fancyAcar Blog

We like anything to do with cars and if you're a learner, driving instructor or just someone who needs help with a motoring query, you're going to like us too!

[fancyacar-blog]

The non drip petrol nozzle invention - A joke or a necessity?

When you go to the petrol station to fill up your car, do you find that the petrol drips from the nozzle, staining your clothes and the ground? No? Thought not, never happened to me either. I thought that it was common sense to shake the nozzle a little before taking it out completely, thus preventing any surplus petrol from dripping out the nozzle.

Well someone has come up with an invention that is likely to save your clothes and the loss of half a billion litres of petrol a year. To be honest it is a good idea, I never knew that those little drops that fall out the nozzle after filling up could account to so much loss.

A company from Canada have come up with a nozzle drip retainer that looks a little like the mesh filter you find at the end of your basin taps. Forecourts just need to attach this to the ends of the fuel nozzles and then no more leaks or stained clothes, simple.

Unfortunately at this time there is no new information on when forecourts will be adding these to the pumps as the inventors are still looking for a buyer to produce this product. If it saves some fuel and the environment, then I hope they can find a buyer soon.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the article though, I never knew that this was such an issue. I’ve always given the nozzle a good shake before replacing it, whereas others I have noticed just keep the pump upright until it has been placed back to its holder. Other people suggest having the same system that is used all over the world where you specify the amount you want and just that is filled into your tank.

It has been noted that this non drip nozzle attachment has been used in America for some years but there was a problem in the UK regarding the VAT, so they were not introduced here. As innovative as this sounds, we will have to wait a while until this is available. In the meantime I urge everyone to get their money’s worth of petrol by shaking the nozzle and waiting a few seconds before hastily putting it back.

[fancyacar-blog]

The breathalyser is now part of the mandatory driving kit for France

Most tourists that drive abroad on holiday will know that all countries differ in what they expect you to carry as part of your holiday driving kit. Well France has decided to add one more item to their growing kit list - a breathalyser.

Currently to drive on French roads you need to have:

A luminous safety jacket

A warning triangle

Headlamp converters for driving on the right

A GB sticker or number plate with an EU logo

Unfortunately though, the French drink diving limit is 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, equivalent to a large beer or glass of wine while in the UK, the limit is 80mg. However for drivers there are two approved tests; one that costs £3 and one that is more than £100. The cheap three pound test is a blow in the bag test and the more expensive is a digital test.

If a driver is caught without a breathalyser, they face a fine of £9 and the new law comes into force in November 2012. The total cost of the mandatory kit now comes in at a total cost of £40. The mandatory road kit is for everyone, tourists and residents alike. If you are caught above the alcohol limit you will be fined £108 if it is between 50mg – 80mg and you'll incur six penalty points. If you are over 80mg then you risk a £3,626 fine, lose your licence and a prison sentence of up to two years.

The point of carrying a breathalyser is so you can test yourself before getting behind the wheel of the car. So you could potentially be saving yourself a fine, penalty points and a prison sentence. You can also get a £108 fine for not carrying the jacket, warning triangle, headlamp converters and the GB sticker.

Also since January 2012, satnavs with the ability to detect speeding cameras were banned in France. If caught using one you could be fined £1,208 even if it was not being used!

Although all countries have their own specific requirements, here are some from other countries:

Two triangles

First aid kit

Fire extinguisher

Yellow chalk

Accident forms

Replacement bulbs

Winter tyres

I welcome this move as many people forget how much they have drank or feel like they are okay to drive when they are not, now they will know for sure if it’s safe to drive or whether someone else should take over.

[fancyacar-blog]

Audi e-bike - The electric bicycle that can travel at 50mph with lots of gadgets

For years cyclists have taken to the roads as a way to save money on transport, not only because a bicycle is cheaper than a car but it can also beat queues of traffic. Bicycles do not require an MOT, road tax or insurance so there is less maintenance too. All you need is a helmet, a bike chain (for parking) and a spare wheel or puncture set.

Well cycling is about to change as Audi has just revealed plans to launch a bicycle that could land you a speeding ticket. Using principles from motor racing design, they have built the Audi e-bike Wӧrthersee. It is unique as there are many modern gadgets that you won’t find on a standard bike but most impressive of all is it can achieve top speeds of 50mph! Not bad for a bicycle, right?

