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A robot is saving drivers on England’s busiest roads from hundreds of hours of disruption, according to Highways England.

 

The machine uses precise positioning technology to mark out where white lines need to be painted on new or resurfaced roads.

 

It has already saved hundreds of hours of working time on various Highways England projects across the country, including Britain’s biggest road upgrade, the £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement.

 

It also recently pre-marked eight miles of the M6 in Staffordshire in four hours. This work would usually take two engineers over a week to complete.

 

Savings elsewhere include saving 27 hours of working time marking three miles of hard shoulder on the M4 in Berkshire, 77 hours covering five miles of the M6 in Warwickshire, and six hours working on two miles of the M1 in Leicestershire, with further work done on the M60 smart motorway at Manchester.

 

Besides helping drivers, it also has safety benefits for roadworkers and enables them to focus on completing other essential work on each project.

 

Julian Lamb, construction director on the A14 where the robot has been used, said: “We’re always looking at innovative new ways of working, which can help road users, and make our projects more efficient while supporting improved engineering.

 

“With safety our top priority, the time savings the robot can provide, coupled with removing our operatives from a potentially hazardous situation, make it a great solution.

 

“We’ve also been working with a self-driving dumper truck on the project, completing trials of these new technologies to help Highways England more deliver its ambitious programme of roads improvement quickly, safely and efficiently.

 

“These technologies are also supporting new jobs, with the engineers of tomorrow needing to learn new skills such as programming this autonomous equipment.”

 

Ordinarily, pre-marking road markings is a time-consuming job, calculating the positioning of the markings and walking several miles to spray or chalk them on the road.

 

By using the robot, road workers spend far less time in the road and are at less risk of an accident – around 250 drivers illegally drive into roadworks every month, putting workers’ lives at risk. Bending down to pre-mark roads by hand can also raise the risk of back injuries. The robot also boasts improved accuracy and can mark the road faster. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

One in four drivers have had their car damaged by a speedhump or pothole, according to new research by Insurethegap.com.

 

In urban areas the damage rate was even higher, with one in three of those surveyed stating that their car had suffered damage.

 

Ben Wooltorton, COO at InsuretheGap.com, said, “Damage to cars caused by speedhumps and potholes, in particular, is becoming a big problem as councils struggle with the cost of repairing them. This cold snap will see more potholes and, as we can see from the research, repairs can run into hundreds of pounds. It really is worth avoiding them if possible, and going a different way if the road is particularly bad.”

 

More than a quarter (26%) said the average cost of repairing the damage ranged from £51 to £100. A third (35%) paid between £101 and £250 to rectify damage and 8% said it cost more than £250.

 

Two fifths (39%) of affected drivers complained to the council about the potholes or speedhumps and more than half of them (55%) said their compliant was ignored, but 39% said action was taken as a result. One in ten (10%) went so far as to send their bill to the council.

 

A fifth (21%) said they had considered complaining “but didn’t see the point as nothing would change”, and 12% complained to Highways England/Transport Scotland/Traffic Wales or the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure.

 

Instead of complaining, one in six (17%) now take a longer route to avoid potholes.

 

In 2017 – 2019, more than 905,000 potholes were reported on UK roads according to Confused.com.

 

The Transport Select Committee’s latest report, Local roads funding and maintenance: filling the gap, addresses ‘the extreme state of disrepair of the English local road network’. It identifies a drop in local government revenue funding of around 25% since 2010, resulting in funds for local roads no longer being ring-fenced. As a result ‘cash-strapped authorities have diverted their highways and transport budgets to fund core services’.

 

The findings state that a deteriorating local road network undermines local economic performance, results in direct costs to taxpayers, damages vehicles and causes injuries to passengers, ‘particularly those with existing medical conditions’. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

Venson Automotive Solutions is offering fleet managers advice on how to help their drivers maintain a healthy winter-ready electric vehicle (EV) battery.

 

Alison Bell, marketing director at Venson Automotive Solutions, said: “With weather forecasts predicting freezing conditions this winter, EV drivers face a different set of challenges to keep their vehicles in tip-top condition.

 

“For example, the batteries that power EVs are very temperature sensitive, so bad weather can reduce a car’s range and increase the length of time needed to recharge the battery. However, there are many steps that drivers can take to maximise range if a big freeze sets in.

