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Geotab has formed a partnership with Camera Telematics to help tackle vehicle insurance fraud with the Street Angel Solution on the Geotab Marketplace.

Street Angel offers the tracking functionality with on-board vehicle camera solutions available. It has multiple functions available in one device, including track and trace, 4G data transfer and 1080p high-quality recording.

Geotab said Street Angel provides a scalable link to up to five cameras, and with a monitor, can provide blind-spot and reversing assistance.

It can also provide first notice of loss (FNOL) reports direct to insurance companies and when a roadside incident or accident occurs, Street Angel provides visual evidence to help protect Geotab from insurance fraud and accident management assistance.

David Savage, vice president UK and Ireland at Geotab, said: “As a company dedicated to improving driver safety, Geotab is committed to offering the most advanced solutions on the Geotab Marketplace.

“We are excited to collaborate with Camera Telematics to provide our customers with more customisation options and so that they can benefit from advanced camera technology that can help them better manage roadside incidents and accidents.”

The Geotab Marketplace provides customers with an ecosystem of business-focused applications and add-ons.

Mark Stamper, managing director at Camera Telematics, said: “We are delighted to announce this partnership and working with Geotab raises our profile throughout the countries in which they operate, to further expand our customer base whilst delivering enhanced services into the Geotab ecosystem.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The latest assisted driving gradings have been published just as a new set of guiding principles for marketing automated vehicles has been published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The principles, which have been developed and agreed by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles’ AV-DRiVE Group, provide an outline for responsible advertising and communication relating to automated vehicles and their capabilities.

The industry-led initiative will ensure consumers receive consistent and clear information regarding automated driving features, ahead of their expected introduction to British roads in 2022, says the SMMT.

2021 Assisted Driving Grading results

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

A new set of guiding principles for marketing automated vehicles has been published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The principles, which have been developed and agreed by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles’ AV-DRiVE Group, provide an outline for responsible advertising and communication relating to automated vehicles and their capabilities.

The industry-led initiative will ensure consumers receive consistent and clear information regarding automated driving features, ahead of their expected introduction to British roads in 2022, says the SMMT.

Mike Hawes, chief executive at the SMMT, said: “The UK is at the forefront of the introduction of automated vehicles, which has tremendous potential to save lives, improve mobility for all and drive economic growth.

“It is essential that this revolutionary technology is marketed accurately and responsibly, and we are delighted to have brought together industry, Government and other key stakeholders to develop a series of guiding principles that will ensure consumers will have clarity and confidence over their capabilities from when these advanced vehicles first make their way into showrooms.”

The guiding principles state that:

• An automated driving feature must be described sufficiently clearly so as not to mislead, including setting out the circumstances in which that feature can function.
• An automated driving feature must be described sufficiently clearly so that it is distinguished from an assisted driving feature.
• Where both automated driving and assisted driving features are described, they must be clearly distinguished from each other.
• An assisted driving feature should not be described in a way that could convey the impression that it is an automated driving feature.
• The name of an automated or assisted driving feature must not mislead by conveying that it is the other – ancillary words may be necessary to avoid confusion – for example for an assisted driving feature, by making it clear that the driver must be in control at all times.

Transport minister Trudy Harrison said: “It is essential that industry and stakeholders are clear on their responsibilities and developed in partnership with Government, motoring and road safety groups, the SMMT’s Guiding Principles are an important step to promote the safe use of automated technologies in the UK.”

Automated vehicles, also known as self-driving vehicles, are defined under the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 as vehicles designed or adapted to be capable, in at least some circumstances or situations, of safely driving themselves, and that may lawfully be used when driving themselves, in at least some circumstances or situations, on roads or other public places in Great Britain.

A vehicle is “driving itself” if it is operating in a mode in which it is not being controlled, and does not need to be monitored, by an individual.

Matthew Avery, director of research at Thatcham Research, says that the guiding principles are a “key milestone” in ensuring there is no confusion around the capabilities of assisted driving systems and future automated systems, as well as the responsibilities of the drivers using them.

“We have long advocated consistency of terminology,” he added. “There are two clear states – a vehicle is either assisted with a driver being supported by technology or automated where the technology is effectively and safely replacing the driver.