Features of Audi’s e-bike Wӧrthersee

You can switch to the electric motor to help your tired legs, reaching speeds of 50mph

Five cycling modes including just using the muscles in your legs or pedaling with support of the electric motor

Touch screen on-bike computer to control speed

Connect to a computer using a smartphone

Helmet has an inbuilt camera that can be used to upload to the internet via smartphone

You can view status reports from Facebook via the display

Different modes for the wheels can be set for performing tricks, sports or just general cycling

LED light strips can be found around the frame, Audi’s recognisable light signature

Easy seat height adjustment from a push of a button

Sounds futuristic right? There may be a drawback, according to The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983 (yes they do have one) an electric powered bicycle cannot travel faster than 15mph. I’m not sure if many people are actually aware of this so I’m not sure what will happen to this e-bike. Although the price of the e-bike has not yet been released I would expect it to be very high probably at least a few thousand. You could probably get a good used car for that price but maintenance will also be financially draining unlike the e-bike.

I personally think it’s a step too far; bicycles should remain just that and if they continue to develop innovative designs, then they will eventually be on par with cars. So road tax, insurance and MOT will eventually be needed. Also people who purchase this Audi bike will initially be those who want to flash the cash or show their status, not many people will use them as a form of transport. It seems like we will need to wait for some more information to be released as Audi themselves have not yet put up any information on their website.

[fancyacar-blog]

Petrol pump attendants are back!

Some of us may not remember the days when there were petrol pump attendants that fill up your tank for free saving you time; well now they are set to come back with Shell recruiting new staff to help customers fill up at around 300 petrol stations. A few years ago petrol stations started to put up self service petrol pumps, where you fill up and also pay at the same time. This saved motorists time so they don’t have to go into the shop to pay for their petrol. Although some people have tried it, it is not very favoured with many finding it hard to accept non-human interaction.

The reason Shell have decided to re-introduce pump attendants is mostly to do with customer loyalty - they think that customers will keep coming back to them to save a little on time. In reality I don’t think that is the case as Shell tends to be one of the costliest places to fill up. Not only will Shell be filling up your car with fuel but they will be able to carry out basic maintenance checks to ensure optimum car performance. Oil levels and car tyre pressure can be checked for free by AA trained staff in the future.

Funnily enough many forecourts around the world already operate with pump attendants on hand free of charge in most cases. For the price we have to pay for fuel in this country, I’m surprised it took so long for someone to think of this; England is one of the countries where fuel is ridiculously priced.

Some people have been rather sceptical about this attracting more loyal customers. It has been rumoured that the real reason behind this is because of the amount of fuel theft that has been taking place. There have been many drivers filling up on fuel and driving off without paying, could this be really the reason behind it?

I however welcome this new plan, as an avid traveller many countries I have travelled to have this practice in place. In most countries this service is free whereas in others a small tip is customary. There are even some countries where I have tried to fill up my tank and found out it is illegal to do it yourself; an attendant has to do it for you. If anything I think this new plan will be interesting and I hope that other forecourts follow suit. Take for example when you are going out for a nice dinner, the woman is nicely dress, hair and makeup perfected and the weather is bad, windy etc, it saves you having to worry about your hair or your dress blowing in the wind. You can sit in the comfort of your own car in winter and mothers do not have to worry about leaving children in the car or having to drag them inside to pay.

[fancyacar-blog]

10 best selling cars in the UK for 2012

I was very surprised to hear that new car sales have risen this year by 3.3%. Actually I was a little shocked to hear that that most car sales were from private buyers. With the price of petrol and cost of living skyrocketing, I am bewildered that so many people would even think of purchasing a brand new car. Surely everyone knows that brand new cars are ridiculously overpriced? You lose thousands of pounds just by driving off the forecourt!

Nearly 143,000 cars were registered this April, an increase of 1.4% during the same time last year. If car sales continue, 2 million cars could be sold by 2013, the first in many years.

Some of the reasons that may have caused car sales to increase? Many car manufacturers are offering longer warranties compared to five years ago. Instead of the standard three years, you can get five and seven year warranties now. Better as standard features are now growing, long gone are the days when you listen to music through cassettes, now CD’s and iPod connections are the norm. There are better offers now too, interest free options, loans and incentives such as free insurance or breakdown cover.