 

“Whatever powertrain vehicle you are driving this winter, it is important to prepare your vehicle, so it functions efficiently in adverse driving conditions.

 

“Not only does it reduce wear and tear, it also helps mitigate against the chances of having an accident due to driving a poorly maintained vehicle.”

 

Here’s Venson’s safety and risk management EV winter-wear tips:

 

1. Use the vehicle’s precondition function. This allows the driver to heat or cool the battery and cabin as needed, allowing the stored energy in the battery to be used as its main purpose, to power the vehicle.
2. Be Battery Kind. Batteries like consistency, so when possible, avoid running your battery super low. Aim to stay between 20 and 80 percent charged whenever you can to maximise battery efficiency and longevity.
3. Plug-in. By making sure the car is plugged in while preconditioning means you are not draining the battery. Tesla and the new Jaguar I-Pace electric for example, will let you do this remotely via an app.
4. Regenerative Braking. When the battery is very cold using the regenerative braking system will be less effective. Therefore, friction brakes will need to be used more until the battery warms up.
5. Use the Eco Mode. Eco Mode generally reduces the amount of power supplied to the drive motor and features, like the cabin heater. Used in the winter, it can reduce the power to the motor, so the car accelerates more slowly – not a bad thing as it reduces the possibility of wheel spin.
6. Properly inflated tyres. As the temperature drops, tyre pressure falls and under-inflated tyres create more road friction, which impacts on the vehicle’s efficiency. Drivers need to check tyre pressure and general tyre health regularly as properly inflated and safe tyres are an easy way to help maximise winter range.

 

Last year, Venson urged van operators to consider adopting electric vehicles, saying that fears over a lack of charging points is misplaced. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

If you’re in search of an SUV type vehicle, then a decision has to be made – Do you need two-wheel drive or all-wheel drive?

 

The short answer to this question is as simple as it gets – if you have the luxury to think about 2WD and AWD, realistically, you do not need an AWD system. At all. AWD is one of those things that when you need it, you just know you need it, and you know why you need it.

 

You would not be thinking of 2WD in the first place. Nevertheless, manufacturers seem to throw a lot of money into promoting AWD systems for their SUVs. This has become a feature that translated from something one may consider a driving aid to a mere entry on an options list you could mark. With the help of various reports from the UK and US I will list five things to think about before opting for AWD.

 

Do you need AWD?

 

It all comes down to a simple question of need. If you live in a mostly dry area with no or very soft winters and do not actually use your car for off-roading, honestly, an AWD system would be close to throwing money down the drain. It is that simple.

 

Consider this – if you used a 2WD car previously without any major problems with traction, and you do not intend to change your driving style, then a 2WD SUV will do the job exactly as your old 2WD car did.

 

But why am I saying this? Isn’t an all-wheel-drive system a preferable solution over a 2WD system regardless of your needs? No! It’s not.

 

Reason 1. AWD Is More Expensive Than 2WD

Have you ever read through the new car for sale or used car for sale listings or my lease deal listings? If you did, you might have noticed that cars with AWD are usually more expensive compared with 2WD machines.

 

According to various sources, the difference between 2WD and AWD versions of the same car ranges from £1,500 to £4,000. When talking about unibody SUVs, which are all the rage today, that difference is usually between £1500 and £2500. Either way, you will have to pay more for something you may never use.

 

AWD systems employed by manufacturers for use on SUVs, cars, or MPVs, aren’t the same as the 4WD systems used by proper off-road vehicles. Most of the time they are part-time systems with torque being sent to the normally-neutral axle only when a loss of traction is felt. Most systems are also front-wheel biased, leaving you with a FWD (Front Wheel Drive) vehicle most of the time.

 

Reason 2. AWD Does Not Have To Work All Of The Time

 

Usually, what you get for a couple of thousand pounds more is the so-called, on-demand AWD system which actually serves as a two-wheel-drive system 99.9 percent of the time.

 

According to some Australian and European researchers, 0.1 percent of the time is exactly how long AWD capability will be engaged. Think about it this way – if you cover 10,000 miles, the AWD system which powers all four wheels will be engaged for ten miles.

