New research, from car insurance company Confused.com, has revealed that Sat Navs have caused over £203m worth of damage to drivers on UK roads, through accidents caused by misleading directions. With the Department for Transport holding its first ever Sat Nav Summit in March, the issue of misleading Sat Navs has become an ever-increasing problem across the nation.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists is warning that from 1 July this year all drivers visiting France will need to carry a breathalyser kit in their cars, as French drivers will have to. From November there will be an €11 fine for not complying with this. With a start date for the new measure of 1 July 2012, the rules will apply for anyone travelling to or through France by car in the summer holiday season, even just for a day trip.
The number of drivers over the age of 80 in the UK has now topped one million according to information obtained by the Institute of Advanced Motorists following a freedom of information request to the DVLA at the end of January.
If you have no objections to having your driving behaviour constantly monitored, then prepare to be rewarded with a potentially lower insurance premium. Satnav company Tomtom has entered the insurance market through a partnership with insurance broker Motaquote and is providing the technology behind a new insurance product, Fair Play Insurance, which bases premiums on driving behaviour.
A new poll conducted by Continental Tyres Jeremy Clarkson has topped a poll of the Brits motorist would least like to share a driving adventure with. The controversial motoring journalist and TV presenter was rated as the worst person to share a 4×4 drive across the Sahara Desert. Hot on Clarkson’s heels was Katie Price. Prime Minister David Cameron came a close third.
Government proposals to end annual MOTs would put at risk up to 50,000 jobs in the retail motor trade disproportionately hitting apprenticeships, young employees and independent businesses, according to new research by Pro-MOTe.
Tyres & Accessories kick-start to 2012, our January magazine, is now available to subscribers as a virtual paper. Featuring special reports on the motorcycle and agricultural tyre segments, the latest issue of T&A can be read at the touch of a button. Click more to see the first publication of the year.
Despite being the subject of widespread discussion both inside and outside the industry, the much debated MOT proposals are missing from the latest government plans issued as a result of the Road Transport Red Tape Challenge. The lack of further details updating the public and trade of what is happening with the consultation and proposed legislation had particularly annoyed trade bodies such as the IAAF.
Bridgestone Europe has signed an exclusivity agreement to supply tyres to BMW Driving Experience, a programme that provides specialised training programmes to improve driver skills and safety. The tyre manufacturer will fit its tyres to the BMW Driving Experience fleet of BMW 1-Series, 3-Series, X5 and X6 vehicles, in addition to the range of high-performance BMW M models.
HiQ has announced a marketing campaign designed to help educate motorists about multiple changes to the MOT test brought into effect from 1 January, including checks of dashboard warning lights. The fast fit network wants to encourage motorists to speak to their nearest centre manager about the changes when booking their test. Fast fit manager Stuart Carr said that some problems previously deemed “advisory” will now fail the standard MOT test and he wants as many motorists as possible to know more about the changes.
In response to a new French decree, issued on 4 January, Michelin is changing the function of its French market ViaMichelin website and mobile applications. The decree forbids motorists from owning, carrying or using any devices that warn them about speed traps within France. Consequently, road maps and travel itineraries will no longer give the specific location of fixed speed cameras and instead indicate dangerous road sections.
MPs from the Transport select committee today heard of the overwhelming opposition to Government plans to reduce the frequency of MOTs. Bill Duffy, co-ordinator of the Pro-MOTe campaign, supported by a range of motoring organisation, road safety campaigners and industry bodies said scrapping annual testing would be "dangerous, expensive and unwanted".
Even though this winter has been relatively mild compared with the past couple of years, Michelin is expecting a strong increase in cold weather tyre sales in the UK. Staffordshire based newspaper The Sentinel reports the tyre maker is expecting sales of winter tyres to reach the half-million mark this season, some 50 per cent more than a year earlier and more than three times more than three years ago.
It is nice to see that promises of better motoring are amongst the New Year’s resolutions recently made (and possibly already neglected). Fast fitter HiQ questioned 500 drivers about what they intend to change in 2012, and many indicated that an improvement in highway manners is on the cards.
More than nine out of ten people who responded to the Government’s own "red-tape challenge" and who raised the MOT issue opposed proposals to reduce testing frequency, according to DfT papers released today.
The Government consulted the public on vehicle safety and standards as part of its review of road transport regulations in May and June this year. More than three-quarters of respondents raised the issue of the MOT but less than five per cent of those (and less than three per cent of all respondents) supported changing frequency.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
