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Following on from my notes on the change in law regarding Brits breaking motoring laws in Europe, it would seem that Jonny Foreigner is more likely to get away with offences over here than we are over there as the number of traffic cops in England and Wales has dropped by 23% over the last 4 years.

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In March 2010 the number of traffic cops stood at 5,635 but by March 2014 the number had dropped to 4,356. Some areas have been cut back dramatically, for example Devon and Cornwall have dropped from 539 to just 57 in 2014, a drop of 76% with Essex declining by 71%. The figures have angered the RAC who have said, ‘These figures make a mockery of motoring law.

If there are not enough police on the road, we can introduce all the new rules we want, but those breaking them just will not get caught.’ And to prove the point some figures were recently released that showed the worst speeding culprit to be a moron driving at 128 mph in a 30mph zone exceeding the limit by a mind blowing 98 miles per hour.

The highest recorded speed in the UK was recorded on a camera on the M25 in Kent with two cars hitting 146 miles per hour – twats! The frightening figures were revealed following a Freedom of Information request made by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) following which all but 6 of the 36 police forces across England and Wales responded.

Each force that replied had at least one case of a driver exceeding 110MPH. Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive, said, ‘It was disheartening, to say the least, that some road users are showing such disregard for the safety of all other road users. At speeds of 140 MPH it is simply impossible for an individual to react to anything that might happen in front of him.’ By Graham Hill

It now seems that you are more likely to suffer a speeding fine when travelling abroad than in the UK. It was a few years ago when the DVLA became obliged to provide driver details if a Brit was caught speeding, or committing any other vehicle related crime, in another EU member country.

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But you only received a fine if you were stopped by roadside police, you would not receive a fine if caught on a speed camera. But that is about to change. The European Parliament has now voted in favour of new laws that give police forces on the Continent the power to track drivers home and pursue payment of fines.

Authorities in any member EU country can now use the number plate picked up by the speed camera to identify the driver and his home address then issue the fine and even take court action if the fine remains unpaid. As it goes I don’t know too many people who nip across to France simply to put the Ford Focus through its paces on a French motorway, sticking two fingers out of the car window as yet another speed camera catches them exceeding the motorway limit.

In fact quite the opposite, for at least half their trip, as the car strains to get much beyond 30 mph as it carts back to the Ferry 40 cases of the mega hypermarket’s finest red ‘for personal use only’. What I do see, living not that far from Dover, is cars and trucks with foreign plates breaking just about every law going so I was pleased to see that the laws apply across Europe so we will be able to pursue foreign drivers breaking the law in the UK.

The new laws that come into force in May include offences such as speeding, ignoring red lights, drink & drug driving and using a mobile phone. In the past the only offence that could be pursued was speeding. Whilst the new laws come into effect in May the DVLA has been given a 2 year extension to adapt their systems before it is legally bound to share data on UK drivers caught abroad. At the moment the laws only relate to fines but next year the EU is looking into harmonising penalty points.

If this comes about it means that UK drivers could end up losing their licences through breaking the law abroad. Our roads minister, Robert Goodwill (no I’d never heard of him either) has said we will oppose such a move and we would vote against such a move. This whole issue raises questions over data protection. We like to think that our systems in the UK are robust but what happens when data is requested by other EU countries, could the information be used for other purposes? A question that hasn’t been answered. By Graham Hill

New laws come into force on the 2^nd March 2015 regarding drug driving. Previously the law has been somewhat loose, mainly because detection has been so hit and miss. Up until now the law has concentrated on illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine but the new legislation mentions specifically not only 8 illegal drugs but also 8 prescription drugs.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

Currently the police have to show that your driving is impaired through taking drugs but in future they will simply have to show that you have taken drugs if they are of the illegal variety. This will be done at the roadside with up to 3 separate saliva tests. If the tests show that the driver has taken drugs he will be taken to a police station where a blood test will be taken.

Motorists found guilty will receive a ban of at least 12 months as well as a jail term of up to 6 months and a fine of up to £5,000. Their driving licence will show that they have been convicted for drug driving and this will remain on their licence for 11 years. Whilst 8 prescription drugs have been included in this legislation drivers are warned that they should not drive if taking any prescription drugs that could affect their driving.

