Car clubs are set to benefit from an extra £40,000 of Government funding, Transport Minister Norman Baker announced today. The money will be used to support car club development in the UK. Membership of car clubs allows access to low carbon vehicles for short periods of time, often by the hour, on a pay-as-you-go basis. The clubs have increased massively in popularity with the number of members increasing from just 22,000 in 2007 to more than 127,114 members to date. The Government views such schemes as an effective way of tackling congestion, reducing the level of CO2 emissions and improving the quality of life of citizens and communities. Members tend to choose to travel fewer miles by car compared to private car owners and the vehicles they do drive are more efficient. Transport Minister Norman Baker said: “The Coalition Government, in its programme for government, has been clear in its commitment to sustainable travel initiatives such as car clubs to help achieve a greener and more sustainable transport sector. “The figures speak for themselves – each car club vehicle can result in taking 24 private vehicles off the road and the low carbon vehicles used typically emit approx 33% less CO2 than the average car. This is why we are supporting the continued growth of car clubs across the country.” More
(AD Remarks ~ Good new for the very occasional driver, who doesnt want the exepense of owning a vehicle.)
California is weighing whether to allow advert-broadcasting digital number plates on vehicles, in a bid to raise revenue for the cash-strapped state. Drivers could select messages to display and could earn rewards from advertisers that pay the state. The state senate is considering a bill to allow research into the move. At least one firm, in San Francisco, is developing an electronic number plate that would scroll adverts while a car is stopped at lights and in congestion. The company, Smart Plate, holds a patent on the technology but has yet to produce a demonstration model. “We’re just trying to find creative ways of generating additional revenues,” said Democratic Senator Curren Price of Los Angeles, who introduced the legislation to explore whether to adopt the new plates. “It’s an exciting marriage of technology with need, and an opportunity to keep California in the forefront.” More
(AD Comments ~ There will not doubt be many who would welcome this move, but would it distract motorists too much?)
Cowboy wheel clampers will be banned from operating on private land under Government plans to end a practice which has been condemned as ‘legalised mugging’. Motoring organisations have been deluged with complaints about rogue clampers who fail to properly display parking regulations – then charge extortionate fees to free vehicles. More than 1,900 companies have the power to hit drivers for up to £800 a time to release cars left ‘too long’ in supermarket, hospital or railway station car parks. Now Ministers have drafted proposals to abolish all private clamping in England and Wales, 20 years after the practice was outlawed in Scotland. Under the Home Office plans, firms involved in the £240 million-a-year business would only be able to immobilise cars if they are contracted to do so by local authorities. Without an official council warrant, firms would be restricted to issuing parking tickets. Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker, who is working on the plans with the Home Office, said: ‘There is an extremely strong case to ban these rogue clamping activities, and the political will now exists to make sure that it happens.’ More
(AD Comments ~ Incorrect parking car be a problem and should be dealt with. But we need more regulation, so that genuine people are not fleeced of huge ammounts of money unfairly.)
Ministers have promised to put the brake on any new fixed speed cameras and warned they will no longer be used as a ‘cash cow’ to milk motorists. Transport minister Mike Penning told MPs yesterday that the Government will scrap millions of pounds a year in grants handed to local authorities to fund new speed traps. Mr Penning warned town halls to use other effective road safety measures – such as speed warning signs – to cut deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads. Local authorities will still be able to install new speed cameras, but they will have to fund them from council tax and are likely to have to justify their introduction to residents. Over the past decade, the number of speed cameras has trebled, making Britain the speed camera capital of Europe. They raise about £110million a year for the Treasury. More
(AD Comments ~ Perhaps the money saved, might better be used to put more traffic police on the roads. A much more visible police pressence on the roads will discourage not justs peeders, but dangerous driving as well!)