Best selling cars for 2012

Ford Fiesta

Vauxhall Corsa

Ford Focus

Vauxhall Astra

BMW 3 Series

Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Polo

Nissan Qashqai

Vauxhall Insignia

Fiat 500

I am a little surprised by these cars as I wouldn’t class most of them as cheap or affordable but saying that it looks like they have been bought by older people who have got the money to spend. Younger people tend to go for Renault Clio’s, Nissan Micra and Peugeot’s as they are smaller and cheaper to run. Ford has been the best seller for a few years so it’s no surprise that it is once again the number one car for this year too.

Well I suppose there are still people out there who are not worrying about the economy and still have jobs to go to, me personally I would wait until the country was in a better shape before buying a new car and even then, I would really have to ask myself if it was worth it too. Buying a nearly new car is just as good, you can get more for your money.

For example a colleague of mine was set on a buying a brand new Range Rover but it cost in excess of £25,000. She waited until her current Range Rover needed upgrading; it was over 10 years old. When she went back to the showroom, the car she liked was selling for £10,000 less! Well the reason was because it was an ex-demonstration car but hardly had any miles on it so they were selling it for a knock down price; needless to say she snapped up her bargain and hasn’t looked back.

[fancyacar-blog]

Cash for crash buses

So you’ve heard of cash for crash crimes that involve cars but now this has extended to buses as well. Scammers are now creating made up passengers to claim for compensation for injuries and stress. This crime wave is costing the economy billions every year as the majority of claims are made fraudulently.

A recent case has been made public when an Audi purposely drove into the side of a bus and a total of 36 fake claims were made. The organisers of this crime are said to belong to an underworld gang. Many accidents are staged nowadays to attempt getting money from insurance companies. As the recession is still leaving a devastating trail, people are resorting to fraud in order to survive. Of course this is wrong because they do not understand how cash for crash crime is affecting all of us.

Cash for crash crimes, how they affect you?

As a result of these fraudulent claims, insurance premiums raise for everyone as there are losses to be recovered in the insurance industry. Mechanics get more business thus drive up their prices, therefore smaller garages and business also have to put up their rates for competition. Bogus claims companies keep cropping up due to demand for their services, leaving many innocent and unsuspecting people who are genuinely hurt claiming for compensation but take their money instead.

Out of the whole of the European Union, the UK has the highest claims for whiplash with a 70% rise in claims during the past six years; funnily enough we have less car accidents than the whole of Europe. GPs have warned that 25% of the 600,000 claims that are put forward each year are either fake or over diagnosed. It is thought that it costs the economy £2billion a year in compensation alone. Strangely enough people who are involved in minor accidents are the ones most likely to claim for over the top compensation claims.

Five years ago, the average for car insurance was just over £300; it has now more than tripled to approximately £971. The transport secretary is encouraging all young drivers and women to have the black box fitted that will reduce premiums by half. I don’t see cash for crashes stopping anytime soon as there is too much financial pressure so criminal gangs are able to get away with this crime easily.

It may be worth re-thinking black box car insurance to see if you can save money; it would be a shame to discard black box insurance completely if you could save even a little money. If people suspect someone of being involved in this crime, they should do their duty and report them - you could save lives.

[fancyacar-blog]

Carkoon, the most advanced car seat protection or just a marketing ploy?

We all want what's best for our children and like we all know, rear facing car seats are the safest for young children. Currently car seats can vary in price starting from as little as £50 to £250. When I had to buy one for my first child, I went for the best one that was available at that time (MaxiCosy) together with the base for £120 and it was highly rated by Which magazine which gave me more confidence. It made life so much easier but if I didn’t have a budget then there was also one for over £200. Usually babies use their first car seat until they are around one years old so it would've been a silly price to pay for a car seat that would be used for only a year.

There isn't much difference when it comes to choosing a car seat as they are all pretty much the same - a harness, sun shade, side impact cushioning and a newborn insert. But if you could have a top of the range car seat, would you? A revolutionary car seat called Carkoon will be available soon but with a whopping price tag of £500. I wonder how many people will actually be queuing up to buy one.

What is Carkoon?

