Vehicles worth £13m have been stolen as a result of the loss of thousands of blank DVLA log books, a BBC investigation has found. The police say they could be dealing with the impact of the blunder for over a century. Criminal gangs use the stolen vehicle registration documents to sell cloned cars on the private market. The DVLA says it is a criminal activity outside of its control and it is working with the police to stop it. Car cloning is the vehicle equivalent of identity theft. Gangs copy the number plate and other identifying details of a legitimate car onto a similar, but stolen clone. They also copy the genuine vehicle’s log book – or V5 form – by using one of thousands of blank DVLA documents that went missing some time in 2006. “We’re recovering about ten a week and we think there’s easily over 120 to 130,000 stolen blank documents out there still,” DCI Mark Hooper from the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (Acpo) vehicle crime intelligence service, told BBC 5 live’s Donal MacIntyre programme. More
(AD Comments ~ Perhaps the DVLA, could do more to help. Why not revise and changethe log book and send out to car owners, all the stolen documents would be instantly outdated)
Taxi drivers applying for their Hackney Carriage licence are being offered the forms in Braille by a council. A notice at the end reads: “You can get this Portsmouth City Council information in large print, Braille, audio or in another language….” The council, a member of the Plain English Campaign, defended the forms. Head of customer services Louise Wilders said: “Obviously, a taxi driver would not need the Braille version, but they might find a foreign language version helpful. More
(AD Comments ~ This is amazing, what are the council thinking?)
A new law to keep disqualified drivers off UK and Irish roads comes into force today. As a result of a groundbreaking agreement between the British, Irish and Northern Ireland Ministers, UK drivers disqualified for serious motoring offences in Ireland will no longer escape punishment when they return home. Similarly, disqualifications earned by Irish drivers while in the UK will be recognised and enforced when they return to Ireland. Road Safety Minister Paul Clark said: “We’ve cut the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 40% since the mid-1990s – that’s more than 19,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries in a year and means we now have some of the safest roads in the world. “But we need to continue to work to make our roads even safer and if a UK driver commits a serious offence while in Ireland it is right that their ban should still apply when they return home. “From today this new law will ensure that disqualified drivers are not able to escape their punishment and so keep dangerous drivers off the roads.” The new law is the first practical step to recognise driving disqualifications in Europe under the terms of the 1998 European Convention on driving disqualifications. More
(AD Comments ~ A measure that will help with road safety, surprising that its not in place already.)
When motorist Michael Mancini found himself stuck in a queue of traffic with a runny nose, he instinctively reached for his hankie. However, the simple act of pulling out a tissue and blowing his nose earned him a £60 on-the-spot fine because he was ‘not in proper control of his vehicle’. Policeman Stuart Gray, nicknamed PC Shiny Buttons for his zealous approach to the job, also handed out three points – even though Mr Mancini had his handbrake on. Now Mr Mancini, a 39-year-old father-of-two, faces a potentially expensive legal battle to clear his name after vowing not to pay the fine. He is the latest victim of PC Gray, who is no stranger to controversy. A few months ago, the officer issued a £50 fixed penalty for littering to unemployed Stewart Smith, who accidentally dropped a £10 note in the street as he left a shop. Last night Mr Mancini spoke of his disbelief at his experience. ‘I was just completely gobsmacked,’ the furniture restorer said. ‘I thought it was some kind of Beadle’s About moment – a wind-up. ‘I made sure it was safe. The traffic was nose to tail in the high street. ‘We came to a complete stop and I thought that was quite a good time to blow my nose. ‘I stopped the van and put the handbrake on. The traffic moved on and I was waved across by an officer. ‘I still had the tissue in my hand and was stunned when he said I was getting a fixed-penalty notice. Surely it would have been more dangerous to drive with a blocked nose?’ More
(AD Comments ~ This petty bureaucracy is getting more commonplace and more annoying. There must be a lot more serious crimes to punish, than this!)