Drivers on medication should seek the advice of their GP or a pharmacist who can advise. In the case of prescription drugs you won’t be convicted if the levels within the body are within the prescribed dosage level unless you are instructed not to drive when taking the drugs. The eight drugs included in the legislation are: clonazepam, diazepam, flunitrazepam, lorazepam, oxazepam, temazepam, methadone and morphine.

It is recommended that if you are taking prescribed drugs that you carry a copy of your prescription. Whilst the mere taking of illegal drugs then driving is illegal so is taking a drug that you are told you shouldn’t take and drive. Be very careful, you could lose your licence.

If you run a company with employees that drive on company business make sure that you have made them aware of the changes in legislation on the 2^nd March. It is part of your duty of care. An accident caused by drugs whilst the employee is on company business could land both of you in court. By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Could you be a ‘drug-driver’? (express.co.uk)

Following on from my views regarding the testing of driverless cars on public roads I’ve just read a piece on the likely changes to legislation that will be necessary. But before I get to that I have a couple of questions of my own. First of all what will be the eventual cost of one of these driverless cars?

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

We know that electric cars have been a dismal failure. Very few people have taken them, not least because when you replace a traditional engine with an electric motor and install a big battery it adds, on average, £10,000 to the cost of the car. So with all the technology needed to replace a driver will they cost circa £100,000 or am I missing something? And why?

Why do I want to be in the driver’s seat of a driverless car? I actually quite enjoy driving and although I am about to replace my current car with the same car but the latest model, I’m getting excited. Can’t see me getting excited over a car I won’t be driving, a bit like getting excited over getting in a taxi. Will they reduce congestion? No, if anything more cars will appear on the roads.

Will they make the roads safer? I don’t think so. Communism is a great concept with everyone being treated equally but it can’t work as long as human beings have desires, aspirations and the basic need to be better than the next bloke. And so with driverless cars, they will only make roads safer if every driver has one.

Many pundits have suggested that driverless cars will provide ‘full business mobility’. People will be able to hold meetings in cars and work as they travel from A to B. What a load of tosh! Have they not heard of public transport, airplanes and chauffeurs? Improve public transport, especially trains and make it possible to travel to London from just outside Brighton without having to stand all the way in a carriage that uses an open window as a means of air conditioning.

Moving on to legislation? Does entering into the car’s control system the data needed to calculate the destination and speed make you a ‘driver’ and do you therefore need a licence? As I understand it some cars will be ‘highly automated’ whilst others will be ‘fully automated’, will both require a driving licence or just the highly automated vehicles?

If you need a licence to drive a highly automated vehicle one must assume that you could be convicted if caught using a mobile phone, eating at the wheel and not wearing a seatbelt. God forbid that you are caught drunk as a skunk in a driverless car, will you be convicted of drunk driving? For me the whole idea of driverless cars is a nonsense. But then I would have probably thought that you couldn’t improve on a horse and cart. I’ll get my coat! By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Driverless cars in California rack up four accidents since September (slashgear.com)

I’m feeling the little hairs on the back of my neck starting to bristle! And any regular readers of my newsletter/blog will know that if that happens something or someone has seriously pee’d me off! And I mean seriously pee’d me off (that’s polite speak for pissed me off ).

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

That kindly bumbling old gent, Vince Cable, has done it again. Just as I though he couldn’t manage to do anything more during the course of this government that I would consider to be totally daft he did it again. He recently approved the testing of driverless cars on public roads in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes and Greenwich.

He is following the USA who have allowed the testing of driverless cars in California, Nevada and Florida where they have roads bigger than the whole of the UK. So the odd stupid looking two seater driverless car poodling along a 10 lane 200 mile stretch of road, without the hint of a curve in it, won’t cause too much disruption.

But we live in a country where a dead badger on the opposite side of the road can lead to a 10 mile tailback as drivers take a closer look at the poor creature’s corpse as they drive by at walking speed. Just imagine the tailback as they drive past a car with no driver. ‘Wow kids look at that car – there isn’t a driver.’

Bang as they hit the car in front up the rear end! And the only driverless car I’ve seen being tested in the UK was in Greenwich toodling around at 2mph. Pedestrians were overtaking it for gawd sake! Now I’m not opposed to new technology and I would be happy for driverless cars to eventually be tested on UK public roads but whilst we need money in so many other areas should we be pumping money into such a project so early into the design stage?

