17.09.07 Do reckless young drivers endanger lives in rural areas?
Young drivers, it seems, have become more reckless than ever before. This was the finding of a recently published report by the car firm, Autoglass, in association with RoadSafe. Of particular concern is the conduct of young drivers on rural roads.
The survey revealed a number of staggering facts about the consequences of young motorists’ ...
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12.09.07 Lorry drivers to pay £200 a day to keep London clean
Ken Livingstone’s commitment to a cleaner, greener capital is well known. So it should come as no surprise that the Mayor of London has recently unveiled another potentially unpopular vehicle tax to combat pollution in the city. The London Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) will come into force on 4 February 2008, though a four-year phased introduction w...
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07.09.07 Theory tests made tougher to improve road safety
Young drivers, in particular young males, have over twice as many accidents as older, more experienced drivers. It takes a full twelve months before their accident rate starts to reduce and two years before it equals that of more experienced motorists.
In July 1996, it became compulsory for learners to pass the driving theory test before bei...
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05.09.07 New taxes on 4x4s shown to have little effect on demand or price
In a move designed largely to satisfy Britain’s green lobby, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown chose to raise taxes on so-called ‘polluting’ vehicles last April. However, to the delight of car manufacturers, this decision has not reduced the demand for or the prices of large cars during the first half of 2007.
Composite data ...
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30.08.07 How honest are you when it comes to penalty points?
As a nation we may pride ourselves on "playing by the rules" but it seems that our scruples soon desert us when penalty points are the issue.
A surprising 10% of us have told researchers for Confused.com that we would be willing to ask someone else to take our penalty points for us (either out of the kindness of their hearts or for money) if...
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16.08.07 Should number plate data be available to police in the fight against crime?
Thanks to automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) data being made available to the police, those responsible for the recent attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow were apprehended quickly. Not many of us would quibble about the data being used in this way, but just how much “snooping” will the public tolerate?
The Home Office recent...
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06.08.07 Road rage a growing problem on British roads
In a recent development, a study carried out by the independent road safety organization, DriveSafe has suggested that some five million British drivers admit to having expressed some form of road rage this year. Road rage can manifest itself in a number of ways. The most common forms include aggressive acceleration, speeding (or deliberately ...
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27.07.07 Which is the most car-friendly city in the UK?
Although Britain has become a nation reared on low-cost flights and packaged deals that promise sun, sea and sand, a growing number of holidaymakers are choosing to eschew the promise of overseas holidays in order to rediscover the quaint charms of their home isles.
According to a survey conducted by Kwik-Fit, 30 million Brits will take at le...
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29.06.07 British motorists lose speed camera case
In a landmark case two British motorists have lost a court battle claiming that current laws which force car owners to name the driver when the vehicle is caught by speed cameras violated their human rights. They claim that drivers have "a right to silence and protection from self-incrimination". The European Court of Human Rights rejected thei...
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29.05.07 Manchester hoping to operate first pay-as-you-drive scheme
Manchester hopes to introduce, in 2012, a pay-as-you drive scheme which could be a prototype for charging structures throughout the country. The £3 billion plan would mean that the city is the first in the UK to charge motorists according to how far they drive on key congested routes.
All motorists driving into Manchester will have to buy an...
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