Berkshire Driving School - BLOG

We have been blogging for quite a while now: 2010 : 2009 : 2008 : 2007 : 2006 : 2005 : 2004

Narrow Escape! (Dec'11)

I missed half a day's work on Wednesday 23 November. I was walking the dog on the Blythewood Estate, an enormous bang emanated form a house about fifty metres away, followed a moment later by a sickening rumble as it almost completely crumbled into a pile of bricks. Others came onto the scene before me to help the couple out of the house and I continued further down the cul-de-sac to return the dog. I drove back the short distance to the scene of the accident but the Police, who had arrived at the scene swiftly, had closed the road due to the possibility of a further explosion due to leaking gas.

I understand the couple who owned the house survived and are recovering despite up to two thirds burns. The house had to be demolished. It can be seen from the pictures that they had a very narrow escape.

The scape-goat for pollution. (Nov'11)

Nitrogen dioxide is found near roads and in cities. City dwellers are more susceptible to coughs and sneezes so nitrous oxide has become the scape-goat. Consequently monitoring stations have sprung up, those mysterious grey or green cabins set a few metres from the road with a tube sticking out of the top These robots constantly monitor this gas and send information alerting authorities when nitrous oxide levels are high. Presumably those individuals who are susceptible to asthma can stay at home until the scare has passed.

Nitrous oxide levels are falling due to the rats nest of pipes found under the bonnets of modern cars which effectively suffocate our engines. These pipes reduce the quantity of fresh air sucked into our engines by diluting it with the exhaust. Effective though this arrangement is at preventing nitrogen dioxide emissions, more fuel has to be burnt to overcome the fact that there is only just enough oxygen in the engine to burn the fuel. This system works well enough on new engines but exhaust gas contains a small percentage of ash and carbon. Inevitably this clogs up the pipes which are supposed to reduce the engine's emissions. The result? lower engine efficiency, more soot from the exhaust pipe and more carbon dioxide being released. A driver can detect this loss of performance after a car has travelled a high mileage. Some of those in the tuning business who operate dynamometers have the view that road cars can lose power after just 20,000 miles and this causes a commensurate increase in fuel consumption.

Unfortunately manufacturers only need to ensure that their cars meet strict standards emission standards when new. The promulgators of the regulations, I feel have not taken the bigger view that the emissions produced in a cars lifetime should be more important. Research on new vehicle emissions is easy pickings. Regulations should really be based upon real life vehicle use and not centred around nitrogen dioxide simply because its concentration is easily monitored.

Nitrous oxide does not build up in the atmosphere. It is too soluble and unstable. It is found in higher concentrations in cities where it is blamed for chest infections. I have always been under the impression that infections were caught from other people. Cities have a high concentration of people. Could this be the main reason for chest infections in cities?

Christmas - already? (Oct'11)

Phew! What a hot day. The Christmas decorations are now being installed on the lamp posts of Ascot High Street. Any day now we'll be seeing summer holiday adverts on TV. Christmas in three months.

Fun on two wheels! (Sep'11)

This year's summer holiday in Florida allowed me to hire an off-road Segway. This futuristic two wheel electric bicycle balances itself so that no forward motion is needed to balance it. This highly manoeuvrable machine has a fair turn of speed and an astonishing ability to climb slopes. I could not find any terrain which it would not tackle. If the price was not so astonishingly high, these adaptable machines would be in everyone's garage.

Buying an economical car (Aug'11)

Special this month - our thoughts on what you should be looking for if you are buying a new car - with an eye on economy

August 2011 blog : click here

Transparency for All! (Jul'11)

I received a parking ticket recently. 'No parking' cones were put on the pavement after I moved off. Naturally I challenged the ticket and I will let you know how I fared. Related to this I came across a newspaper article written by Patrick Hennessy, political editor of the Telegraph. The heading was "Police told to stop milking drivers". The new "transparency" move launched recently has revealed the vast sums taken from drivers. The Freedom of Information laws now force authorities to show whether cameras are used for saving lives or merely cash raisers. With at least one camera raising over £1,000,000 per year one might suspect that some degree of cheating has been going on. Mike Penning, the road safety minister said "We want to stop motorists being used as cash cows. For too long information about speed cameras has been hidden in the shadows. This new data will end that by clearly showing whether a camera is saving lives or just making money"

I mentioned my doubts about moneybox speed cameras in my blog April 2004. I am surprised that it has taken over seven years for legislation to be introduced so this shady practice to be brought to light.