“We urge manufacturers now to use simple marketing that does not over promise functionality and the key is for them to be delivered consistently across all marketing material, as well as through effective dealership education and their subsequent conversations and engagement with consumers.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

An outage on the Tesla app left some drivers unable to access their car, reports suggest.

Owners reported on social media seeing an error message on the mobile app that was preventing them from connecting to their vehicles.

The Tesla app is used as a key by drivers to unlock and start their cars and, while it is not the only way to access Tesla cars, many drivers rely solely upon it.

About 500 users reported an error on the app at around 9.40pm on Friday, according to the outage tracking site DownDetector. Five hours later, there were just over 60 reports of an error.

“I’m stuck an hour away from home because I normally use my phone to start car,” one owner tweeted.

The BBC reports that Tesla chief executive Elon Musk personally responded to one complaint from a driver in South Korea, saying on Twitter: “Checking.” Musk later said the app was coming back online.

“Apologies, we will take measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he tweeted.

Automotive expert Professor David Bailey from the Birmingham Business School, who drives a Tesla, experienced the outage on Friday.

“To some extent, Tesla is a bit of a victim of its own success,” he told the BBC. “It encourages its customers to use the cutting-edge technology it creates and sometimes that will go wrong.

“Although of course you can use a key to open the car too, the natural instinct of many Tesla drivers, who are buying one of the most high-tech models in the market, is to rely on the technology.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

McCarron Coates is warning drivers that the world of insurance claims is evolving, with the cost of vehicle repairs now outweighing those of personal injury claims for the first time in many years.

The shift in balance between the two main components that make up the total claim value is not down to any changes in legislation, such as the 2021 Whiplash Reforms, but due to the soaring cost of vehicle parts and repairs, says the fleet insurance specialist.

The costs, it explains, are partly driven by difficulties in obtaining parts post-Brexit, while repairs costs also have an element of inflation within them due to overall labour shortages.

However, for the most part, McCarron Coates says it is because there are few simple repairs now, with so many different and interlinked electronic components within vehicles that any reasonably significant prang is likely to see many parts of a vehicle needing to be replaced.

The issue is exacerbated when the vehicle is an electric vehicle (EV).  The battery is a hugely expensive part of an EV and any damage to it is likely to result in a large repair bill or even a quick total write-off, it says.

The cost of an EV claim is also influenced by repair delays, with an EV repair taking significantly longer to complete than one on a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE).

Sometimes, an EV has to be sent to a specialist repair centre, meaning the time off the road – and time during which an expensive hired vehicle might be required – is even longer.

McCarron Coates believes some insurers have not yet been able to accumulate enough knowledge with which to calculate the right level of insurance premium for the EV risk and so are levying extremely high compulsory excesses, of a level of around £1500, rather than the £500 we might expect to traditionally see on a fleet policy.

“The cost of vehicle repairs is driving up overall claims costs and that is not good news for any fleet operator, as it will translate into higher premiums in the months to come,” said Ian McCarron, director at McCarron Coates.

“Operators need to make sure their fleet bucks the trend, by enhancing their risk management, addressing the reasons for accidents and trying to keep their vehicles out of the repair shop.

“That, in turn, will increase operational efficiencies within the business and reduce the amount of time that the business has to give to claims handling.”

The insurance broker’s advice to fleet transport operators is to do all they can to manage their risks on the road better, seeking to avoid the accidents that could land their vehicles in the repair cycle, for some time.

The focus should be on enhanced driver training, an analysis of individual drivers’ weak points, so that these can be addressed, and on the use of telematics, to help increase driver awareness of the hazards around, it says.

McCarron concluded: “It is essential that fleet operators act now, instilling a better driving culture and the principle of trying to keep the vehicle, its driver and all other third parties safe, at all costs.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

I remember many years ago being called by my Fiat dealer to give me the bad news that 3 cars I had on order for customers, on the top deck of a transporter, had been written off by a driver trying to drive under a bridge 2 feet too low for him to get under.

With modern Sat Nav’s being able to warn drivers of high vehicles that they were approaching a bridge too low to get under, I thought that was a thing of the past, not so according to Network Rail, here’s what they say:

Network Rail has relaunched its ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ campaign, reminding lorry drivers and haulage operators to take better care by knowing the height of their vehicles and choosing suitable routes before they head out on journeys.