Carkoon is a new car seat for young children; it provides a protective shell around the infant if the vehicle was to be involved in an accident. The bubble also provides 20 minutes of air and is fireproof. One of the main features is it will also alert emergency services should the vehicle be involved in an accident. With a transmitter including the GPS, co-ordinates of the baby and vehicle can easily be tracked down and reached. The seat can also be swivelled round for easy access putting the baby in and taking the baby out unlike other car seats available. There is also an emergency release button to quickly release the child from the car seat if needed to hastily.

Critics have slammed the Carkoon as just another trendy expensive car seat to show off how much money you have and to be honest £500 for a car seat that can only be used for around a year is a little expensive. Also if it is involved in an accident it is useless, you are advised to buy a new one. It is also very unattractive in my opinion as it looks like a torture device that is used for suffocating a baby. Collisions are also more common head on so a rear facing car seat would be unaffected. Also the website for this car seat is a condescending saying that if a mother can have a designer handbag or iPad, then the best car seat should be purchased too. Have they forgotten that we are in a recession, there are hardly enough jobs out there! I personally don't like companies that try and make you feel bad for not purchasing their products. I know many people who lived the high life before but are having to make sacrifices now, so for £499 the Carkoon gets the thumbs down from me.

[fancyacar-blog]

16 year olds would be allowed to drive legally on UK roads

Many teenagers will be delighted to know that in January 2013, a new law will come into effect whereby a 16 year old will be able to drive a micro car. In some European countries, this is already the norm and in France, you are able to drive at the age of 14.

The term micro-car refers to a vehicle smaller than city cars and to comply with the British law, it needs to weigh no more than 350Kg and travel at a maximum speed limit of 28mph. For those who will be turning sixteen in January 2013, it is important to note that although you do not need a conventional driving licence to operate the microcar, you are required to pass a CBT (Compulsory Basic Training), driving theory test and practical as well. There’s no need to worry though because the test will not be as hard as that for getting a proper car licence but you’re still required to have a good awareness of the Highway Code since you’ll be sharing the road with other drivers.

Renault which launched the Twizy 80, powered by an electric motor, is taking advantage of the change in the law and will release a new version of their vehicle, called Twizy 45, which will meet the standards required for a 16 year old car in the UK. The sale price is speculated to be £6200 which is £500 less than its other model capable of speeds upto 80mph. It’s also worth noting that the battery pack for the vehicle needs to be leased and can cost £56 a month on average.

As a first car for a teenage driver, the Twizy seems quite expensive and you’ve yet to add the insurance premiums on top. On average young drivers pay £3000-4000 for car insurance and that means the 16 year old is looking at a whopping £10,000 to get on the roads. In a few years time when the teenager is ready to get a full driving licence, the driving experience will count and lead to a cheaper quote but the fact remains that you’re going to pay a huge amount for car insurance whether you start driving at 16 or any age under 25. This is going to be more appealing for kids who can’t wait to drive and can afford the extortionate costs right the beginning.

Many people don’t like the idea of them having to drive amongst 16 year olds because for one, younger drivers tend to be more careless and cause the most accidents but more importantly, this will create more congestion. People are already frustrated with the amount of traffic jam when going to work and coming back and now that’s going to get even worse when this new law is implemented. The fact that the micro car is smaller than a normal car could see drivers of that vehicle trying to squeeze through just like riders of motorbikes and that’s going to annoy a lot of people.

As the change in the law is imminent, what’s your opinion about it all?

[fancyacar-blog]

Drivers of uninsured and untaxed cars will not be allowed to refuel

The high number of uninsured motorists has become a huge problem in the UK as innocent drivers see significant increase in premiums year after year because insurers have to pay out claims but are not getting their money back. Drastic measures have already been put in place where cars without valid insurance are crashed and those without tax are towed away but that does not seem to be enough to deter the outlaws. So new plans are being proposed to stop drivers from filling up at petrol stations if they are found driving uninsured or untaxed.

Filling stations already have CCTV on their premises and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to make it harder for people to fill up their tanks and drive away without paying. The government therefore plans to link the already installed ANPR to the insurance and tax database so that the go ahead could be given before refuelling can begin. If the driver has not renewed his car insurance or is driving on an expired road tax disc, then he would not be able to fill up as the pump would not work unless unlocked by the filling station attendant.

This new proposal will force drivers to comply with the current laws because if someone’s licence plate is flagged for any reason, then it would be difficult to obtain fuel and sooner or later, that person will end up with an unusable car. Therefore illegal driving would decrease as a result.

