February 24, 2010
Filed under: Motor Insurance — Alan @ 10:19 am
Up to 36,000 parents that are strapped for cash are committing fraud by listing their children as a secondary driver on motor policies in order to reduce their car insurance premiums.
This scam, which is illegal, has become more popular in light of the economic downtown, and is hurting the insurance industry according to figures that were released today.
While most think of it as a ‘tiny white lie’ prompting the high number of offenders, it is actually a serious offence that is referred to by insurance companies as fronting.
Over the past two years the amount of fronting cases have almost doubled as drivers who need to save money have looked into drastic ways that they can reduce their monthly premiums. Ironically, as this action is actually insurance fraud it is tacking on average another £30 to the policies of drivers who do have properly issued insurance.
Insurers believe that up to 36,000 parents may participate in the fraud according to a survey and research completed by the Motor Insurance Bureau and Aviva.
Fronting is actually defined as an instance in which an older and more experienced driver is listed as the main driver of a vehicle, although the car actually belongs to a higher risk and younger driver that is only listed as a named driver on the insurance premium.
By listing the younger driver as a partner or spouse parents can knock down the overall costs of insurance even more.
February 23, 2010
Filed under: Eco Driving — Alan @ 5:22 am
Do you worry about the environment and the ways in which you can help reduce your carbon footprint?
Are you under the impression that taking public transport over driving your car lowers the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that you create?
You may be surprised to find that taking public transport has a lot of hidden emissions that increase the ‘tailpipe tally’ which is calculated by the amount of fossil fuels used on a journey.
A study was undertaken by Environmental Engineers, Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath at the University of California at Davis in which they calculated the ‘tailpipe tally’ to get a clear view of the environmental costs of transport.
Their paper is published in the Environmental Research Letters, of Britain’s Institute of Physics Journal. They based their research on United States lifestyles and technologies.
To test automobile performance they used a Toyota Camry Saloon, Chevrolet trailblazer SUV and the Ford F-150. For aircraft testing they tested the Boeing 747 and 737 and the Embraer 147 for different aircraft benchmarks.
It may be more environmentally sound to drive a SUV into a city rather then take the train, you need to factor into the journey the amount of occupied seats and the carbon cost of the train or SUV.
The use of fuels to generate energy to power trains can change the carbon output dramatically. The Boston metro system uses 82% of fossil fuels to power their trains, whereas the San Francisco metro system only gains 49% of their electricity from fossil fuels. The ‘tailpipe tally’ does not take into account the emissions released from transport buildings or their maintenance.
Another factor not considered when adding up the numbers to see which mode of transport releases the higher amount of gas emissions, is the seat occupancy. A saloon or four-wheel-drive that is fully occupied releases less gas emissions per travelled kilometre then a train that is only occupied at a quarter.
Once you have a full understanding of the environmental cost of each different transport you should be able to make an environmentally sound decision on which type of transport you should invest in at which time.
February 22, 2010
Filed under: DVLA, Drivers — admin @ 12:16 pm
If you haven’t replaced your paper driving licence with a photocard then here is a step by step guide on how to do it online. One nice feature of this is that if you have a recent passport then they can use the photograph stored for that so no new photos to send in.
Filed under: Motoring Trvia, Road Safety — Alan @ 5:21 am
The Thai police force has adopted an unusual scheme aimed at lowering the number of drink driving deaths.
They have set up a series of fake car crash scenes, complete with smashed up cars and “dead bodies” intended to highlight the consequences of driving while drunk.
February 19, 2010
Filed under: Motor Insurance — Alan @ 9:44 am
According to highly respected breakdown and motor insurance company the AA, the number of times ordinary motorists are being pulled over by police in cases of mistaken identity is on a steep upward curve.
The motoring institution says that police are pulling people over to check if they are driving with a viable licence and are then subject to scrutiny about their identity. Not that these members of the motoring public are convicts on the run, simply that police number plate recognition technology is wrongly identifying the vehicles ID.
The AA say they are receiving approximately 20 calls a week from various police authorities asking for confirmation of insurance as quite often these drivers with mistaken identity and a genuine licence actually do not have insurance.
This techno slip is proving to be pretty successful in inadvertently catching those on the roads without proper insurance.
February 16, 2010
Filed under: Eco Driving — Alan @ 5:30 am
The M4 in South Wales will soon become known as a ‘hydrogen highway’ with work beginning on a network of alternative fuelling stops that will be stretched out between Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport.
Under the new scheme, the region will be one of the first to premier a greener way to travel by vehicle. The idea behind the transportation concept is to have only hydrogen fuel powered cars on the M4 by the close of 2015, which will only emit water vapour instead of carbon emissions.
In fact, Wales has already been chosen as a LCEA or Low Carbon Economic Area for low-carbon fuel and hydrogen technologies that are under development, such as bio-methane and natural gas.