You might call it something of a language barrier. A car park ticket machine has been giving bemused motorists orders in German. A fault in the ticket dispenser makes it give instructions in English until the car park is full, when it switches to German and prevents drivers passing through the barrier. Drivers pulling up to the council-owned multi-storey in Brunel Street, Birmingham, are greeted by a sign stuck to the ticket dispenser reading: ‘If the display shows German writing it means car park full. ‘Please wait until display returns to English before obtaining ticket.’ In an uncanny twist, Birmingham City Council said the language barrier emerged during the city’s German Frankfurt Market. The market, which is the second biggest in Europe, ended just before Christmas but it appears to have made a lasting impression. A spokesman for Birmingham City Council, said: ‘It’s been like this since December, the system that operates the display is German and something has gone wrong. ‘We’re waiting for an engineer to come over and fix it.’ More
(AD Comments ~ How bizarre!)
Two-thirds of England’s 1,600 km of single carriageway trunk roads win only a two-star rating according to a report by the Road Safety Foundation. The Road Safety Foundation has inspected 95% of the 7,000 km Highways Agency (HA) network in England, and safety rated it to an international star rating system being applied worldwide as part of a new approach to make road infrastructure safer. The European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) Road Protection Score is a scale for rating roads on how well the design protects users from death or disabling injury when a crash occurs. Its sister programme, EuroNCAP, similarly measures the crash protection provided by new cars. Four stars is the highest rating in the scale and motorways without deficiencies achieve this. Of the HA’s network, 50% of motorways reach four-star level, 78% of dual carriageways rate three-stars but two thirds of single carriageway trunk roads achieve only a two-star rating. Dr Joanne Hill, director of the Road Safety Foundation, said: “Our assessment of trunk roads considers three key elements: the protection provided if vehicles run off the road; the risk of head-on collisions; and the safety of junctions. “Motorways are our safest roads, scoring well on two of these factors but half do not protect road users who, for whatever reason, run off the road. More
(AD Comments ~ Still work to do to get all our motorways uoto top rating.)
‘Extra’ tax generated by high fuel prices could be used to repair the UK’s crumbling roads in 100 days, according to the AA. The motoring organisation says that the 1.8p “tax windfall” generated by the current high prices – in comparison to “a more typical £1 for this time of year” – means that the Government receives £1.1 million in extra VAT revenue every day from petrol sales alone. The average UK petrol price is currently 112.2p per litre, while diesel is 114.1p, according to Petrol Prices.com, while the AA says that for petrol, the January-to-April average for the last three years is just 95.3p per litre. According to the AA’s figures, the UK’s estimated two million pot holes – costing £70 each to repair – could be filled in three to four months by creating a pothole fund, skimmed from the extra tax netted from higher fuel prices. The unusually cold winter has seen a rash of potholes opening up in the UK’s road network. Many are either created or worsened by the so-called ‘freeze-thaw’ cycle – where water freezes and expands inside cracks in the road. President Edmund King said that diverting almost 2p per litre of fuel tax into a pothole fund would mean drivers could understand where their money was being spent. More
(AD Comments ~ If this happened it would help motorists on the roads, and give them confidence that money raised from the roads and be invested back into the roads, rather than goverenment coffers.)
A 76-year-old German man trying to thaw out his car incinerated it instead when he decided to speed things up by putting a blow heater under the hood. He burned the vehicle out completely, said a spokesman for police in the western city of Hildesheim. Police said the man left the heater on next to the frozen windshield washer tank and returned indoors. Shortly afterwards he heard two explosions and returned to find the car ablaze. More
(AD Comments ~ He has warmed up his car a bit more than he expected. Lucky he wasn`t sitting inside the car at the time!)
The boy racer stereotype is rooted in fact, according to research from Moneysupermarket.com. The website’s data indicates that more than half of motorists with speeding convictions in certain areas are young men. See Top 10
(AD Comments ~ Seems that despite the Police catching many offenders, more still race.)
