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New regulations have come before Parliament that will allow Highways Agency traffic officers to authorise the removal of broken down and abandoned vehicles from motorways and A roads. This will give Highways officers similar powers to the police. Could this be the thin end of the wedge? By Graham Hill

If you live or travel around Birmingham you will have seen that work has begun on the £150 million scheme on the M6, M40 and M42 to introduce variable speed limits and hard-shoulder running. Two new stretches of the M6 will be opened for hard-shoulder running during peak periods and variable speed limits will be in force on parts of the M6, M42 and M40. The work is part of a £6 billion investment aimed at Read more »

What Car has produced the top ten cars offering the best visibility and the top ten worst visibility. The study was carried out following complaints that visibility was getting worse in new cars. Conventional safety assessments such as EuroNCAP crash tests don’t include visibility tests. Driver safety experts say poor visibility is becoming more Read more »

Hertz have announced their entry into the Car Club market as companies and consumers look at ways to reduce their car costs both throughout Europe and in the US. Locations are being selected throughout the UK and they expect to launch later in the year. Following existing models that are working they are expected to charge a monthly membership then the use of the car by the hour. The expectation is Read more »

Over the years I have often found myself locking horns with accountants over the benefits of leasing. Most accountants fall into one of two categories, they either ‘get it’ totally or are totally clueless. Of course all of my accountant readers ‘get it’ totally. It was highlighted last week once again when I couldn’t get a potential client’s accountant to appreciate that by taking a lease his client would save around Read more »

Much has been written recently about ‘wholelife costs’ when comparing purchase methods to leasing of cars because the one most important element of the equation is the value of the car in 2 or 3 years time. The problem is that most people are far too optimistic and this throws the whole calculation out of kilter. Take for example a Renault Scenic 1.6 Dynamique S costing £18,000 including metallic paint. In a straw poll I asked several people what they thought the car would be worth in 3 years time on average mileage. Their estimates ranged from Read more »

My quote of the week goes to a spokesman for BMW‘s UK operations following an announcement that BMW cars were to receive a substantial price hike. He was trying to reassure us in the UK that we were not included in the expected increases. The company had issued a profit warning and said that due to increased oil and raw material costs they would be forced to increase prices – but not in the UK – he said, Read more »

Last year saw the lowest number of road deaths since records began 80 years ago. The Department for Transport revealed that deaths fell by 7% last year from 3,172 to 2,943 despite indications that levels of traffic rose. Road deaths have been slowly dropping year on year but last year saw the biggest drop over recent years. In 2007 car driver and passenger deaths dropped by 11% and the number of seriously injured and other casualties dropped by 9% and 6% respectively. Whilst the latest drop was welcomed by the RAC Foundation and RoSPA  both organisations warned against complacency. Whilst the figures have dropped significantly there are still thousands dying on our roads each year. By Graham Hill

Just about to travel to or through France, even on a day trip? Then please note that the French have a new piece of legislation making it compulsory to have a reflective jacket on board. In an emergency the jacket must be easily accessible by the driver and must be put on before leaving the car. You need a quick trip to Halfords or you could end up with a fine.

As any of you that have become readers of my weekly ramblings would know I am a great supporter of the safety system ESP developed by Bosch. I believe that it should be fitted in all new cars as it is relatively cheap and would save more lives than ABS. Well, the good news is that Bosch have started work on a new version that will hopefully move them closer to having the system fitted in all cars. The new version integrates sensors for Read more »