 

And, this is not because the on-demand AWD systems aren’t good, but because you actually do not have any use for them. Follow this analogy with your hypothetical previous 2WD car, and you can see that an additional AWD system may be just an unnecessary added cost for you. You drove that 2WD car everywhere, didn’t you?

 

Now, it is true that AWD systems do provide better traction in slippery conditions. Usually, they work something like this – when a computer senses slipping of the wheels that usually power the car, the AWD drive kicks in (via viscous coupling, transfer case, added differential, or some other means) and sends some torque to the other pair of wheels in hopes that they have more traction.

 

If they do, they push the car out, and the AWD disengages. That can last for a second, or for prolonged periods of time. After that, it is back to your usual 2WD business. This all sounds perfectly rational, but considering that a majority of cars on the roads are actually 2WD units, and they go about their business without any problems, I think that an AWD option may not be as necessary as some would like to believe.

 

Reason 3. AWD Doesn’t Improve Your Braking.

 

Right off the bat, AWD systems are created to use all potentially available traction when slippage of the wheels under power is detected. Thus, they transfer some (or all) of the power to the other set of wheels via the driveline components.

 

Newer systems, with smarter electronic control units and torque distribution hardware, can, in fact, affect handling in certain conditions. They do it by sending power to the wheels with more traction, but usually, with AWD systems available for some SUVs, these options are limited.

 

The most common question seems to be about braking. Under false assumptions, some consider AWD vehicles to be more in control under heavy braking. This is simply not the case, as the AWD system does not have anything to do with braking or slowing down.

 

As stated before, in normal conditions, cars with AWD systems are actually just 2WD vehicles that have the capability to engage the drive on the other axle if needed. Heavy braking, or any braking for that matter, does not have anything to do with it.

 

So while AWD may increase safety for cars travelling on slippery roads (mud, snow, ice, etc.), it’s basically a completely unnecessary addition if you rarely traverse slippery conditions.

 

Reason 4. Higher Fuel Consumption

 

Adding an AWD system to the vehicle unequivocally increases its weight. Depending on the system, the car has to gain a transfer case, axles for the second pair of wheels, a new differential, and a plenty of supporting gear. All of this adds weight (75kg+ on average,) which is a killer for fuel consumption.

 

According to a research, the fuel penalty for owning an AWD car instead of a 2WD car is between 1 and 2 mpg (and that is for on-demand electronically controlled AWD systems.) It’s not a lot, is it? Well, with one 15 gallon tank of fuel, you’d cover 30 miles less.

 

It all adds up.

 

Reason 5. Higher Maintenance Costs

 

Years ago when electric windows were an option my dad refused to have a car with electric windows on the basis that it was just another thing to go wrong.

 

Using the same theory, adding an AWD system adds yet another complexity to a car. A complexity that one has to maintain. Although modern systems do not need constant maintenance, any damage done to the AWD system is met with the most expensive repair bill.

 

Furthermore, AWD cars, due to their weight, and consequently more load on the brakes, do tend to wear the tyres down a bit faster than 2WD cars. Yet, it must be said that with the newest AWD systems (like 4Motion from Volkswagen, or Active Drive systems by Jeep) aren’t as hard on the components as some older systems.

 

Making the most out of a 2WD Car

 

So, instead of spending extra cash on an AWD system, you can do a thing or two to improve the 2WD system of an SUV. Installing high-end tyres definitely is the most important step when it comes to improving 2WD SUV traction.

 

Michelin actually tested a 2WD car on winter tyres and an AWD car on summer tyres travelling over slippery conditions, and it was obvious that the 2WD car with winter tyres achieved dramatically better results.

 

This only proves that 2WD will be more than enough in most cases. Apart from that, the traction control systems on newer vehicles are optimized to use as much traction the two wheels can provide. Braking one wheel thus transferring the power to the other has become a sort of a norm. Couple this with good tyres and you probably won’t need AWD anywhere that has relatively mild weather.

 

As always, choose your car according to your needs. Buying an AWD SUV in areas with light snow, occasional rain, and mostly straight roads does not have any justification. On the opposite side, if you suffer with heavy snow and ice, heavy rain and windy, hilly roads then AWD is probably preferable.

 

I hope this helps but these are just mine and a few journalist views. If you are seriously thinking of an SUV type vehicle but unsure about 2WD, FWD, AWD or 4WD seek the advice of the dealer and carry out your own research to make sure that the car truly fits your needs.