I am not against speed cameras placed to save life. No thinking person would say otherwise. I am pleased, however, how the new 'open government' initiative has permitted us to ensure that motorists will be treated fairly.

From 20 July you will be able to access details on the number of speed traps in your area, the fines they generate and the accident statistics at the sites. See the Department for Transport website.www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/

Sorry Mate, Didn't see you! (Jun'11)

A recent report published by the Institute of Advanced Drivers analysed the contributory factors in hundreds and thousands serious accidents which occurred since 2005, the first year that contributory factors in accidents were recorded. Failing to look properly is, by far the most likely factor in an accident. Surprisingly, exceeding the speed limit is not the main cause of all traffic accident, figuring in just 5.2%. Those who would like to view this document may click here ?

www.iam.org.uk/images/stories/Policy_Research/IAM%20Factors%20in%20Accident%20Report.pdf

No doubt organisations interested in reducing road deaths will be analysing the figures in depth. During the millions of miles I have travelled by car, the few times I have been hit have been due to poor observation on the part of the other driver. On one occasion the driver, who had been following me for several minutes before hitting the rear of my car declared ?Where did you come from??

Where there's smoke? (May'11)

It is thought that youths started a huge forest fire which decimated a large area of woodland to the south of Bracknell. Over a hundred fire engines, together with helicopters were employed to fight the blaze. Traffic was disrupted as miles of roads had to be closed for days and bus routes had to be suspended. Fortunately no lives were lost, although the financial costs of fighting the fire, plus the costs to businesses disrupted by the incident were huge. Those youths who allegedly started the fire proved to be an immense drain on the community.

Where our money goes. (Apr'11)

Salute to P4SSX

What an expensive month! The car needed a replacement gearbox and clutch, front brakes were replaced, I had a few minor body repairs done and I miss-fuelled with petrol. Almost three grand down the tube. I will be working for the minimum wage for some time to come until my credit cards are paid off! Despite the costs, I love my car to bits. She always has plenty in reserve no matter what I ask of her. She is economical when driven with restraint but so fantastic when pushed.

Watchdog shows motorists to be an easy touch.

Private Parking Companies have been the focus of attention in this weeks' BBC 1 Watchdog documentary. Anne Robinson scored a knock-out when interviewing heads of bodies 'monitoring' this band of rogues. The majority of us just pay up when issued with a questionable fine. I myself was forced to do so when the cost of complaining proved prohibitive (See Ealing Comedies Jan,09). Others do not roll over so easily despite the system favouring the issuers of the fines. Those guys know how to play the system. That is their raison d'etre. However my hat goes off for the lady who was issued a parking fine for letting her husband out of the car in a traffic hold up. She beat the system and had the parking fine revoked. If time were money she would still be out of pocket but it does prove that the little guy can successfully take on the big guys. Something rather British about that.

Good time for sign writers

Have you noticed how every little cul-de-sac now has a 20mph speed limit at its entrance? Do we really need to be told that 30 mph is not the best speed when driving down a short cluttered road? These road signs are ugly, expensive and an insult to our intelligence. See my blog Cheap Office Supplies? (Apr'10) Seen we will be getting signs telling us to brake!

Concentration pays

I drove to Essex yesterday and attempted the best fuel economy possible. The average for the 1.5 hour journey was over 70mpg. Returning I got caught in traffic due to the M25 being closed.. The 2 hour journey returned me only 56mpg. Clogged roads cost us a fortune and increase our carbon emissions!

My plea to amend the Euro NCAP crash tests. (Mar'11)

As an Approved Driving Instructor of many years standing I have been rear-ended when carrying out my lawful business and displaying regulatory 'L' plates and even displaying my driving school logos. This usually happens at roundabouts. Law, training or sensibility does not prevent this type of collision.

Unfortunately my clients prefer me to teach in a small car which gets rear ended from time to time.

The European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) crash test is designed to protect the car occupants when crashed into a concrete block. Big heavy cars hit the block with more force so have to have a rigid construction to prevent the bulk of the car from folding up. Unfortunately the drivers of these heavy cars tend not to hit concrete blocks. They have a propensity to hit smaller cars like mine and because small cars are not constructed out of concrete - they squash. Goods vehicles which are not derived from cars need not demonstrate their ability to protect the driver who steers into a concrete block. They tend to hit cars which fold up. A mum anxious to protect her brood might consider driving a truck rather than an off-road vehicle. Even their 4X4s would come off second best in a collision with a truck.