Ministers have been urged to cut the drink-drive limit by nearly half in a government-commissioned report. Sir Peter North’s review said reducing the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg would save hundreds of lives. He also recommends that the current mandatory 12-month driving ban should be maintained for the new 50mg limit. The review was commissioned by Labour and it is not certain that the new government will adopt its findings. Sir Peter, a leading academic and legal expert, makes a total of 51 recommendations in his report. These include making it easier for police to identify and prosecute drug-drivers by allowing nurses, as well as doctors, to authorise blood tests of suspects. Based on new research by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Sir Peter said that as many as 168 lives – about 7% of UK road deaths – could be saved by a reduced drink-drive limit in the first year. This could rise to as many as 303 lives by the sixth year, he said. Sir Peter said: “Research conclusively shows the much higher risk posed by drink-driving. “With a blood alcohol level between my proposed new limit of 50mg per 100ml and the current 80mg per 100ml limit, a driver has a six times greater risk of road death than a non-drinking driver. More
(AD Comments ~ Will lowing the limit have such a great effect? as many who are caught are well over the current limit anyway. But it may make people think more about their actions, before getting behind the wheel, which can only make the roads safer.)
The war on the motorist is over, the Transport Secretary said yesterday on his first day in the job. Philip Hammond promised to end the way the country’s 33million drivers have been targeted by an array of speed cameras and cowboy clampers. He also pledged to ‘sweat the assets’ of the road, rail and aviation infrastructure to get value for money for taxpayers. The secretary of state pledged to scrap public funding for speed cameras and said he would consult on a plan to curb pump prices when oil prices soar Mr Hammond promised: ‘We will end the war on motorists. Motoring has got to get greener, but the car is not going to go away.’ The Tory Cabinet minister stressed the coalition government would abide by a Tory manifesto promise not to fund any more fixed-position speed cameras. Councils could fund them if they had the money and could justify their use – but the money raised would go to the Treasury, he said. He ruled out ‘pay as you drive’ charging for existing roads for the duration of the Parliament. And there are no plans to charge for the use of the hard shoulder or additional lanes built to existing roads. But Mr Hammond did back road tolls to pay for new roads – such as has already happened with the M6. He is also exploring electronic pay-as-you-drive charges for lorries – to ensure that foreign freight firms do not dodge the charges levied on UK companies. More
(AD Suggests ~ Its nice to hear, but time will tell if this administration sees the motorist as a cash cow or not!)
Britain should adopt a zero blood alcohol limit to cut the number of deaths on the country’s roads caused by drink-driving, nurses said today. Delegates at the Royal College of Nursing’s annual conference in Bournemouth spoke overwhelmingly in favour of a move that would see drivers unable to consume a glass of shandy and get behind the wheel – emulating a number of European nations that have a zero-tolerance policy. At present Britain’s limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is among the highest in Europe. Romania, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovakia all have zero-tolerance policies. Nurses queued up to speak from the floor of the conference, calling for a “no ifs, no buts, no alcohol” policy saying many had witnessed the carnage caused by drink-driving. “Would you drink two pints of beer before going to work? Would you do it before sitting in three quarter-tonnes of steel capable of 100mph?” asked Andrew Fraser, an emergency care nurse. “We need mandatory zero tolerance”. Some cautioned that such a draconian limit would mean drivers penalised for “eating trifle or swilling mouthwash” – both of which can have alcoholic content. More
(AD Thoughts ~ A good idea in principal, may be hard to police though. Perhaps a low alocohol limit would be better, and that would allow for those have the mouthash on their breath as well!)
A revolutionary plan to scrap car tax and give all citizens tradeable shares in England’s major road network was unveiled by a think-tank today. The plan from the Social Market Foundation (SMF) would see all England’s motorways and major A roads becoming toll roads, with drivers paying around 10p a mile to use them. Rather than be owned by the Government, the roads would be owned by the UK citizens, each of whom would be given a voucher representing their share of the network. They, rather than the Treasury, would then benefit from the profits of road charging, with their voucher, estimated to be worth around £1,500, tradeable on the Stock Market. Under the scheme, each vehicle owner would no longer have to pay the annual vehicle excise duty car tax. Also, foreign drivers would have to pay to use the toll roads. The report, which based the value of the England strategic road network at around £95billion, said that the average car owner would be better off under the voucher scheme to the tune of a £1,500 asset and around £75 per year. More
(AD Thoughts ~ Sounds like a far fetched idea, and full of problems to run. Perhaps a better way would be to scrap car tax, and place a very small extra ammount on each litre of fuel. Motorists can then pay for how far they go!)
