Rising costs have been exacerbated by a series of tax rises over the past 12 months.  April last year saw a 1.84p rise in fuel duties and another rise of 2p in September.  In January this year there was a 2.5 percent rise in VAT, which meant another rise in petrol costs of about 2.5p.  On top of all this, another rise is scheduled for the first of April; that one would bring the price up another one percent plus inflation.

Both AA and RAC spokesmen have expressed concern that the rise in petrol rates will stretch many families’ budgets to the breaking point, and possibly even trigger another recession.  Motoring strategist Adrian Tink of RAC said that the government should rethink the additional rise, since when it was budgeted last year the cost of petrol was still well under the £1 per litre mark.

The rising prices are already causing strain on businesses and families alike, and the reminder of record highs in summer 2008 is not welcome.  AA research has also indicated that motorists in the U.K. are being hit about five times harder than those in neighbouring European countries.

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In the place of these measures, town halls simply need to erect signs that warn motorists of the upcoming reduced speed limits. Initially the trial zones will be self-enforced, although in the future trials will include speed cameras that can catch motorists who are speeding between zones.

The move comes after a Portsmouth trial in which it introduced a new 20mph limit on all of its streets without using any chicanes or humps to decrease the traffic speeds.

Transport ministers believe that on quiet streets and near schools should have speed limits of 20mph, due to the fact there are pedestrians and cyclists.  However, this statement can also apply to major town routes and roads.

According to road safety minister Paul Clark, the amount of people that are injured or killed on the roads of Britain has decreased by about 40%, leaving Britain with the safest roads globally.  However, he continued to say that there are too many people still being hurt or killed on roads that are near schools and homes.

At the same time, a spokesman for the RAC said that it is right that limits are set on local roads where there are high accident rates, schools, and hospitals but that most motorists will resent blanket reductions, which means the transition should be taken carefully.

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The study found that drivers in their teens up the age of 24 were the most likely to get distracted while driving by popular high tech gadgets such as satellite navigation devices, CD players, and mobile phones.

Out of those surveyed, an astounding 55% of the teens admitted that they had looked away from the road while driving to fiddle with gadgets narrowly avoiding trouble on the road.

It also showed that the two most distracting devices were often the radio or a CD player.  After searching for a song on the radio or a CD player, the largest distraction was trying to use a mobile phone while driving or trying to operate the GPS system.  Following close behind was distraction caused by warning lights on the dashboard or playing with the air conditioning/heating settings.

David Bizley, the director of the RAC, stated that those who are unable to safely operate car devices put not only themselves at risk on the road but also other motorists.    He continued to warn that placing yourself in this situation can be disastrous if the wrong combination of events occurs.

Additional research also indicated that drivers should be looking at hazards on the road instead of depending on their cars to safely navigate the roads for them due to the advancement of GPS systems.

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The cost of motoring for the average Briton fell by about 5% in 2009 according to the RAC, which averages about to be about a £2.30 savings per week for motorists.

The RAC stated that the savings come from an average drop in fuel prices although it is hard to see the fall as fuel prices fluctuated widely throughout the year.

Since last year the RAC estimates that petrol prices fell overall by about ten percent. In particular, diesel fuel fell about 14%.

However, even though the price of petrol fell, the RAC found when it conducted a survey that most car owners still believed that the cost of owning a car had had actually increased, with 45% of those questioned stating they altered their motoring habits to adapt to the increase in costs.

Out of those who responded in this group, 20% said they switched to only using one car in the household, and another 25% stated that they now drove a smaller car.

The report showed that women were twice as likely to have chosen a smaller vehicle in the last year, which can save a motorist up to £750 a year depending on the difference in the downsize

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Those who are younger between the ages of 17 to 24 are the most likely to get pre-occupied, about 56% admitting that they get seriously distracted while driving.

Texting was the most frequent activity that teens admitted to doing while driving, with 26% stating they have texted while driving out of which 4% thought that there was no problem with doing so.

About 15% of other teens stated they have put their makeup on while driving and 20% drove with headphones on so they could listen to music.

The study also went on to look at how these distractions can impair driving performance and how far motorists can travel in a vehicle while their eyes leave the road for only a few seconds to look down or over.

One stunning fact is that in the five seconds it may take you to change a CD, if you know where everything is, at the rate of 70mph your car will have covered two football pitches worth of length without you knowing how vehicles around you are travelling.

At that speed, you would need 96 metres to come to a complete stop which is about as far as three football pitches, but you have already coved the length of two.

RAC director of technical David Bizley stated that it is clear that even though the Government has attempted to limit distractions the message is not reaching drivers as fatalities have almost doubled in just the last three years.

Public service film

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