 

Oh and as one commentator said, SUV’s with whatever drive are not amphibious vehicles so don’t assume that you can drive through deep water without a thought! They are just as likely to break down or leak as any other car. By Graham Hill

A class action representing more than 90,000 UK Volkswagen owners will aim to determine whether its emissions-reducing defeat device software was designed to defeat clean air laws.

 

The Volkswagen Group is denying that the software it used was an illegal defeat device but a preliminary High Court hearing will today (December 2) focus on whether software fitted to 1.2 million vehicles was designed to cheat clean air laws in the UK.

 

If the biggest class action of its kind in the UK is successful in the two-week preliminary hearing starting today, a full trial is expected to take place in 2020.

 

A spokesman for Slater Gordon, which is representing the majority of the UK customers, said that Mr Justice Waksman will be asked to rule on whether the software installed in the cars was a ‘defeat device’ under EU regulations.

 

He will also be asked to determine whether the High Court is bound by The German Federal Motor Transport Authority’s finding that the software installed by VW was a defeat device.

 

VW admitted to manipulating 11 million vehicles worldwide to fool emissions tests back in September 2015.

 

In the US the OEM paid out $4.3 billion in civil and criminal penalties after pleading guilty to criminal charges and total costs for VW are estimated to have reached $21bn.

 

VW will also pay between $87m and $127m in compensation to customers in Australia, despite having made no admission of liability.

 

The OEM maintains that its engine software did not breach the law and said in a statement that “there has never been a defeat device installed in any of its vehicles in the UK”.

 

Commenting on the proceedings at the High Court this week, a Volkswagen spokesman said: “The purpose of the hearing is to determine two specific questions of law, namely whether the English & Welsh High Court is bound by the findings of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) or the British Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), and whether the legal definition under Article 3 (10) of Regulation 717/2007/EC of a defeat device is met if certain factors are fulfilled. Volkswagen says the answer to both questions is no.”

 

He added: “Volkswagen Group continues to defend robustly its position in the High Court in London. It remains Volkswagen Group’s case that the claimants did not suffer any loss at all and that the affected vehicles did not contain a prohibited defeat device. The decision today does not affect any questions of liability or loss.”

 

Quoted in The Guardian newspaper, Gareth Pope, head of group litigation at Slater Gordon, said: “VW has had plenty of opportunity to come clean, make amends and move on from this highly damaging episode.

 

“But instead it’s chosen to spend millions of pounds denying the claims our clients have been forced to bring against it rather than paying that to their own customers in compensation.”

 

Back in September the Volkswagen Group branded allegations that chief executive Herbert Deiss and chairman Dieter Poetsch were guilty of market manipulation in connection to the dieselgate scandal as “groundless”.

 

The German carmaker’s senior executives were formally charged with market manipulation in Brunswick, Lower Saxony, Germany, on September 24, over allegations that they intentionally failed to inform investors early enough about the diesel emissions scandal.

 

Former Group chief executive Martin Winterkorn was also charged. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

Providers and policymakers are being warned that a fragmented charge point network is slowing the take-up of electric vehicles (EVs).

 

There are currently 28,000-plus charge points in the UK and 15 major network providers, said Zap-Map.

 

Fleet body ACFO said the accessibility of charge points is a concern for drivers, as they consider whether to choose a plug-in company car.

 

ACFO chair Caroline Sandall said: “Electric vehicle ‘charge point anxiety’ is replacing ‘range anxiety’ as the big issue for drivers.”

 

Carmakers’ enhancements to batteries, she says, have improved the range of EVs so significantly that drivers’ fears of running out of charge, before reaching their destination, are quickly being eroded.

 

However, she warned: “Range anxiety is now being replaced by charge point anxiety due to a number of concerns, including different vehicles requiring different connectors to enable charging to take place; and no standard payment system across all charge point providers.”

 

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Electric Vehicles has urged large public charge point operators to make their units interoperable.

 

In a letter to operators last month, it said the “fragmented” system for charge point transactions, involving multiple cards, apps and accounts, is “putting off” fleet operators from adopting EVs.

 

It says there is now an urgent need for industry-led collaboration to simplify this experience.