I propose a level playing field - metaphorically speaking. Please could we replace the concrete block in crash tests with an idealised small car? A large vehicle hitting the test rig should not cause the device to jerk forward causing certain injury to imaginary occupants. There are, after all more cars on the road than concrete blocks.

Speed cameras kill! (Feb'11)

In October 2004 and in earlier blogs I commented on the perceived view that speed cameras save lives. I stated that this was contrary to the evidence which showed an increase in the number of pedestrians injured or killed co-incident with the introduction of cameras. I have been infuriated by officials who seem blind to this fact. Do these people hold driving licenses?

If you scroll down to my blog October 2010 "The End of the War on Motorists" you would see that I confidently predicted a reduction in road deaths when cameras were switched off. I was correct. Figures released this month show a reduction of 14% in road deaths between July and September 2010 bringing the total carnage in the twelve months before September to below 2,000. - the lowest since records began!

This is pretty conclusive evidence that cameras have been installed at inappropriate sites, presumably to generate revenue.

Progress - of a sort

This picture appeared in my Blog August 2010. - the 1934 futuristic looking Tatra with a Cd of 0.20. The shape was dictated to allow a high cruising speed. VW recently unveiled the concept XL1 with a Cd 0.19. The ultra modern looking shape reduces fuel consumption

70 years later we have reduced the Cd by just 0.01. I am keeping my fingers crossed that when the car makes production the engineers prevail over the designer duckies. Adding drag inducing 'design features' would make the car look like a tart at a wrestling match

Hammond - not interested in cars! (Jan'11)

I was very surprised when I was listening to Radio 4 last month to hear transport secretary Philip Hammond decrying the use of winter tyres in the winter. I have used mud and snow (M&S) tyres in the past and found that you could often get through when others had to turn round. Hammond cited road wear as being one of the problems with these tyres. He obviously had in mind "The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 Damage to road, person or vehicle"

The motoring press were also puzzled by Hammonds interview and we came to the conclusion that he had got himself confused with studded tyres as used by professional rally drivers on closed Nordic roads.

The problem with Government of all persuasions is that ministers need not be experts in the ministries that they head. Even the top civil servants employed in a branch of government are not usually hired because of their expertise in that area. Sadly individuals with Scientific or Technical expertise are very much under represented in Government.

To be honest, I have little confidence in any Government to make the right decisions, - throughout the world global warning issues based on scientific reasoning are being disregarded.

Current developments

I anticipate an exciting year for vehicle developments as it becomes universally apparent to the Thinking Class that we must reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

I was a pathfinder in the 1970's because I drove a diesel car, the unusual Golf 1500d. Diesels are now commonplace but in 1976 few people had heard of a diesel car. I experienced the same problems faced by the current early adopters of electric cars - fuel stations did not cater for diesel cars so long journeys had to be planned to avoid running out of fuel. In my local territory I was able to get fuel from hauliers who operated pumps for their own lorries. On long journeys I carried spare cans. When I did find a diesel self-service diesel pump, the manager would always rush out and try to stop me from putting diesel in my car.

If I were to undertake a long journey in an electric car today I would have to fit a tow bar and pull a small generator to keep my batteries charged up. Unlike my Diesel Golf the range of electric cars is quite restricted, charging points are few and recharging may take hours.

However technology is moving on a pace and the range of electric cars is improving dramatically. Unlike the leading edge diesel Golf Mk1 which was slow and noisy, the current generation of electric cars are remarkably sprightly and obviously very quiet. Early adopters will unfortunately need to pay a hefty premium but potentially, electric cars will be cheaper to manufacture than the current fuel burners.

The Nissan Leaf... nissan leaf electric car
See videao review: http://www.5min.com/Video/2011-Nissan-Leaf-Car-Review-259734028

Better news for the environment? (Dec'10)

This month has seen record petrol prices as reported by The Press and Journal, 11 December 2010. Naturally diesel prices have also gone up, this being down to the increased use of heating oil which is chemically similar. It is the result of supply and demand determining prices. Also reported was a breakthrough at the United Nations Summit in Mexico, which hopes to limit global warming by reducing carbon emissions. These two items are related. Increased fuel prices make large cars uneconomical, awareness of global warming make these vehicles an embarrassment to drive. They will be replaced by less environmentally damaging models.