Despite Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, ruling out the introduction of national road pricing for the next Parliament, civil servants are still involved with the project, it has emerged. In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Treasury has admitted that its officials have been working on the scheme in the last six months. The Treasury also said it had been involved in work on the EU’s Galileo project – a satellite which could be used for “spy in the sky” tracking of motorists’ movements. Even though the Government has shelved the project, the Department for Transport previously admitted that it was continuing with testing the technology which would be necessary was to become a reality. It has allocated £7.2 million for the work. According to Theresa Villiers, the Tory transport spokesman, this showed that Labour had not abandoned plans to bring in national road pricing, which could see motorists paying as much as £1.30 a mile to drive on the busiest roads during the rush hour. More
(AD Thoughts ~ Sounds like big brother is watching your movements and also charging heavily for them!)
Motorists could face tolls to use parts of the motorway network if the Tories win the election, David Cameron has indicated. The Conservative leader told the BBC Today programme that the party was ready to look at charging to fund additional capacity and refused to rule out making drivers pay to use roads that are currently free. ” I think we should be looking when we build new roads at occasionally looking at road charges and tolls. Not an eye in the sky scheme but actually looking at tolls because again we need to find ways of building essential infrastructure in a country where because we’ve had such a bad Labour government we’ve run out of money,” he said. When pressed on whether the charges could cover existing parts of the network, Mr Cameron would only say: “I think we should start with new roads.” His remarks appeared to catch Conservative campaign headquarters by surprise with a spokesman issuing a statement to clarify what his party leader meant. “As David Cameron made clear this morning, we believe that tolling can be appropriate in some circumstances for helping to create new capacity on the national road network. For example, the M6 Toll has proved that this sort of a scheme can work, where drivers choose to use a new road in return for paying for this new capacity. More
(AD Thoughts ~ More charges for the motorists. Could hit businesses hard, who travel extensively on our motorways. Doesn`t sound a good vote winner!)
SPEEDING drivers could be cautioned instead of being slapped with fines under a new strategy to focus more on front line policing. Top cop Mark Polin said he wants to steer North Wales Police away from a target-driven culture by giving officers more discretion when it comes to minor crimes and driving offences. Unlike his predecessor Richard Brunstrom, who was dubbed the Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban, the new Chief Constable’s vision takes the spotlight off motorists and the amount of paperwork that diverts police away from other duties. He said the force is “renowned for taking a hard line” when it comes to speed enforcement, but his new three-year strategy aims to look at the wider issues affecting the region. At a meeting of the North Wales Police Authority yesterday, he said: “We are no longer counting the number of fixed penalty notices for speeding, we are introducing discretionary measures and issuing more cautions because officers are expected to do more in local communities.” Mr Polin said the force has “too many community beat managers (CBMs) and not enough front line officers”, who are struggling to respond to incidents. He added: “We need to look at what is taking up officers’ time and make sure they are clear on their roles and responsibilities.” More
(AD Thoughts ~ Sone sensible ideas as we need to educate drivers for some minor offences, rather than slap fines on petty indiscrections.)
Children’s health is at risk, says report from Royal College of Physicians. Smoking should be banned in cars and parks to protect children, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says today. Millions of children are exposed to second-hand smoke at home, which is a major hazard to their health, and reducing the level of exposure should be a priority. Although most cars are occupied by adults, it would be impractical to apply the ban only to cars carrying children, the college says. In a major new report on the impact of passive smoking on children, the RCP says it is time to capitalise on the gains achieved by the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, imposed in England in July 2007. Experience from other countries shows extending the ban to a wide range of public spaces, including playgrounds and beaches, can be “popular and successful”, it says. Passive smoking is responsible for a huge burden of disease on children, including one in five of all cot deaths, 200 cases of meningitis, 22,000 cases of asthma, and 120,000 middle-ear infections a year. An estimated two million children are exposed to tobacco smoke at home. A ban on smoking in cars is necessary because the confined space increases the level of exposure and the harm caused. Smoking should also be banned in places such as parks, stricter penalties should be imposed on shops that sell cigarettes to children, and the price of tobacco should be increased, the report says. More
(AD Comment ~ Opinion will be split on this issue, between the smokers and non-smokers alike. Perhaps the first likely change will be to band the driver from smoking.)