 

Even the most evangelical of EV advocates recognises that this is a major stumbling block.

 

Simon King, procurement director at Mitie, which has pledged to convert 20% of its car and small van fleet to EV by the end of 2020, said: “I’ve got between 10 and 15 apps for different charge point providers on my phone; a driver in a diesel van will have an Allstar card they can use at pretty much any filling station. That’s our biggest issue.”

 

And Catherine Hutt, innovation lead at Addison Lee, said: “Charging has been an issue for our drivers. The day I had to say ‘you are going to have to download about six different apps’, my heart sank. We cannot let this carry on – it’s not sustainable.”

 

A group of charge point providers has signed a roaming agreement to open up networks for EV drivers in the UK by the end of 2019.

 

Allego, Charge4Europe, Chargemap, ChargePoint, Engenie, EVBox, Franklin Energy, NewMotion and Travelcard will only require a single subscription to access any of their public charging stations.

 

They have also agreed to share charging station information so EV drivers can see where and if a charge point is available and what a charging session will cost them.

 

Matt Western, chair of the all-party parliamentary group, said: “This announcement from the collaborating parties in e-mobility is absolutely a step in the right direction.”

 

The agreement struck between the charge point operators is based on the Open Charge Point Interface, a standardised and open-source protocol commonly used in Europe.

 

The all-party parliamentary group says interoperability agreements in markets such as the Netherlands, France and Germany have helped fuel the switch to EVs.

 

Sytse Zuidema, CEO of New-Motion, says its wider experience in Europe also shows that making charging more “accessible and easy helps encourage EV adoption”.

 

The Government announced in the summer that it wanted all new EV rapid charge points to allow debit or credit card payments by spring 2020.

 

BP Chargemaster supported the move and said its Polar network will offer contactless bank or credit card payments on all new 50kW and 150kW ultra-fast chargers. It will also retrofit all existing 50kW Ultracharge units.

 

“Rapid chargers are contactless tap and pay – you turn up and get your bank card out,” said Tom Callow, BP director of communication and strategy.

 

Customers have always been able to access the Polar network, which operates 7,000 charge points in the UK, on a pay-as-you-go basis or via a subscription (membership).

 

Polar subscribers pay a monthly fee of £7.85 and, in turn, have cheaper charging rates.

 

Sandall says “total uniformity” is required in terms of payment and type of plug/charging point.

 

“Charge point providers and motor manufacturers need to unite in terms of the type of system and there needs to be complete uniformity in terms of payment – one card, one system,” she said. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

It’s fair to say that the idea of switching to winter tyres hasn’t caught on in the UK to the extent that tyre manufacturers had hoped. But increasing the grip at the tyre contact patch is the best way to maintain the best possible traction and steering on slippery or what engineers call a ‘low-mu’ surface. (The Greek letter µ, pronounced mu, represents the coefficient of friction.)

 

It might seem that four-wheel drive is a better idea, but it isn’t necessarily. A 4×4 will make the most of the traction available from the four contact patches. It may also help prevent the balance of the car being upset by a clumsy driver stabbing at the throttle.

 

But if there’s no grip available, the tyres still can’t gain forward traction, stop the car sliding anywhere it wants, or stop it quickly enough under braking, if at all. Four-wheel drive alone can’t prevent any of those things happening and the only thing that can is the grip of the tyres on the road.

 

In snow, there’s something else to consider: the width of the rubber. Watch any rally video of cars competing in snow and they all have one thing in common: skinny tyres. In snow, whatever the type of tyre, it will get more grip if it can bite down into the surface. Wide tyres, while good for cornering grip in the dry, are likely to fare worse in the snow.

 

You can probably see where this is heading. A small, front-wheel-drive hatchback with 185-section winter tyres will be more effective in snow than a big 4×4 SUV on fat summer tyres. The winter tyres grip better in snow because they’re designed to, the weight of the engine is directly over the driven wheels even if there are only two, and the tyres are skinny.

 

It’s not just about snow. Winter tyres have a softer compound that keeps the tread soft and supple in low temperatures, giving more grip on cold, damp or wet Tarmac at anything below 7deg C. That’s due to the chemistry of the compound and the fact that it contains more natural rubber than a summer tyre. Some high-end performance tyres don’t contain any natural rubber at all and can deteriorate and crack over time in extreme low temperatures.