However, a situation where someone is being refused petrol can lead to a more hostile working environment for filling attendants who already suffer abuse due to high fuel costs. This will create a stressful working atmosphere for these workers as they will have no choice other than to put up with the verbal abuse although in some cases there might be violence involved as well. In this day and age where people are still being made redundant because of the recession, filling attendants will find themselves in a very difficult situation to implement the proposed plans because for one, it seems they will have to act as law enforcers trying to explain to drivers that they need to have valid insurance and tax before being allowed to fill up and second having an extra level of duty added to their job specification on top of operating the counter for food & drinks etc.

It is also worth noting that sometimes mistakes happen and your insurance details are not passed over to the Motors Insurance Bureau (MIB) in a timely manner. There have been a lot of cases where cars have been pulled up by the police because records show that the car was uninsured when in fact the car insurance company failed to update their records and pass this onto the MIB. This will create a lot of frustration for genuine motorists.

Of course, there are also alternative ways that people can use to get fuel. For example, instead of taking your car, you could just fill up a can although many filling stations have a limit of 1 can per person but you can always go to 5 different places and you’re all set. There’s also the problem with attaching a number plate that’s all insured and taxed onto an illegal car which people will resort to if they are being prohibited from purchasing fuel. Well, we just have to wait and see now what the outcome will be.

[fancyacar-blog]

Thieves posing as potential buyers to steal your car and ship to other countries

Car thefts have been occurring since they were first made in 1894 but as technology advances and car manufacturers continue looking for new ways to prevent thefts, are our cars really safe? Many cars nowadays, especially top of the range ones, have a GPS tracking system so if they are stolen they can be easily tracked down. Other security measures are cars that need pin numbers in order for the driver to operate it and also the good old fashioned alarm system.

Thieves nowadays are getting more and more sophisticated and disabling a car alarm is child’s play. They are now able to disable the GPS tracking device too so now the police have no leads to try and get it back. International crime gangs are now targeting vehicles and selling them off abroad; it seems like stealing a car, forging paperwork and then shipping it off abroad to be re-sold is cheaper that buying abroad in the first place. In some countries it is cheaper to buy a car abroad as their own valuation system is too high and often cars are valued at silly prices. For example in one country a Nissan Micra will easily sell for £10,000+ even though it is 5 years old whereas in the UK it costs less than £10,000 new.

A common country that thieves are shipping stolen cars to at the moment is Uganda. They are usually sought after by warlords, criminal gangs and rich politicians. Mostly cars that are sought after are black in colour and are top of the range but it's not unheard of to have a lesser known car shipped abroad. There are reports of buyers in Africa scouring Autotrader and other car classifieds to find the car that they want. A man not too long ago advertised his Range Rover sport worth over £50,000 and after a few days it was stolen when a test driver used it as a ploy to distract the owner whilst he drove away in it.

How are they getting away with it?

After the car is stolen, it is usually given a new identity including a new licence plate so it can't be tracked, also it needs new or forged documentation specifying things like; make, model, year of manufacture and value. In some cases they are changed so that the car seems to be worth less than it is by changing the year of manufacture and the value so that suspicion is not raised. Sometimes cars are left in a storage facility for a few months so that they have time to 'cool off', then an identical car that has been involved in car crash will have the details cloned so that they can use it on the stolen car. Even by doing all this it is not guaranteed that it will be plain sailing so officials also need to be bribed. Funnily enough the crime syndicate running this car thieving system are men of Pakistani origin who are contacted by people in Africa.

Although Africa is known to be a hotspot at the moment, other places such as Afghanistan and Libya are also involved in the importation of stolen cars - they are stolen as part of a ploy in money laundering to fun violence and purchasing weapons.

Unfortunately there is little you can do to prevent your car from being stolen as thieves will either come up to your door and demand the keys or just steal it whilst you’re distracted. The only thing you can do is hand over your keys and walk away, otherwise you might get hurt by those criminals.