To this end manufacturers such as BMW will be putting smaller engines in their future models. It is thought that outputs exceeding 150 bhp will be available from their 1.5 litre three-cylinder range promising sub 99g per kilometre of carbon dioxide from their smaller models. Wise people who downsize need not pay vehicle excise duty.

Bad publicity for a rival, removals and a conspiracy! (Nov'10)

BSM was featured on BBC 'Watchdog' on 11 November at 8.30pm. It is a large driving school so mistakes will occur more frequently than a small school. I have my sympathy - I don't think the hatchet job done to them was fair. However I do object to their advertising that overstates success. You may remember their slogan - "Every six seconds someone passes with BSM". Clearly this is rubbish and Dr. John Haigh from the University of Sussex did the figures for 'Watchdog'. There are fewer than six driving tests conducted every minute, less than half pass the test and BSM present only a tiny percentage of test candidates. Dr Haigh commented that the BSM figures were "ridiculous". The slogan is now removed from the BSM website.

Also removed are the duplicated road signs at Shute End, Wokingham that I complained about in my blog August 10th entitled "Seeing Double" It seems that my blog has a viewer.

The June Blog showed duplicate signs in Earley, Reading. The recent wind has played its toll on the front sign so I guess the Council are letting Nature do its work for them.

An ex-customer engaged me in conversation last week. I hasten to add that I do not subscribe to his views. He said that 'Global warming' did not exist, the arguments being -

It is very cold in the upper atmosphere so if the atmosphere was stirred up a bit, we would actually be cold here at the surface.
The Earth was much warmer when it was first formed and Man was not around then. It has been cooling ever since so human activity is not causing warming.
Carbon dioxide is just 0.04% of the atmosphere so its effect on global warming is negligible compared to water vapour.
Western powers are sabotaging growth in emerging economies by inventing global warming.
Scientists get grants from Western governments to prove that global warming is occurring. Evidence that disproves global warming is suppressed.

All these arguments can be disproved with the exception of the last, 'conspiracy' theory. By definition there will be no evidence for this since there is a supposed conspiracy to suppress the evidence. A large percentage of the thinking population even believe that the moon landings were an elaborate hoax - you can never convince everyone.

The End of the War on Motorists? (Oct'10)

A number of authorities have reduced or ended their reliance on speed cameras, Proponents of these devices have predicted carnage on the road as motorists push their cars and their abilities to the limit knowing they can do so without putting their driving license in certain jeopardy.

My experience shows that drivers are frightened by cameras. They constantly search above the road for the devices and down again to the dashboard to check their speed. It was no wonder that pedestrian casualties rose when cameras were introduced.

My prediction will be that "Fewer pedestrians will be killed in areas where cameras are known to have been de-activated".

Also in the news is the temporary abolition of the M4 London bus lanes also used by motor cyclists, taxis and VIP's. Let us hope that the traffic moves more efficiently. This link leads to the history of the bus lane - http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/

Bollards? Get rid of them! (Sep'10)

Dear Reader. You may have thought that I have disappeared off the edge of the world since my blog is a little late this month. I have just returned from a splendid holiday sailing the Med. Monaco was one point of call and here is a photo of a hairpin bend on the Grand Prix race track. This road is normally open to the public but closed during race days. The view down there is splendid so bollards are set in the pavement to stop drivers parking to admire the view. Naturally they are unscrewed during the Grand Prix since they would be a danger to the drivers. It seems that Formula 1 drivers are too busy to stop to admire the view.

I was wondering why so many lumps are set into our roadside here in Blighty. They are clearly a danger to road users. Yet I can hardly believe that drivers would want to stop to admire the views around, for example, The Western Industrial Area here in Bracknell.

August Musings (Aug'10)

I had an email this month from a following driver who noticed that my brake lights had stopped working. Normally a warning would have shown on the dashboard but on this occasion both bulbs had popped out of their holders when we passed over a very sharp speed hump. Clearly legislation, which mandated light emitting diodes to be fitted on all new trailers, would solve this problem. These solid-state devices are less affected by the shocks inflicted by poor roads on an empty trailer. My thanks to Kevin for alerting me to the problem.