The launch coincides with Network Rail revealing the most-struck railway bridges in the country.

The Coddenham Road bridge on the B1078 is most bashed bridge in Britain.

Located in Needham Market, Suffolk, the bridge was struck 19 times last year, amounting to £41,331 in unnecessary train delay and cancellation costs.

The other bridges on the list include St John’s Street bridge in Lichfield City, Staffordshire, and Harlaxton Road bridge, Lincolnshire – struck 18 and 16 times respectively.

The Network Rail warning to ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ comes ahead of the annual Black Friday and Christmas shopping rush – traditionally a peak period for bridge strikes – and as more newly qualified lorry drivers are expected on Britain’s roads this year to meet supply chain demands and fill the estimated 100,000 driver shortfall.

Sir Peter Hendy, chair of Network Rail, said: “Bridge strikes cause unnecessary delays, costs, and safety issues for road and rail users.

“To compound matters, they drain public funds which should be used on upgrading and improving our network.

“In recent years we’ve done a lot of work with partners across the industry to tackle the problem and whilst it’s encouraging to see numbers on the decline, there’s a lot more work to be done.”

Over the next four weeks, reminders to ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ will feature on posters at motorway service stations across Britain, urging drivers to check the size of their vehicles and their routes before setting off.

Hendy continued: “With Christmas fast approaching, we urge professional operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and look out for road signs warning of oncoming bridges.

“Those who don’t are at risk of losing their driver’s and operator’s licences, and Network Rail looks to recover the entire repair and delay costs from the driver’s employer.”

Network Rail’s 4E’s initiative – education, engineering, enablement and enforcement – aims to ensure haulage companies and their drivers are provided with the knowledge and tools they need to avoid striking bridges.

As part of this ongoing initiative, Network Rail has a team of bridge strike ‘champions’ covering each route across Britain, who raise awareness of the issue by visiting haulage companies and lead in managing bridge strike risk locally.   

Most struck railway bridges in Britain 2020/21:

Coddenham Road Needham Market, Suffolk 19 strikes

St John’s Street Lichfield, Staffordshire 18 strikes

Harlaxton Road Grantham, Lincolnshire 16 strikes

Stuntney Road Ely, Cambridgeshire 15 strikes

Bromford Road Dudley, West Midlands 13 strikes

Watling Street Hinckley, Leicestershire 11 strikes

Warminster Road Wilton, Wiltshire 11 strikes

Ipswich Road Manningtree, Essex 10 strikes

Thames Street Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, 10 strikes

Lower Downs Road Wimbledon, London, 10 strikes

Bridge strikes reported across the railway network in the last five financial years:

Year 2016/17 – 1,878 strikes

Year 2017/18 – 2,039 strikes

Year 2018/19 – 1,926 strikes

Year 2019/20 – 1,720 strikes

Year 2020/21 – 1,624 strikes

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

New rules about towing a trailer or caravan with a car, expected to take effect from Monday (November 15), have been delayed.

No reason was given by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), which said on the Government website that the new towing rules will now be introduced at a “later date, and as soon as possible”.

It announced in September that car and trailer driving tests would no longer be required, with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) updating driving licence records automatically.

The category B+E, it said, would be added to photocard driving licences when they are renewed. Tests, it added, would no longer be available after September 20, 2021.

Jonathan White, legal and compliance director from National Accident Helpline, said: “We welcome the delay in the introduction of these changes and hope that the Government makes use of the extra time to consider them in more detail, ensuring that the safety of drivers is considered as the top priority.

“The changes will see millions of drivers simultaneously given the right to tow a trailer of considerable weight, without needing any previous experience or training in driving while towing a load – all at a time of year when visibility and conditions are at their poorest, bringing an increased element of risk to drivers.”

What are you currently allowed to tow?

You will not be affected by the changes if you passed your car driving test before January 1, 1997.

You are usually allowed to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8,250kg maximum authorised mass (MAM). You are also allowed to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kg MAM.

MAM is the limit on how much the vehicle can weigh when it’s loaded.

If you passed your car driving test from January 1, 1997, to January 18, 2013, you can currently drive either of the following:

• A car or van up to 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM (up to 4,250kg in total).
• A trailer over 750kg MAM, as long as it is no more than the unladen weight of the towing vehicle (up to 3,500kg in total).

