not agree a deal by the end of the year, the UK will leave the EU’s single market and the customs union without any agreement on future access from January 1, 2021.

The SMMT wants a full, zero-tariff deal in place by the end of the transition period to give businesses on both sides the chance to prepare.

Chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Before Covid-19, we expected to produce 1.3 million vehicles this year; the pandemic means we’re already looking at scarcely 900,000.

“A ‘no deal’ Brexit would wreak further long-term damage on the sector. Tariffs would add cost, custom duties and complexity, which would disrupt supply.”

The SMMT suggests a ‘no deal’ scenario could see UK vehicle volumes falling below 850,000 by 2025 – the lowest level since 1953. This would mean a £40 billion cut in revenues, on top of the £33.5bn cost of Covid-19 production losses over the period for UK automotive.

“The industry cannot withstand the shock of a hard Brexit,” explained Hawes.

“Covid-19 has consumed every inch of capability and capacity. There is not the resource, the time nor the clarity to prepare.”

Almost all countries in the world are part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which regulates international trade. Should the UK leave the EU without a deal, its trade with the EU will be governed by WTO rules.

When joining the WTO, each country negotiates the maximum tariffs it can set on various types of goods. The tariff charged by the EU on imported cars is 10%.

Leaving without a deal would mean UK-built cars facing a 10% tariff cost and vice versa, says the SMMT’s annual UK Automotive Trade Report.

Tariffs would result in a price increase of almost £3,000 on the average UK exported car to the EU, a £2,000 price increase on UK vans exported to the EU and a price increase of £1,800 on cars and vans imported from the EU, if fully passed on to UK consumers.

The report adds that additional customs duties, costs and complexity would significantly disrupt sourcing of parts and components from the EU.

Executive director, business transformation at Ford of Britain, Graham Hoare, said the manufacturer had implemented measures to ensure product is available for fleets.

He explained: “We’ve brought a lot of cars into the UK and have maintained that availability. That’s really important so we don’t have disruption to our supply chains as the change happens.”

But he warned: “A Free Trade Agreement is necessary for the viability of our business. If you think about all the other changes we’re embarking upon… another burden just makes the activities we’re performing in the UK a little less viable.”

JUST-IN TIME

Frictionless trade within the EU has been critical for enabling the UK car industry to develop supply chains that cross EU borders several times.

A separate report, produced by The UK in a Changing Europe on Manufacturing and Brexit, highlights how supply chains have to operate with supreme efficiency, and parts have to be delivered ‘just-in-time’ throughout the day.

As an example, 350 trucks arrive from the EU every day at Honda’s plant in Swindon, bringing in about two million parts. Components arrive from five-24 hours after ordering. The plant is scheduled to close a year from now.

Meanwhile, a typical driveline system produced by GKN, the British-based supplier, incorporates specialist forged parts from the UK, Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

These are assembled at GKN Driveline’s factory in Birmingham and supplied to automotive assemblers in the UK and EU.

The components, assembled drivelines and the final assembled car could cross the English Channel several times, says the report.

It is a similar story for BMW, which assembles engines at its Hams Hall engine-assembly plant near Birmingham.

Engine blocks come from France and are processed at the plant. They may go to Germany for further work before being assembled.

The engine may go into a Mini assembled in Oxford or the Netherlands, or into a BMW assembled in Germany.

“The final car could be sold anywhere in Europe or globally,” the report says. “This close integration and the need for minimal trade friction becomes even more important as most UK car producers operate on very low profit margins (around £450 on a £15,000 car).”

BREXIT TALKS

After a meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last month, both agreed new momentum was needed in negotiations.

Official talks resumed at the start of this month, but ended with the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, saying that “regardless of the outcome” there would be “inevitable changes” from January 1, 2021. The next round of negotiations began last week, with no apparent progress made.

The commission has also told member states and businesses to revisit plans for a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

In a press briefing, prior to the SMMT’s annual International Automotive Summit, Hawes insisted: “We must secure a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement that maintains tariff- and quota-free trade. With such a deal, a strong recovery is possible.”

The UK in a Changing Europe report says the potential danger is that carmakers may simply decide that production in the UK is no longer profitable and shift their assembly plants to the EU.

Many manufacturers with plants in the UK also have plants in the EU to which they could move production. Moreover, many of these plants have spare capacity.

“Such relocations usually happen when new vehicle models are introduced, and the decisions about sites are normally taken at least two years in advance of planned production starts,” it says.

‘MULTIPLE CHALLENGES’

Key companies in the UK automotive sector, that account for the bulk of UK automotive production – Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and Groupe PSA (Vauxhall’s owner) – have all planned new models in the next couple of years.

“There is a real danger they will decide to produce them in the EU, not the UK,” says the report. “This would have a knock-on effect on other industries in the UK.”

UK steel, for example, despite not being subject to tariffs itself, would suffer because the car industry would contract, reducing demand for steel.