According to insurance company ibuyeco, a third of non-drivers said they did not drive due to the high expense of driving lessons. A fifth also felt under pressure to learn how to drive due to the heavy stereotyping of men and driving, with around 44% of women polled saying they expected a man to have a licence. About one-third (33%) of men without a licence said they did not need to drive, while 10% said they failed their test the first time and decided against a retest. A fifth of them also admitted they did not enjoy driving. The survey of 2,126 adults revealed that 24% of women considered it odd if a man could not get behind the wheel and 7% thought less of a man if he did not drive. More
(AD Comments ~ This is only a small sample size, so might not be representing the country as a whole.)
The average annual premium is now £564.19 – almost 20pc more than it was this time last year, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence. Published: 10:36AM GMT 25 Jan 2010 Motor insurance premiums hit new high Photo: PA Motorists renewing car insurance policies face the largest annual hikes ever recorded, according to research from independent market research firm, Consumer Intelligence. The average annual premium is now £564.19 – almost 20pc more than it was this time last year, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence. Those who have endured the biggest rise are 17-24-year-olds, with the average going up nearly 25pc to £1,489. Men are facing the most significant increases on their insurance premiums. In the last 12 months the average policy for a man has increased by 20pc to £599.65. This compares to an increase of 19.1pc to £523.55 for women. More
(AD Comments ~ Thats some increase, but over the past few years the advent of price comparison websites has helped keep premiums more competitive, perhaps we are now feeling the backlash of that)
Aviva has produced a new guide for parents to help them safely guide their sons and daughters through the process of learning to drive. The guide, ‘The Road to success’, has been produced on the back of work carried out in 2009 by Aviva to understand the very poor crash and casualty statistics for newly qualified drivers. The insurer also looked in more depth at choice of first car and found that 50% of first cars were being bought for less than £500. Aviva’s Nigel Bartram said: “Our work highlights a need for better pre-driver education in secondary schools, including peer group classroom based sessions as part of the learning to drive programme, discussing all the aspects of safety and where things go wrong. “It is also clear that parents have a role to play, both in terms of building experience and choice of first car – but they need to complement rather than conflict with professional tuition. More
(AD Comments ~ Some good advice about learning to drive, find out more and download the guide)
Average speed cameras could be fitted on all of Britain’s motorways if new proposals to slash carbon emissions are approved by the Government. The devices lead to fewer accidents and speeding tickets on the roads where they are installed than normal speed cameras, a new report by the Government’s environmental advisers claims. The Sustainable Development Commission is calling for cameras to be installed on all motorways in the UK because it is predicted that if all drivers stuck to 70mph, the UK’s carbon emissions would be cut by 1.4 million tonnes. In its report the Commission says drivers slam on the brakes when they see a speed camera and accelerate away as soon as they have passed it. More
(AD Comments ~ A scheme like this would be a major boost to road safety, and would reduce emissons greatly. It would be a massive investment, and running cost to install such a high number of these cameras)
THE company behind Scotch tape and Post-it notes has created a signpost that will collapse safely if a car crashes into it. Made from glass-reinforced plastic, the post shatters on impact, minimising the damage to vehicles and protecting the occupants. About 15% of road deaths are caused by cars hitting conventional steel signposts, lampposts, trees and other street furniture. The technology was developed by 3M, the American company behind Scotch tape. It has now been sold on to Frangible Safety Posts, a business in Loughborough, Leicestershire, which plans to expand the posts’ use in the UK. The signposts have already been installed in Co Durham and Cheshire. More
(AD Comments ~ Sounds like an excellent addition. On many roads we have signs and other road furniture far too close to cars anyway.)
Liverpool City Council is spending an extra half a million pounds to tackle the problem of potholes caused by the recent severe weather. This is in addition to the £12m it spends on routine maintenance of the city’s road network. And it will be using the latest jet-power technology to fill in the hundreds of the potholes caused by the big freeze. The Jetpatcher consists of a special vehicle with all the latest equipment to treat the pot holes rapidly. It causes the minimum of disruption to other drivers. The Jetpatcher method is a quick and effective way of repairing potholes and cracks within the carriageway. It is operated by just one worker, with the whole operation of cleaning, filling and covering the pothole completed in one smooth operation. More
(AD Comments ~ Sounds like a helpful device, but many roads would be better to be properly resurfaced, rather than just touched up until the next cold snap arrives)
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