Anyone following me on Twitter will have noticed my fear that the Coalition Government may cancel the proposed £5k grant to purchase an electric vehicle. I am glad to say that this grant to be extended to any car which exceeds 1km whilst emitting 75g carbon dioxide. One proviso is that the car should exceed 60 mph. With many new car variant having free tax disks, i.e. able to achieve less than 100g of carbon dioxide per km, I believe that it will be possible to limit the top speeds of these cars, modify them for greater economy and enable them to achieve the 75g limit (99.5 m.p.g. of diesel). Here is my pennyworth -

This VW car can exceed 80mpg in the combined cycle and will exceed 100mph. It can be seen that the fancy sculptured wheels, the large empty wheel arches and sticking out mirrors that this vehicle is hardly optimised to minimise wind drag. The drag coefficient of 0.30 is far worse than the similar sized Audi A2 (0.25) and General Motors EV1 (0.20). Just changing the shape would go a long way to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions below 75g per km.

Alternatively, since this VW does not have a sophisticated KERS (kinetic energy recovery system), perhaps a large pancake alternator/motor could be mounted within the clutch bell housing and attached to the gearbox input shaft to be used as a KERS. There is, after all, plenty of space under the bonnet housing the tiny 3-cylinder engine.

Weight could be reduced by the following means. Firstly the electric motor could be used for reversing so we could eliminate the complex reverse gear train. Next the 12V lead acid battery could be dumped for a lighter 60V lithium ion battery. This would allow 80% thinner lighter wiring. Also the power transistors used in the electronics would not need to carry so much current for a given power so the heat sinks could be smaller. Since the electric motor could be used to replicate first gear a smaller clutch could be fitted. And of course the conventional starter motor and alternator are not needed.

Would this "pruning" cost more than the £5K grant? I doubt it.

Post script - the 1934 Tatra was designed to be streamlined to make it suitable for high speed autobahn use. It had a drag coefficient of just 0.2 despite its straight front, upright headlights and flat windscreens. Fuel consumption was excellent for the day. A modern cars with its slitty headlights and compound curves may look streamlined but the shapes are largely stylists exercises. Drag coefficients are rarely mentioned in the advertising since they are invariably disappointing.

Follow the Yellow Line (Jul'10)

	Those of you in the 'know' will appreciate that the working day excludes weekends and bank holidays. Single yellow lines do not apply outside the working day. Also interpretation of National laws is out of the jurisdiction of local Councils. Anyone fined for parking on a single line during the weekend could consider a refund. Perhaps a reader would email the truth about the proposed local relaxation of the regulations.

Seeing Double. This pair is found near Shute End, Wokingham. Not a BOGOF offer but a mistake. The perpetrators of this faux pas are currently lined up facing the Naughty Wall.

Ouch! (Jun'10)

This crotch crusher has elevated the voice of many a post pubescent male over the years as they walk back from the pub on a moonless night. There is no street lighting and the area can be quite foggy during autumn nights. It may have been put there to stop drivers driving along the footpath and ending up in the pond but being all on its lonesome this black lump of metal is as effective as blind goalie. A driver intent in dunking his car could drive round it. Perhaps the Council could paint it white or remove it altogether?

20 mph speed limits have been imposed on large areas of Britain, including the road in Ascot I photographed last month. I never got a reply from the mildly chastising letter I wrote to the Council but success all the same. Remember the newly erected 30 mph speed limit signs appeared just before the limit was to be reduced to 20? The ugly speed limit signs have been removed - almost before the concrete had hardened.

The following signs were found in Reading. I think that there must have been a "Buy one, get one free" offer on at the time of installation.

Just walking the dog? (May'10)

Firstly may I congratulate Caroline Lucas who became the first MP for the Green Party. Secondly a moan about local councils who did not print enough ballot papers to allow voters to vote.

While we are on the subject of local councils, let me complain about this new sign I found in Ascot when I was walking the dog -

This is one of a set of speed 30mph limit signs that were erected recently reducing the limit from 60mph. Having set up the signs, another paper document was fixed below them. There is now a proposed reduction to 20mph. Naturally I wrote to the person responsible asking why it is proposed that our taxes should be spent in such a strange operation. I did not receive a reply.

I have noticed a recent plethora of 20 mph signs which have been erected in towns around Britain. No doubt these were erected on behest of the outgoing government as it further hobbled our transport system during its death throws.

As a regular dog-walker along that road I can vouch that speeding has never been a problem during my frequent walks.

Cheap Office Supplies? (Apr'10)

The government has stopped governing and parties of all persuasions will be ramping up the propaganda to get us to vote for them next month. No doubt those charged with corruption willl be making a last raid on the offices we have provided for them and making off with anything they can lay their hands upon. Ebay will be busy!