“Manufacturing matters,” said Professor David Bailey, senior fellow of UK in a Changing Europe.

“Much of the sector has already taken a hit through the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit risks further disruption for manufacturers which they are keen to minimise.

“A no-trade deal is seen as the worst-case scenario for sectors like automotive given the impact of tariffs. But even a minimal Free Trade Agreement could bring disruption for manufacturers, for example via its impact on supply chains and in terms of regulatory divergence. Whatever the form of Brexit at the end of the transition period, manufacturing faces multiple challenges.” By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

We are now into the blackberry season and it would seem that birds love blackberries if my white car is anything to go by! And in these days of water-based car paint, cars are even more vulnerable to this acidic poo than ever before.

At best it makes the car look unsightly at worst, even if you have removed the droppings, the car can remain stained to the point where a lease car could be assessed to be seriously damaged when returned at the end of contract with the leasing company charging for a respray of affected panels. In one case that I reviewed the car needed a complete respray so make sure that you read this advice AND ACT IMMEDIATELY.

Here is the advice from Car Buyer:

We’ve all spent ages cleaning our car to a lovely mirror finish only to have our hard work ruined by the unsightly splatter of bird droppings. As well as being unpleasant and annoying, bird mess can actually damage paintwork, with potential repair bills in the hundreds or even thousands of pounds in the worst cases.

Time is of the essence, because the longer droppings sit on the paintwork, the more chance they have of causing costly problems. But why does bird mess damage paintwork? And what’s the best way to remove it safely?

How can bird droppings damage a car?

When bird droppings are removed from paintwork, they can leave a dull, cloudy mark, and even a visible ripple in the paint’s surface in the worst-case scenario. It’s also possible to make matters worse by scratching the paintwork in the removal process, either by being too aggressive or using the wrong tool.

For many years, the acidity of bird droppings has been blamed for the ‘etching’ effect they can have on paintwork. Recent research carried out by car detailing specialist Autoglym, however, has come up with another reason.

• Carbuyer’s best car cleaning tips and products

In its testing, it was found that as the top layer of paint lacquer warms during the day, it softens and expands, while bird droppings instead dry and become hard. Later on, when the lacquer cools and contracts, it can mould to the texture of the hardened bird mess, leaving a troublesome impression on the surface.

While the effect might be fairly slight, only a small imperfection is needed to create a visible dull patch that stands out against the shiny paint next to it.

How to remove bird mess safely

As we’ve mentioned, speed of removal is the most important factor in preventing damage, and according to Autoglym’s theory, this is especially important on sunny or hot days when the lacquer is at its softest. If you drive your car every day, you’ll have a good chance of spotting any offending droppings quickly and taking swift action.

If you use your car less regularly but it’s still parked outside, it’s worth having a quick look over it on a daily basis. For vehicles left outdoors for longer periods, a car cover is the most sensible and surefire solution. It can also be worth trying to avoid parking under trees, street lights and the eaves of buildings if your car seems to attract bird mess.

The key to easy and safe removal is to use water to ensure the droppings are soft. This is most easily achieved by placing a damp cloth or car cleaning wipe over the offending area and leaving it in place for a few minutes. Once you’ve done this, you should find it comes away from the surface easily.

Always avoid pressing hard, or using a rubbing or scraping motion to dislodge the droppings; if not all of it is removed first time, simply place another damp cloth or cleaning wipe over the spot again and repeat this process until everything has gone.

It’s advisable to wear disposable gloves when tackling this job and, of course, to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

What if my car is already damaged?

If the paintwork already has dull spots from bird mess, you can usually deal with them yourself with a little time and attention. More extreme cases may require the help of a car detailing company or paint restoration expert.

If you want to try to correct the paint at home, the first step is to wash the car to ensure it’s clean. Once it’s dry, apply a lightly abrasive car polish to the affected area, following the manufacturer’s instructions. This should gently remove the damaged top layer of paintwork, exposing the fresh paint below for a better finish.

Once it’s polished, ensure you cover the panel with a wax or sealant to protect it from the elements. If the condition of the paint is very poor, an expert will be able to assess the damage and use the correct products along with tools such as orbital polishers to get a satisfactory result.

WD40

I also came across this bit of advice but take care and follow instructions as you don’t want to make matters worse. According to WD-40, its magic-in-a-can spray has 259 automotive uses – and cleaning off dry bird poop from car paint is one of them. To remove bird droppings from your vehicle, spritz a little WD-40 on the area, let it sit for 60 seconds, then rinse or wipe away with a clean, soft cloth.

Final Warning & Advice

You should check your car’s paint warranty and make sure that you don’t do anything that could invalidate the warranty. And if you find that your car is badly damaged and could need a complete respray check to see if you are covered by your insurance especially if you have no claims discount protection. By Graham Hill thanks to Car Buyer