[fancyacar-blog]

Foreign drivers pushing up car insurance in the UK

We all try to save money when we insure our cars but for the last few years the cost of insurance has risen and there is no sign that it’s likely to stabilise anytime soon. Years ago if you were a loyal customer with a year or more of no claims then you would be rewarded with a cheaper annual car insurance quote; now you’re lucky to even save £10. Drivers who have years if not decades of driving experience are also being told that car insurance renewal quotes are going up by at least £25 a year or as much as £80 in some cases. A loophole that has been around for some time has been causing problems for our car insurance industry lately - immigrants usually from Eastern Europe register their cars in their home country and purchase insurance at a small annual cost. Around £100 compared to £700 in the UK. As long as they do not live abroad for more than six months at a time, then the insurance policy stays valid. So every six months they go on day trips outside the UK and keep the boarding cards as evidence that they have not broken their insurance policy rules. Another problem is that TFL cannot recognise their number plates as they are foreign so more often than not, they can get away with driving in the capital and avoid paying the congestion charge. The same goes for parking tickets, millions of lost revenue is contributed to the fact that foreign drivers using licence plates that are from abroad are harder to track. Police do not have the time to chase them down with foreign checks so they are let off as there is insufficient evidence to say that they are driving without insurance. 30,000 claims a year are made that involve accidents with foreign drivers that are not covered to drive in the UK. This is what is making annual car insurance prices go up each year. There doesn’t seem to be any way of pursuing drivers who still use their foreign plates to drive in the UK as it is legal. EU and EEA citizens are legally allowed to drive in the UK until they are 70 years old so unless the EU decides to change the law regarding foreign drivers driving in the UK, they are completely legal to drive here. The question should be if we are part of the EU how come overseas motorists pay less for their insurance than we do?

[fancyacar-blog]

Cheaper car insurance for women will cease to exist

One of the plus sides of being a female driver is the cheaper car insurance quotes they get compared to male drivers but a new ruling by the European Court of Justice has agreed that this is discrimination and should be banned. As of December 21st next year, it will be illegal to do a risk assessment based on gender, it also applies to pensions and health insurance.

As the UK is part of the EU, it will be forced to follow the same practices that are in place in the other European countries such as France, Germany and Spain. When the change comes into force car insurance for women will rise by a staggering 25% but car insurance for men will reduced by 10%. On average a young female driver pays £1,600 in car insurance whilst a man of the same age will pay around £2,700; the price difference is because statistics show that young men are ten times more likely to have a serious accident, 25 times more likely to commit a serious driving offence and twice as likely to claim on their insurance.

One of the UK’s largest quote provider for women, Sheila’s Wheels, will be the most affected as they are one of the only car insurance providers that offer substantial savings for women, although they have to quote for men too. They have said that they will not change their marketing and will continue to advertise for cheap car insurance for women.

Those who will be the most affected are women who are under the age of 26 though driving experience and no claims will also be taken into account. No-one knows for sure how this ruling will affect car insurance in the future so companies have until December next year to re-write their policy.

One worry that that been noted is that some insurers may pull out and stop offering car insurance to younger people which would lead to less competition and drive the cost of car insurance up. Leading motoring organisations have also warned that even more motorists will be forced to stop driving as car insurance will become too expensive to buy, others have warned that an increase in uninsured drivers taking to the road may also increase as many will rather take the risk than pay for insurance they cannot afford.

[fancyacar-blog]

Driving test scam

Learning to drive isn't so hard but you may need a few extra lessons before you are confident in sitting the practical driving test. The theory test is easier to pass as it consists of multiple choice questions and combined with some driving experience, the answers are simple enough as you understand the questions better. Driving test fraud has been rife for some years now but in the last year alone it has increased by a whopping 400%; impersonators are paid up to £2,000 to sit a test. £1,000 for the theory and another £1,000 for the practical driving test. In 2004 over 160 cases of impersonation were reported to the DSA but in the last year cases that have been reported are already reaching 800. The DSA believes that many drivers on the road today could have obtained their licence illegally but without enough evidence and manpower behind the investigation, it can be hard to prove. The biggest offenders are foreigners who are Eastern European, Asian and African with some impersonating as much as 20 different people. Women who wear the veil are also required to remove it so that their identity can be confirmed before sitting a test but an investigation found that most places did not check the identity of the veiled female driver before the test took place. Some impersonators have been found to do this as a full time job earning them thousands a year; one such man who was convicted was found to have £17,000 in cash at their residence with another £150,000 in the bank whilst also claiming benefits. This scam has become a problem in many areas of Britain with driving test centres calling for action to be taken and stronger checks to be made. Another reason why this scam has to stop is because having a driving licence can help claim benefits, open bank accounts and get credit cards. So on top of committing driving fraud, some drivers can go on to become benefit fraudsters too. Another suspected fraud is because the theory test can be taken in many different languages, some people have hidden Bluetooth inside and received outside help in answering the questions. Currently theory tests cost £31 and the practical driving test £62 but with many people willing to pay thousands for someone to impersonate them, it would seem that the costs of the tests are irrelevant. Impersonators can charge what they like and there are people out there who are willing to take a risk and use them. Not only are they dangerous for other drivers on the road but they can also cause accidents that cause fatalities to them and their families as well. If you know someone who may have committed fraud by impersonation, report them to the DVLA now.