 

The solid centre band on a high-performance summer tyre designed to give sharp steering response is missing on a winter tyre and there are normally fewer grooves around the circumference than on a summer tyre – depending on the make. However, there are a lot more of those tiny slits in the tread, called sipes. They create more sharp edges to grip the surface as the blocks they define deform in use. In snowy conditions, they also trap the snow, which grips better than wet rubber.

 

The downside of a winter tyre is that wider fitments especially are likely to be noisier than a summer equivalent, the rolling resistance is higher and the steering response and handling of a performance car in the dry won’t be as good. On a family car with modest performance, though, there’s no reason not to leave them on all year round, dodging the cost and hassle of two sets of tyres and giving much more safety and convenience in the worst winter weather.

 

The pressure to perform

 

Why does fuel consumption rise if tyres are not inflated properly? Hysteresis. As the tyre rotates and meets the road surface, it deforms, consuming energy. As it turns away from the surface, elasticity returns it to its original shape, but not all of the energy is recovered and the rest is lost as heat. By Graham Hill Thanks To Autocar Magazine.

As leasing companies and manufacturers try to increase take up of all EV’s the bigger premium cars are suffering massive drops when used according to a report by Fleet News. The question is how can it be addressed?

 

Residual values for used electric vehicles (EVs) are progressing at different rates with prices for cheaper models strengthening in the last 24 months.

 

Values for models under £17,000 at one year and 10,000 miles have seen an uplift while those for premium EVs are weaker.

 

Data from Cap HPI shows that models including the Citroen C-Zero and Peugeot iON have seen residual values improve in the last two years. In November 2017, a one-year-old and 10,000 mile Citroen C-Zero was worth around £6,000 and today a similar example is valued at more than £11,000.

 

Premium EVs remain a challenge due to the high cost new, which translates to the vehicle looking expensive when entering the used market. Models such as Jaguar I-Pace, Audi E-Tron and Tesla Model X have all seen values reduce in the past few months.

 

Chris Plumb, senior valuations editor at Cap HPI, said: “It’s clear that there is a growing market for a used BEV at a particular price point perhaps for use as a second car for city commutes. We expect to see demand continue to increase as clean air zones are rolled out across the country and the range of product widens.

 

“The premium models represent a different proposition, often with longer ranges and more features, the high purchase price at new is yet to translate in the used sector.”

 

A BMW i8 coupe is worth around £20,000 less at one year old and 10,000 miles than it was two years ago. Equally the Jaguar iPace has seen values drop by around £10,000 in the last 12 months.

 

As volumes of EVs increase in the market some mainstream models have seen pressure and values drop. The VW eGolf and Nissan Leaf have seen values decline following an increase in volumes of two-year-old product, in particular, models with a smaller battery.

 

“Over time, used values have stabilised and now perform against the same market pressures as their petrol counterparts,” Plumb said.

 

“As supply and demand shift we see pressure on some models and, in some cases, values appreciate on others. We expect dozens of new models in 2020 and it will only bring more choice to the used buyer.”

Company car drivers and fleet managers are being warned that criminals are using WhatsApp groups to plan and execute car thefts, according to vehicle protection specialists at AX.

 

According to the report, criminals create and share ‘shopping lists’ of makes and models so that vehicles can be stolen to order. AX, a provider of intelligent vehicle protection and management technologies for the automotive and insurance industries, says that “fuelled by encrypted social media platforms, the wave of thefts has been intensified by the vulnerability of ‘keyless’ systems which criminals are able to exploit using key signal amplifiers and decoders costing thousands”.

 

Home Office figures show the number of vehicles stolen in Britain has almost doubled in the last five years. In 2017-18, nearly 112,000 cars were taken illegally, up from 75,308 in the 2013-14 financial year.

 

Neil Thomas, AX director of investigative services, said: “The highly organised criminal networks are constantly looking for more secure ways to carry on their ‘businesses’ online and use social media with encrypted messaging capabilities or even online games to covertly communicate with each other.

 

“The sheer volume of thefts is practically a car theft epidemic and is enabling criminals to purchase costly technology which then fuels even more car crime.