And why do they need to test on our little public roads causing all sorts of problems? Here’s my idea, let the developers create driverless cars then when they are ready to test on public roads ship them over to Nevada and let the Americans stare at them and write their cars off in the process. I’m sure there will be some readers who disagree with me but I don’t care! I’m that kinda person! By Graham Hill

I am sitting here with a smirk on my face as I am surrounded by women who believe that they are less aggressive drivers than me and men in general! As if?

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

Well I can announce today, thanks to a survey carried out by telematics technology provider, In-Car Cleverness, that women are faster drivers than men – it’s official, we have the statistics and as we know statistics never lie!

In order to come up with this astounding piece of information they surveyed the driving habits of those driving rental cars. They monitored the hire of over 10,000 rental vehicles and found that female customers were more likely to exceed speed limits than men. In fact the survey showed that women exceeded the speed limit 17.5% more times than men.

Having said that they returned fewer damaged cars than men. In fact they found that 84% of cars returned with scratches, dents and punctures were driven by men. Hmmm. By Graham Hill

I’m in the process of setting up a new marketing business that will give those who sign into my new scheme access to a wide range of discounts and bonuses from cheap MOT, servicing and repairs to cheap subscriptions to motor magazines, special offers on tyres, discounts or added free benefits to roadside breakdowns and much more.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

One of the latest developments is the addition of cheap legal advice from legal specialists. The need for such a service was highlighted when I read about the buyer of a new Audi A1which developed a fault after just 2 days.

The car was taken back by the supplying dealer for him to repair but after 2 weeks the fault had only just been identified as a fault with the ABS control unit. Unfortunately the dealer couldn’t find a fix so the driver, quite rightly demanded a replacement car. After a lot of buggering about without a solution the driver involved Auto Express who contacted Audi who agreed that the driver should have the car replaced.

By this stage I would have been on Audi’s rooftop with their MD dangling by his boot laces pleading to supply a new car even if he had to go to Germany to collect it himself. It is your legal right as well as claim compensation. In the end and no doubt as a gesture of bloody goodwill the driver not only had the car replaced but had the spec. upgraded to an S-Line.

We need a legal helpline for drivers to access in order to get rid of all the ignorance that exists about buyers legal rights. Watch this space, lots of exciting things happening this year. By Graham Hill

Conservative MP Sir Greg Knight has put forward a proposal to Transport Minister, John Hayes to turn off traffic lights on certain junctions at non busy times.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

I understand where he is coming from as I’m sure you do having spent what seems like ages stuck at a set of traffic lights with no other traffic about at all waiting for the lights to turn green. Apparently this isn’t as daft an idea as it might initially sound as it is fairly common in Europe. It saves electricity, it also saves fuel as drivers aren’t kept waiting at lights on tickover waiting for the lights to change.

I saw on our local news a few days ago that they were trialling such an idea in Reading town centre in order to keep busses flowing. The traffic lights were causing busses to bunch up so by the time the busses got out of the town passengers would see 2 or 3 busses all turn up together. By turning the traffic lights off at certain times it was found that busses were spread more evenly.

Whilst it might seem like a good idea Hayes has said that there are no immediate plans to switch off the traffic lights. So another good idea bites the dust! By Graham Hill

After finally giving ‘drugalysers’ Home Office approval the police will begin roadside drug tests this year across England and Wales in order to crack down on drug driving.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

In future drivers won’t know whether they are to be given a drug test, be breathalysed or subjected to both when stopped by the police. The ‘drugalysers’ will analyse a saliva sample immediately for cannabis and cocaine. The downside is that the equipment cannot detect legal highs at the moment but future versions are expected to be able to detect a wide range of drugs, both legal and illegal.

At the moment if a police officer suspects that a driver is driving whilst under the influence of drugs they must arrest them, take them to the station in order to undergo time-consuming blood tests that must be carried out under medical supervision. Once in the police station the driver can argue that they are unable to give blood for medical reasons or religious beliefs.

All the time the drugs are leaving their system. The new equipment eliminates all this and provides an immediate reading. The kits will support the new drug offence coming into force in March but they are about to be used immediately by various police forces across the UK.

Policing Minister Mike Pennings said that most motorists have the same view about drug driving as they do about drink driving. He stated, ‘The Government is determined to drive the menace from our roads. Those who take the wheel while under the influence of drugs put their own lives at risk plus those of innocent motorists and their passengers.’ By Graham Hill