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Whiplash claims are becoming a pain in the neck to all motorists not just those that suffer the injury. Car insurance has increased by 25% in the last year according to the latest Retail Price Index (RPI). Insurers have blamed the massive surge on whiplash injuries. According to a spokesman for esure/Sheila’s Wheels group it’s the desire to push up injury claims, often by people chatting in the pub, that has pushed up Read more »

Another consequence of the bad winter last winter has been the resulting shortage of windscreens. It is normally as a result of gritting that the windscreen replacement companies become very busy but this year it has been the poor conditions of our roads that has led to windscreen replacement companies, such as Auto Windscreens, running out of screens. In the past a stone hitting the glass has caused a chip Read more »

On the subject of grey fleets, ALD Automotive who provide fleets with licence checking services, have highlighted the need to constantly check employee licences if they are expected to drive their own cars on company business. Their advice followed the discovery of a driver who had received 16 years of bans in a space of just 16 weeks. ALD first checked his licence in 2009 and noted that he had received a 12 Read more »

Service intervals have crept out with some cars not needing a first service until it is 2 years old. Some of the earliest first service intervals are still a minimum of 12 months but there is a problem with this. You see years ago, by the end of the first year, your car would have had 2 or 3 services with the first after just 1,000 miles to have an oil change and remove the swarf that had built up in the bottom of the oil sump. Read more »

Vehicle tracking is often seen as a bad thing by drivers who have them fitted in their vehicles as they tell their boss or the transport manager where they are at all times. However, the tracking device fitted in the van of an employee of Fords of Sidmouth, may have saved him from a prosecution and a fine. Another driver reported the van for speeding and running into him causing damage to his car. However, Read more »

Considering the particularly bad winter that we suffered there are suggestions that we should follow other European countries and introduce winter tyres. Whilst not wishing to go the compulsory route it has been suggested that we should adopt the Dutch system of making winter tyres widely available. After making the tyres available about 10 years ago it is understood that about 50% of drivers switch each winter. Read more »

North Lincolnshire Council may be setting the trend for other authorities by imposing a £20 fine on any driver caught sitting in his car with the engine running. The intention is to stop roadside ‘idlers’ and improve air quality by doing so. Councillor Len Foster explained that officers would use their common sense when issuing notices but hoped that the threat of a fine would be enough to stop drivers from idling their engines. The council will use civil enforcement officers who have more powers than traffic wardens. By Graham Hill

Auto Express has uncovered a potential hugely dangerous oversight that many drivers may make when taking out insurance. Most of us are aware that we need to provide details of any modifications carried out on our cars when we complete the application form but few would consider the fitting of a towbar as a modification that could invalidate the insurance if not declared. When one of their readers tried to renew Read more »

There is pressure mounting to introduce a total ban on mobile phones whilst driving. Latest research shows that even drivers using a hands free phone took 20% longer to hit the brakes in an emergency when on the phone. Following distances increased by 30% as drivers failed to keep up with traffic in front and memory performance fell by 11%. The study was carried out by the University of Utah. Road charity, BRAKE Read more »

According to Auto Express size matters, something, of course, that I have always subscribed to! Ooer missus, stop that tittering in the back, I’m talking about car safety – obviously. It seems that the bigger the car the less likely you are to be injured. Mind blowing as that might be, equally mind blowing is the most dangerous car is one of the smallest, the Rover Mini (not to be confused with the BMW Mini). The figures Read more »