You would have had to pass a car and trailer driving test if you want to tow anything heavier.

If you passed your car driving test from January 19, 2013, you can currently drive either of the following:

• A car or van up to 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM (up to 4,250kg in total).
• A trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg.

You would have had to pass a car and trailer driving test if you want to tow anything heavier.

What you can do until the towing law changes?

Until the law changes, you must continue to follow the current rules about what you are allowed to tow based on when you passed your car driving test, says DVSA.

You can be fined up to £1,000, be banned from driving and get up to six penalty points on your driving licence if you tow anything heavier before the law changes. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

My Comment: Many customers have asked if they should join the class actions being heavily publicised against Mercedes and others. It is your choice but I have yet to be convinced that any cases taken to court in the UK would succeed because it would require that owners or lessees to demonstrate financial loss, which I can’t see.

 Governments may be able to take manufacturers to court or maybe fine them for using devices to give false emissions readings causing greater harm to the environment but individually I believe we would struggle.

 As is mentioned below few cases succeed against Daimler in Germany, a country that makes it easier to take companies to court for ethical reasons. I believe that this is more of a data mining exercise with the claims companies simply collecting information on claimants which they can use as they feel fit because you will have signed a contract to enable exactly that. On to the latest article.

Mercedes-Benz is facing fresh allegations of using illegal defeat devices to cheat emissions tests, this time affecting its Euro 6 compliant six-cylinder 3.0-litre BlueTec engine.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Environmental Action Germany) has published a report identifying eight previously unknown defeat devices in certain Mercedes E-Class E350 diesel models.

In DUH’s view, these defeat devices result in nitrogen oxide emissions on the road being up to 500% above the legally prescribed limit.

Jürgen Resch, DUH’s national director, said: “It shows us for the first time how the company succeeds in complying with the legal limits in the test laboratory, while literally flooding our cities with harmful nitrogen oxides during real road use.

“The manipulation of the exhaust gas purification is not carried out because it is necessary for physical reasons or for the purpose of engine protection. The reason is as simple as it is cynical: it is about maximising profits at the expense of the environment and the health of city residents.”

The DUH tested a 2016 Mercedes E350 CDI Estate and found evidence of multiple ‘defeat devices’. It said the devices activate in driving situations that are common in road use conditions and stated that even under normal driving conditions, at least one defeat device almost always actively prevents the improvement of emissions

Three of the defeat devices identified by the DUH are said to depend on an “ageing factor” that reduces the amount of Adblue used as the vehicle’s milage increases. The report stated: “There is no plausible physical reason for the existence of any of them.”

The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) said it sees no evidence of previously unknown defeat devices at Mercedes-Benz in the DUH report.

“In the report, eight defeat devices of the relevant model with the OM 642 diesel engine are named. We are aware of these,” said a KBA spokesman on Friday. They have already been checked and found to be “not inadmissible”.

The KBA had already demanded a software update for the model under investigation in the DUH report. The defeat devices were removed in the updated software and the nitrogen oxide emissions were subsequently also below the legal limit value during road testing.

Mercedes is among a number of car makers facing legal action for emissions misrepresentation.

The DUH report suggests that other Mercedes vehicles with comparable engines and technologies contain comparable illegal defeat devices.

Mercedes-Benz told Car magazine: “The outlined calibrations are known. In our view, these are not to be assessed as illegal defeat devices in the interaction and overall context of the highly complex emission control system.

“The vast majority of rulings in German regional courts and higher regional courts continue to be in Daimler’s favour: In approximately 95%of cases, the courts rule in favour of the company.

“At the regional court level, there are more than 15,500 decisions dismissing lawsuits in favour of the company; in only about 900 cases was the decision against the company.

“There are now around 900 decisions in our favour at the higher regional courts, and only three decisions against us.

“The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has also confirmed key points of Daimler AG’s legal opinion in several decisions.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The Government has launched a consultation on creating a road crash investigation team as self-driving technologies become more prevalent.

The aim of the new Road Collision Investigation Branch (RCIB) would be to learn lessons from road traffic collisions, including those involving self-driving vehicles.