When driving around the locality I see how our taxes have been squandered. Here are a few examples...

Pictures show excessive signage for bicycles, fencing obscuring drivers view of the junction, de-restricted speed sign on a very short road and de-restricted sign on what is little more than a cart track!

Chicane built on a bend in Fernbank Road near 'Daisies' and then removed.
Chicane built on the brow of a hill in Fernbank Road and then removed
Traffic calming in Great Hollands constructed and then removed
Bus gate in Birch Hill constructed and then removed due to local protests
Poles put up for road signs when another pole is very close by resulting in extra road furniture.
National speed limit signs put up when there is no chance of reaching 60mph in a car
These have been erected on bridleways, cul-de sacs and beneath 'No Motor Vehicle ' signs
'No Pedestrians' sign erected on a footpath by a seat and bus stop by Lyndale nursing home, this was removed a few months later.
Corrogated road surfaces placed by houses and old people's homes designed to slow traffic but kept residents awake at night because of the noise.
Large ugly barrier erected at the 'Sperry' roundabout.
Traffic lights wired to deliberately stop the traffic when the road is empty.
20mph speed limits erected before a series of junctions with 30mph signs after them. The absurd road signs lasted over a year before being removed.

Crazy waste or what?

A Man?s Car made for Boys? (Mar'10)

I was interested to read about the Electric Lotus Evora to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this month. It has acceleration unrivalled by its petrol sister. Just a little disappointed that Lotus should have developed a sound chip to make the whisper quiet electric car sound like it had an internal combustion engine. Lotus even programmed the electric motor to jolt when accelerating to make the driver feel that he is changing gear. I used to put scraps of cardboard in the spokes if my tricycle to make it sound as if it had an engine but I grew out of that when I was seven. Can you really imagine a grown man wanting his expensive electric car sounding like it had a petrol engine?

A transient fashion? (Feb'10)

Secondhand prices of 4x4's have increased as a result of the snow last month. A pair of snow chains are far cheaper. If you really want to show off, buy a set of mud and snow tyres. They will make your family hatch-back outshine any off-roader on the snow that we have had.

Snow Joker? (Jan'10)

I hope that you, dear Reader had an enjoyable Christmas and that the snow was not too deep for you. It is sad that my robot 'Joker' is not in road going shape at the moment. I find it rather splendid to be able to clear the snow from the comfort of ones car.

Snow Problem

Safety Scheme? (Dec'09)

During the last month I noticed a plethora of 'bollards' having been planted along the roadside. Being ugly lumps of metal the Council have decided to disguise them by painting them black. I believe that this one is to prevent drivers parking on the kerb.

Dark bollard

Since about 25% of all driving fatalities are caused by collisions with street furniture, such as these 'bollards', I am at a loss as to why they have been allowed to proliferate, let alone be painted in camouflage colours. These 'bollards' found on the Broadmoor estate are far safer. They are covered in two colour retro-reflective film and have LED marker lights to make them even more visible.

Safer bollards

Naturally these safer 'bollards' will cost more but if cost cutting is an issue, why are 'bollards' put up everywhere? No doubt when accident statistics reveal the folly of these ugly black lumps being set in the roadside then they will be removed.

Who's a clever boy? (Nov'09)

It seems that even simple activities such as using a stepladder, picking up a box or in this case, riding a 'bike needs a complex manual, course of training or a certificate. Everyone seems to be covering their backs so that they will not be blamed if something goes wrong when someone else fouls up because they have not taken responsibility for their own actions. Writing a manual is the equivalent of retiring to an air raid shelter. Those inside can claim that in the event of an accident, those involved should have read the manual. I have in mind a tome of 93 pages written in a strange syntax published by The Association of Chief Police Officers on the subject of how to ride a bike. It is entitled ?Police Cycle Training Doctrine?.

Unfortunately the skills needed to decipher the language used in this training manual are greater than the skills needed to perform the pedalling activities being explained in the book. Who on earth would use the expressions ?rear scan?, ?double file? or ?deploy into a junction?? Such bastardised language can only be used by cliques to exclude others from their activities and thereby attempt to add an air of mystery to their clique. In this case publishing the 93 page tome just resulted in ridiculing the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Perhaps I am being overly harsh with my criticism. I was a precocious child. I developed the "key skill" of braking my pedal bike before I could read and write!