 

“The thieves who take the initial risk get the cash payment, then the buyer, who now has a tracker-free car can then take their time to strip it, clone it or export it. This is where the profit is, especially in terms of the parts which can amount to much more than the complete vehicle.”

 

AX states that typically, criminals – or whole gangs in some cases – mobilise on social media where they agree their preferred targets, pricing and buyer before preparing bogus number-plates from similar vehicles to rapidly clone vehicles. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News.

Bus lanes are used to separate traffic and ensure it flows freely through cities and busy urban areas.

 

Here we’ll cover everything from how to spot and use bus lanes, to the possible penalties incurred if you’re caught illegally driving in one.

 

How do you know if it’s a bus lane?

Bus lanes are clearly marked by dashed white lines or a solid white line.

 

The solid white lines mark out the edge of the bus lane and should not be crossed while it’s in operation.

 

The dashed white lines signify the beginning and end of the lanes, as well as points where it’s acceptable for vehicles to cross into it – for example to reach a loading bay or to turn left.

 

They will also have the words ‘bus lane’ marked along the road.

 

When can’t you use a bus lane?

All bus lanes have blue signs signalling their times of operation, which can vary significantly from road to road. By times of operation, we mean the periods within which only buses can drive in the lanes.

 

The sign will usually show a time period, and the days of the week when restrictions for non-buses are to be observed.

 

Sometimes they’ll show two sets of times (e.g. Mon-Fri 7.30 – 9.30am, 3.30 – 6.30pm).

 

If there are no times are shown on the sign then the lane is in operation 24 hours a day and can’t be used at any point by unauthorised vehicles.

 

When can you use a bus lane?

If you’re driving outside a bus lane’s operational hours, then you can use it as long as it’s safe to do so.

 

This will help ease traffic congestion, freeing up another lane for other vehicles.

 

Be aware that not using a bus lane when it’s safe to do so during your driving test could result in a marking down.

 

The bus lane’s blue sign will also show which other road users are permitted to use it…

 

Who can use a bus lane?

This all depends on the lane in question. While some are reserved entirely for buses (which must have a minimum of 10 seats including the driver), individual signs will signal which other road users may drive in them.

 

If they display the word ‘local’ then the lane can only be used by local bus services.

 

The following vehicles may be allowed to use bus lanes at indicated times if they are shown on the sign:

 

Licensed London Taxis (Hackney carriages)

Motorcycles (without side cars)

Mopeds

Scooters

Tricycles (non-motorised, motorised under 450kg, not with side cars)

Bicycles

What happens if you cross in to a bus lane?

In some circumstances you may be required to cross the solid white line into the bus lane. You should only drive into the lane when you have no other choice but to move over.

 

These cases could include; to avoid an obstruction in the road, to move out of the path of an emergency vehicle or to avoid an accident.

 

If you do enter a bus lane you must make sure you leave it again as soon as is safe to do so.

 

What are the penalties for using bus lanes?

Bus lanes are introduced using Traffic Regulation Orders through powers issued under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and carry penalties for misuse.

 

Bus lanes are increasingly monitored by CCTV cameras to record any unauthorised vehicle driving or parking within the operational area.

 

The recordings are also checked to determine whether the lines may have been crossed in mitigating circumstances (e.g. to make way for emergency services).

 

If you’re caught using a bus lane during operational hours you could be liable to pay a penalty charge notice.

 

A PCN will be sent to the vehicle’s registered keeper containing details of the contravention, vehicle information and photographic evidence.

 

The amount payable varies across the country – being much higher in the capital and its Congestion Charge zone.

 

Fines for driving in bus lanes are as follows:

Inside Greater London         Full Fine:  £160    Paid Within 14 Days:   £80

Outside Greater London      Full Fine:  £65      Paid Within 14 Days:   £30

Can I appeal a bus lane violation?

If you think you’ve been wrongly penalised, you can appeal against the notice on the following grounds:

 

the contravention didn’t occur

the charge is more than the relevant amount

a Fixed Penalty Notice had already been issued

you are not the registered owner/hirer

the vehicle was being hired out to someone who had signed a statement of liability

it was being kept by a motor trader

the vehicle was being used without consent

Be aware that failing to pay a PCN notice could result in your local authority taking action against you. By Graham Hill Thanks To RAC