The RCIB would operate much like the similar independent bodies that already exist for air, maritime and rail accidents.

It would carry out thematic investigations and probe specific incidents of concern to establish the causes of collisions and make independent safety recommendations to help further improve road safety across the country.

Roads Minister Baroness Vere said: “The UK’s roads are among the safest in the world, but we’re always looking at ways to make them even safer.

“A new investigation branch would play a huge role in this work by identifying the underlying causes of road traffic collisions, so we can take action to prevent them from happening again.

“It would also provide us with vital insight as we continue to modernise our road network to ensure better, greener and safer journeys.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) consultation on proposals to set up a Road Collision Investigation Branch (RCIB), is being launched now due to the huge developments which are taking place across the transport sector, such as the rollout of increasingly automated and electric vehicles (EVs), it says.

Director of the RAC Foundation Steve Gooding said: “After excellent progress across many years, sustained road safety improvement has been hard to achieve over the past decade, both in the UK and further afield.

“We should be challenging ourselves on whether we are understanding all we can about the causes of road collisions and what could be done to prevent them – our research to date suggests that more could be learnt – which is why today’s consultation is so important and so welcome.”

Jason Wakeford, head of campaigns at the road safety charity Brake also welcomed the move. He said: “Currently, information about the perceived cause of a road crash is recorded by police at the time of a collision, but only provides basic insights which simply are not adequate to properly investigate and determine the most effective countermeasures to tackle future road casualties.

“Brake has long advocated for an independent agency to provide the necessary evidence to learn from crashes and so we applaud the Department for Transport for launching today’s consultation.”

The consultation will run until December 9, 2021.By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Before I get to this report from Car magazine I have a couple of observations of my own. Firstly, I’ve known of drivers receiving an end of contract charge to buff out the ‘Swirl Effect’ on the paintwork caused by constant use of a car wash and it wasn’t cheap. In my opinion the occasional use of a carwash is fine but regular use may cause this effect on the paintwork.

The answer may be to use a roadside handwash but these can be equally as dangerous because the pre-wash spray that some use can damage paintwork, rubber, plastic and attach the alloy wheels. I remember in one report I ran the spray was little short of diluted acid intended to degrease industrial equipment. Check that they are using a proprietary brand of pre-wash to lift the grime.

On to the Car report:

► Are automatic car washes good for your car?

► Why they may not be

► And what you can do moving forward

The Best Car Cleaning Products

We’ve all been caught at the crossroads between convenience and quality when it comes to washing a car, and while taking your car through an automatic car wash may seem innocuous every now and then, you’re not only doing your car a disservice in terms of cleanliness, you’re also damaging its finish.

But what kind of damage can be unknowingly inflicted upon a car’s paint by going through an automatic car wash?

According to Damon Lawrence who runs automotive detailing business Auto Attention, car washes are a major cause of paintwork getting damaged. ‘

‘Automatic car washes, as much as they are convenient, are abrading your paintwork because the brushes used aren’t properly maintained,’ Damon says.

‘These machines are essentially like slapping your car with a dirty mop, causing hundreds of deep micro scratches called swirl marks. Over time, this damage builds and eventually results in your paint becoming dull and the scratches become easily noticeable.

‘Repairing the swirl marks is done through a process called paint correction. This process cuts down the peaks of your paintwork to level out any swirl marks seen on the surface.

This process can only be done so many times due to a car’s clear coat being a certain thickness, depending on your manufacturer. The cost of this process varies but on average costs over £1000.’

And if you try to skirt the issue by using a touch-free automatic car wash, chances are you’re still doing damage.

‘Unfortunately as perfect as the idea sounds, not only do touch-free washes use aggressive acids to cut down the grime which can eat away paint, the high pressure hose simply won’t clean it 100%.’

So what’s the alternative for time-poor car owners who still want clean cars?

Applying a ceramic coating is a great way for your car to stay clean in the first place.

The hydrophobic properties will make it harder for dirt and grime to stick to the car’s paintwork, while also encapsulating and rinsing off dirt when it rains.

But, if you want to take the best care of your car’s paint, ‘it is always best to do it yourself and use the two bucket wash method, making sure to use clean microfibre materials when touching the car.’  By Graham Hill thanks to Car Magazine.