Soon with the new link, South Wales will bring alternative fuel to many other routes that are among some of the most driven in the UK, such as Swindon, the Midlands, Bristol, and London. Along the routes will be hydrogen, bio-methane, and compressed natural gas filling points, as well as plenty of electric plug in facilities.
The reason for this is because while hydrogen is the most available element in the atmosphere, in order to propel an engine, electricity must be used to separate it from other elements like oxygen.
Cardiff director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James stated that the scheme is a wonderful idea, but that only renewable energy should be converted into hydrogen fuel.
Wales Assembly Environment Secretary, Jane Davidson, stated that Wales will be the trailblazer in propelling the use of hydrogen technology.
February 12, 2010
Filed under: DVLA — Alan @ 6:32 am
In the past four years thousands of vehicles were stolen using blank documents that were obtained from the DVLA illegally.
Police were able to recover about ten faked log books every week, but there are around 130,000 blank books that were taken in 2006 missing.
The Association of Chief Police Officers stated that over 11,000 cars that were valued at over £13m have been faked so that stolen cars can be sold as in their place as legitimate vehicles.
Mark Hooper, the Detective Chief Inspector from the APCO crime intelligence service said that they are working along with the DVLA to get to the bottom of the theft of the vehicle registration documents.
Hooper continued to say that the victims are innocent motorists, but there are a few simple steps that the public can take so that they are protected.
The DVLA website has published a list of serial numbers that were within the stolen log books so that the public can be on guard and check the blank registration certificate numbers when they purchase a vehicle.
February 11, 2010
Filed under: Car Manufacturers, Motor industry — admin @ 3:51 pm
Less than 72-hours after releasing betting on the next automaker to issue a major recall, bookmaking company Paddy Power were forced to pay out yesterday on Honda after the car-making giant announced a widening of its recall due to potentially deadly air bags.
Honda were considered relative outsiders on the bookmakers list and were available at long odds of 16/1. Scores of shrewd punters took advantage of the bookies generous odds triggering a payout in excess of €7,000.
Paddy Power said “We didn’t expect another recall to follow so soon after Toyota’s announcement. That said, we obviously were caught napping and fully deserved to have our pants taken down. Needless to say we’ll be keeping a very close eye on this betting moving forward”
Paddy Power continue to take bets on the next car manufacturer to issue a major recall (without Toyota and Honda). Japan’s sixth largest automaker Mitsubishi Motors is now the bookies 4/1 favourite followed by Nissan at 6/1 and Daihatsu and Mazda at 8/1.
Next Car Company to recall?
4/1 Mitsubishi Motors
6/1 Nissan
8/1 Daihatsu
8/1 Mazda
10/1 Volvo
10/1 Audi
12/1 Hyundai
12/1 Ford
14/1 Dodge
14/1 Fiat
16/1 Volkswagon
16/1 Vauxhall
18/1 BMW
20/1 Chrysler
20/1 Mercedes-Benz
33/1 Daewoo
33/1 Alfa Romeo
40/1 Hummer
50/1 Skoda
80/1 Ferrari
Filed under: Car Manufacturers — Alan @ 6:59 am
Reports from Toyota suggest that the Japanese company will soon make an announcement regarding its Prius hybrid and the possibility of a large recall due to brake problems.
The car giant who currently is the largest in the world has maintained that they have not come to a final decision regarding the hybrid yet, although American car dealers have already been contacted.
The brake defect affects the new Prius models, out of which there are about 5000 in the UK that were made along with their American and Japanese counterparts at the Tsusumi Toyota plant.
At this point, it is known that a repair is needed to the software systems that allow the brakes on the models to be controlled properly, and will take around a half an hour to be completed at dealership.
At the moment, the car makes has been forced to recall over eight million units worldwide due to problems with the accelerator jamming and/or sticking.
Additionally, there have been separate reports that Toyota has instructed United States dealers to begin repairs on Prius vehicles that are still located in their lots.
The announcement regarding the official action plan is expected to come soon.
Japanese and United States Prius drivers have issued complaints that brakes only start working after a slight delay, which Toyota claims can easily be fixed if the software programming is changed.
The delay causes a lag as the car switches from electric motor brakes and petrol engine brakes, which is actually the key to increasing the high mileage capabilities of the hybrid.
February 10, 2010
Filed under: Classic Cars, Events, Motorsport — admin @ 9:47 pm
The Milano-Senremo Cup will be taking place for the eighth time from Friday March 12th to Sunday 14th March 2010.
This historic three-day spectacle invites people to register their vehicles and show them off to visitors and fellow drivers before battling it out to lift the trophy at the end. On the first day of the event, the cars are checked at the world famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza racetrack before taking part in a parade to Piazza del Duomo where they go on display before the race itself.
The action then kicks off the next day when the motors depart from Milan bright and early at 08:00 local time. The cars make their way towards Pavese and Lomellina before travelling through Imperia and arriving at their destination of Sanremo when the sun sets.
The racetrack at Monza was created in 1922 and is about a half hour drive from Milan.
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