[fancyacar-blog]

Uninsured cars to be crushed under new laws

Nearly 5 years ago in 2006, Labour tried to enforce a law that would enable The Department of Transport (DfT) to seize all uninsured vehicles and have them crushed even though they are not being driven. The proposal never went through and the Road Safety Act remained the same - the new coalition government aim to change this and hope to save current motorists around £30 in annual insurance premiums. DfT estimate that around 160 people are killed every year from uninsured drivers and further 23,000 are injured. You are allowed to keep a vehicle that is uninsured legally if you declare it as SORN (Statutory Off Road Declaration) but many people find that it is too much of a hassle and decide not to bother. By declaring a vehicle as SORN, you can also apply for a refund on the vehicle tax that you have paid. You can make a SORN online, through the post or over the phone and it only takes a few minutes to do if you have the correct paperwork and are the registered keeper of the vehicle. Under the new proposal, uninsured vehicle owners will be given written notification that the vehicle will be seized by a certain date unless the £100 fine is paid and the vehicle owner get’s the vehicle insured by that date. Even if the fine has been paid but insurance has not been sought, the vehicle will be taken and crushed. At present the DVLA do monthly checks to see whether owners are insuring their vehicle after car insurance expires. Those that fail to do so receive a warning and a possible fine of up to £5,000 unless they adhere to the law and get car insurance. Many car owners who stop using their vehicles for whatever reason are mistaken in thinking that if they do not use it and it stays out of sight in a garage or on a private driveway that the vehicle does not need to be declared as SORN but the current laws state that it does. Motoring agencies suggest that this new proposal will not work and will just catch out unsuspecting motorists that have been on holiday, admitted to hospital or other reasons that prevent them to renew their car insurance. There are many people mainly students that have a ‘summer car’ that they use only when they come home from university; this will mean that the car will either have to be insured for a whole year rather than the times you need it or declared as SORN each and every time that the car is not used. As we know the new budget is very restricting and with even more budget cuts likely to be imposed, it's not sure whether or not the government will have enough money to publicise this new proposal.

[fancyacar-blog]

Cost of speed awareness courses to increase to fund speed cameras

As the government continues to find ways to increase revenue, one of the ways that this can be done is to penalise bad drivers for speeding and accidents. Currently if caught speeding, you face three penalty points on your licence and also a fine of £60. New measures will be brought in to encourage motorists who speed to go on speed awareness courses instead as this will generate more income to keep speed cameras on as funding cuts mean that there will be many that will be switched off. Currently speed awareness courses range in price depending on where you live; on average you can expect to pay £70 and it usually consists of 6 hours of workshop and classroom based teaching to show drivers the dangers of speeding and the consequences. Most courses are only a day but some places can split it to two half day classes. The new move will mean that the price for speed awareness course will rise to £100 if not more for a one day workshop on speeding. Soon drivers who break the speed limit by going up to 10mph over will be given the choice to go on speed awareness courses rather than being fined and given penalty points. Those who break the speed limit by more than 15mph will still be fined and given points on their licence. Many younger motorists will welcome this move as paying £100 for attending speed awareness programmes will be better than receiving penalty points. New drivers who have held their licence for less than two years receive double the amount of penalty points and find that they are soon disqualified from driving but having the option to pay £100 for a day’s course will be welcomed by many. Repeat offenders will not be given the chance to go on the speed awareness course and will have to pay the £60 fine and receive 3 penalty points. As our coalition government has cut the budget for road safety, this has been seen as the only way to generate stable income to cover the cost of running and maintaining speed cameras. With cameras already turned off in parts of the country such as Oxfordshire, councils are confident that with this new proposal, cameras turned off due to budget cuts will soon be turned on again. Internet forums have already started talking about the new proposal with many branding it as a waste of resources. There have been places nationwide that stopped the use of speed cameras as they found that they did not reduce the amount of accidents. Swindon have found that since they abolished speed cameras, accidents have reduced and roads are safer but research argues that speed cameras save an estimated 800 lives a year.