Electric Future? (Oct'09)

The Frankfurt motor show last month showed a wealth of electric cars ready for production. Economies of scale results in electrical energy being generated at about 60% efficiency whereas the internal combustion engine is only about 30% efficient. Naturally some energy is wasted in delivering the energy to the car to recharge it and electric motors waste a further 10% or so. Despite these losses, there are significant savings in carbon emissions to be made by running electric cars.

Electric motors are virtually maintenance free so drivers will save on routine servicing. Transmissions will also be simple since electric motors generate maximum torque from rest. This will mean that electric cars will need no clutch or gear ratios and will accelerate instantly with none of the waiting whilst a petrol engine spools up and the driver sets the 'biting point'. Official acceleration figures under-estimate the advantages of electric power for the driver since figures are based on the instant the car moves off. Petrol cars will have a second or so handicap in real life situations.

The range of electric cars is abysmal employing current battery technology but a 100% improvement will make electric cars competitive. Bearing in mind that battery technology seems to be following Moores Law with a doubling of capacity every 18 months or so, it is a question of time before batteries fit the purpose for electric transport. Hydrogen or ethanol fuel cells will no doubt be developed to extend the range of electric vehicles.

External Links...

http://www.whatgreencar.com/fuelcellcars.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jul/09/manchester-report-hugo-spowers-hydrogen-cars

Global warming caused by catalytic converters? (Sep'09)

Great news for shipping companies! Cargo vessels today are now able to take a short cut over the 'top' of Russia between Pacific and Atlantic. Not such a good day for Polar Bears having container ships driving through their patch. Could there be any further proof that Global Warming is here and gathering pace? Unfortunately Homo Sapiens ("Wise Man") seems to do its best to make the situation worse in the name of 'emissions controls'.
See THIS and more on our Green page

Make a little effort and only a little gets done! (Jul'09)

It seems that the fuel consumption of cars could be halved without drivers making much sacrifice in their driving experience - 80mpg is achievable using current technology. See Axon Automotive In reality this means that driving will halve the rate at which it is adding to the atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is not politically correct to state the obvious. - the explosive growth in the human population is responsible for global warming. No government would be brave enough to tackle uncontrolled population growth so I forsee no solution at present to the problem of global warming. However I will be doing my best to reduce my carbon footprint.

Car insurance

The average number of lessons my Clients take with me is in the order of 35, somewhat less than the national average of 54. Thus the cost of driving lessons will be around £875 which is somewhat less than most other driving schools and certainly less than insuring a small car for a first time driver. Driving schools charge virtually the same rate whilst offering vastly different degrees of cost effectiveness. Insurance companies, however, charge vastly different sums for the same service so it pays to shop around. Here are some links to get you started -

Compare the Market
Go Compare
Swiftcover Car Insurance
Tesco Comparison site
Virgin Car Insurance

Not worth the paper it is written on! (Jun'09)

The car has been running badly recently. The inlet tract had been choked with oily coke. It seems that my 'full service history' as dutifully stamped by my local main dealer is not as full as it should be. It appears that some filters have never been changed during the life of the car. An independent source has said that this could be the cause of the contamination of the inlet tract. I feel like an old friend has been poisoned.

Fancy a good scrap? (May'09)

Good new for anyone who runs an old banger. Vehicles over ten years old with current MOT are now worth a minimum of £2,000 if traded-in for a new car. So if the clutch is on the way out and it will never scrape through its next MOT, now is the time to take advantage of scrappage. Unfortunately the car manufacturers are aware that the sales of cheap new cars will balloon because of this so do not expect generous discounts off new cars. Do shop around though, There will always be new car bargains on the internet.

Electric News? (Apr'09)

The electric vehicle has arrived. A small company in Flitwick, Bedfordshire has been able to modify Citroen C1 with an all-electric power train. It is called the EV'IE and is now on sale. It is a shame that this picture is actually a petrol version with decals - ho hum.

http://www.t3.com/news-gallery?articleId=8784

I doubt that we will see many electric cars on the road for another two years since most purchasers will wait until the government subsity comes into effect in 2011. Governments are terribly fickle and I envisage that this subsidy will not last very long. Should there be a rush to drive electric gather momentum, the Chancellor would loose much of the 200% tax he gets from diesel sales. Nevertheless I welcome the initiative which will kick start the electric revolution. There are some fantastic developments in the pipeline such as these Tesslas...