Drivers could be prosecuted after drinking less than a pint of beer or a glass of wine under a shake-up of drink-drive laws. Transport Secretary Lord Adonis expects an official review of the law to recommend cutting the legal limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg, as on much of the Continent. The Government believes this would prevent up to 65 deaths and 230 serious injuries a year. Lord Adonis said there was ‘a strong case’ for a lower limit. The 80mg limit means a man of average build could drink up to two pints of normal-strength beer or three small glasses of wine and drive while still remaining within the law. But experts warn that much depends on the size, sex, and metabolism of the driver, and whether they have eaten. With a 50mg limit, the average man would be over the limit after a pint of beer or a large glass of wine, while women could be banned after half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine. Sir Peter North, author of the forthcoming review into drink and drug-driving laws, is thought to be considering a lower limit of 20mg for novice motorists and HGV drivers – in reality a zero-tolerance approach with even a trace of alcohol putting drivers over the limit. More
(AD Comment ~ A step in the right direction for road safety. But are those just about on the current limit the drivers that are causing injuries and deaths, as opposed to those well over the limit, that these proposals would have little efeect on?)
The driving test should have compulsory questions on level crossings to cut the number of drivers who take risks on them each year, Network Rail has said. It said there were 14 crashes and 13 deaths last year and 140 near misses between vehicles and trains. The rail operator recorded 3,200 incidents of misuse, but said the actual figure was likely to be higher. Network Rail said motorists were “too often playing Russian roulette with a 200-tonne train” – and losing. Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher said test questions would help drivers start out with good habits on negotiating level crossings, rather than running red lights or dodging around barriers. “I’m confident that lives will be saved if motorists learn how to safely use level crossings from the day they pass their test,” he said. Andrew Howard, AA head of road safety, said a train hitting a vehicle on a level crossing was “the single biggest risk of a catastrophic incident on the railway”. He added: “Level crossings are one of the few places where one motorist’s irresponsibility can affect the safety of many, many people. More information and videos
(AD Comment ~ As the videos show, most problems on the crossings are due to poor attitudes. More education/penalties needs to be in place, as a crash could cause a huge incident and loss of many lives.)
Motorisits are being fined for parking with their engines running under a new scheme aimed at reducing polution. A council has told traffic wardens to issue £20 penalty notices to drivers who keep their engines on after pulling over – and the charge could double to £40 if it is not paid quickly. Anyone found to have their engine running “without reason” could be fined under the scheme, run by North Lincolnshire Council. The move has been billed as an attempt to reduce pollution from car exhausts, but angry motorists said the fines were “petty” and a waste of resources. Nigel Humphries, a spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, said: “It’s just an absolutely ridiculous money-making scam. “What business is it of the council whether we leave our engines running or not while we are stationary. “Engines do not use much fuel when they are idling. This is an insignificant and inappropriate use of resources. “Better to warn drivers that getting out of the car while the engine is running is not the brightest idea because someone might steal it. In these days of council expenditure cuts they should have better things to worry about.” North Lincolnshire Council insisted wardens would only issue penalty notices as a last resort if drivers refused to co-operate. A spokesman said: “All motorists found to have left their engine running without reason will be in the first instance asked by a council officer to switch their engine off. “The council would not target motorists who leave engines running for just a few seconds. More
(AD Comment ~ Just another stealth tax on motorists. Is this a move to really cut polution, or just to get more revenue int the coffers?)
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