[fancyacar-blog]

New 3D cameras to check car speed, insurance tax and seatbelt

We know that the government are constantly looking for new ways to improve and catch out bad motorists. New schemes and ideas are discussed on a regular basis but like everything else, research and planning costs money and unless an idea is sure to work, the government will not provide funding. A new speed camera has been unveiled and although it is still at the testing stages, it's set to change the way drivers are caught here and abroad. As you have probably seen in the news thousands of speeding cameras have been taken down across the country as it has been deemed that it was too expensive to run and no longer an efficient way of spending money. Now it seems there is one camera that will do it all. It will be in 3D and it will be able to use licence plate recognition to check insurance, tax, speeding, check if seatbelt is in use and also measure the distance between vehicles to check if they are being tail gated. Costing around £50,000, the camera can run for 8 hours before the need to charge and images and data are automatically sent to computers as they are being captured so any offence can be investigated and dealt with quicker. All data captured that does not show any offences will be destroyed after one month; if the trial in Finland is successful then they will be implemented in the UK as well as other European countries as early as 2013. This is the first camera of its kind to capture everything from speeding to insurance; currently the cameras used in the UK have different cameras for recording different offences. The most commonly spotted camera that is in a bright yellow box is the speed camera; on the motorway other cameras are in place to check tax and insurance are up to date. Also at the moment there are no cameras that take pictures inside a moving vehicle to see if everyone is wearing a seatbelt and it is up to vigilant police officers to spot this offence. The government do not expect this to be another way to fleece motorists of money but simply to deter drivers from committing such offences. These cameras will be harder to spot from some distance away as it is not bright yellow like the current ones. They will be able to capture images from as far as 150ft away. So bearing this in mind, there will be many unsuspecting motorists who will be caught out because they were not able to detect the camera in time.

[fancyacar-blog]

Cash for crash car fraud driving up insurance quotes

Earlier this year it was estimated that insurance quotes would rise by as much as 13%; though most of us were sceptical the majority of drivers found that this was in fact very true. Drivers of all ages saw their premium go up even if they hadn’t made a claim in the last five years. The average price hike on renewal quotes at the beginning of this year was as much as £50. The beginning of 2011 will also see car insurance renewal quotes rise again and this will be the third year that car insurance has gone up. In 2009 car insurance renewal quotes went up by 10%, in 2010 they went up by 13% while 2011 will see quotes rise by as much as 50%! As more and more people struggle to find an affordable car insurance quote, many are simply taking the risk and driving without insurance. Others are being cheekier and staging cash-for-crash car frauds with the possibility of making a quick buck. For every £100 that was claimed for this year, it has cost insurance companies £123; this in turn has caused them to make substantial losses. The only way to recuperate these losses is to drive up the cost of insurance cover. Personal injury claims in the UK are the highest in Europe though we have less accidents each year. This has been fuelled by personal injury lawyers who encourage those who have been in accidents to sue rather than take some painkillers and time off from work. As always it will be new and younger drivers that will face the biggest hike in car insurance cover but the over 40’s age group will also face an increase of up to 30% so it would seem that everyone is being penalised. At the moment there doesn’t seem to be any laws preventing insurance companies for demanding so much money and as it is illegal to drive without insurance, we have no choice but to pay the ridiculous amount of money for cover. Although I do agree that the boy racers and those that have extensive modifications to their cars such as spoilers, tinted windows and alloys are a small minority, they serve no purpose other than ‘bling’ and should be banned. Insurance companies also have a clause stating that all accidents must be reported to them and not handled by you and the other party involved. But what they don’t tell you is that it is far more expensive to go through them and would save your no claims if you and the other party reached a mutual agreement. In one case a driver was involved in a minor accident where the front bumper was dented, the insurance company quoted in excess of £600 for repairs whereas the car manufacturer quoted £200 for the same work carried out. How is that fair?