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/Tesla-Roadster/233656/

I remember the stigma I encountered when I bought the first diesel driving school car in this country, a Golf 1500D. It was slow and noisy ... but oh so economical and easy to drive. The real problem was that there were no diesel fuel pumps on forecourts and if I was lucky enough to find one, a lady came out and told me that I was putting the wrong fuel in my car. How times have changed. I doubt that electric cars will have any problems shaking off their milk float image.

Charge on to the future? (Mar'09)

Firstly my thanks to Jonathan Quirk for pointing out a maths typo regarding the maximum weight one is permitted to tow and hopefully we have now corrected it. And also to Laurence A Tait for pointing out a typo and suggesting helpful information. Both have been acted upon.

I think that motorists are increasingly keen to lower their carbon footprint, me included and I am excited to read about the developments in electric car technology. Power stations can generate electricity more efficiently than the most efficient of car diesel engines. Even taking into account power losses associated with electric cars, they are usually far more efficient than an internal combustion engine. The power train needs less cooling so electric cars do not need such large and ugly radiator grills which spoil the aerodynamics and give the gawping appearance of most conventional cars. I note that the electronic control box of electric cars takes up a great deal of space but this will certainly reduce as bespoke electronics become miniaturised for mass production.

Dangerous Safety Measures? (Feb'09)

I see from the Ascot Newspaper headlines that residents are complaining about dangerous traffic calming measures. I too have witnessed a head on collision at one of the chicanes in Great Hollands. An ambulance was called to the scene and both cars were pretty mangled. I appreciate that Local Government are under pressure to install the things since the Government desires that everyone drives more slowly. Unfortunately as I have said before, safety should be of greater concern. My opinion, for what it is worth is that a footpath across the grassy area would encourage pedestrians to keep off the road. Residents have been suggesting this since the estate was built during the '70s.

My Wife was a victim of a speed hump a short number of years ago when cycling early in the morning. The sun in her eyes temporarily blinded her and she hit a speed hump at speed and had to be taken to hospital. She could have been killed but fortunately was wearing a cycle helmet and this prevented a more serious accident. She has not cycled since.

Councils should be under pressure to make our roads safer. There is an increasing tendency for roadside furniture to be set beside the road. It is usually made out of cast steel and is painted black. I think that the logic is that if the roads are made more dangerous then we will all drive or cycle slower. However I fail to see the logic of installing these things on unlit footpaths. I walked into one of these one night and it was really painful. Is white paint more expensive than black paint?

Ealing Comedies? (Jan'09)

As a past victim of the Ealing Council's scams, I take a great interest in their latest exploits. I did not have long to wait. Again Ealing Council have been getting into trouble entrapping and fining motorists to add to their coffers. Their latest reported scam has been to erect cameras over yellow box junctions and levy hefty fines for drivers who stop in the shaded area. Naturally this would be ineffective at trapping motorists since being a law-abiding bunch we would avoid blocking the junction. Cunningly, Ealing contrive to have bus stops and or pedestrian crossings a few metres beyond the crossing. These devices can, of course cause the traffic to stop unexpectedly and trap two or three cars. This will, of course give Ealing the chance to grab a few more hundred pounds during those few seconds.

Another practice operated by some London Boroughs is to send out a posse of wardens in the dead of night over the festive season and booking cars parked by dropped curbs. On that 'happy' note may I wish our readers a lucky, penalty-free, New Year?

Jobsworths (Dec'08)

I had a little chuckle today after learning how a South London lady motorist had legally parked her car overnight yet found it the next morning standing on yellow lines and ticketed for illegal parking. Lambeth City Council apologised for the incident and cancelled the parking ticket. The problem had been caused by an 'over zealous Council worker'

I am a little ambivalent about the recession. It is bad for business and I am Code 35. Yet I cannot see how we can comply with the Kyoto agreement on Global Warming without negative growth. I have had my 'Concorde moment' with a splendidly powerful driving school car and I will be sad when I eventually let it go. My next car will be ultra economical and 'green'. It will destroy the environment at a much lower rate. Regretfully all human activity on this crowded planet has an adverse affect on the environment. However it is not politically correct to suggest that we reduce the population. This really would be the best way to comply with Kyoto.

Bad Council (Nov'08)

This year I have felt victimised by Ealing Council. Early in the year it seems that I had accidentally strayed into a bus lane. I was not informed of this until three months after the alleged contravention and a three figure sum was demanded. A few days before the deadline for payment, I sent off the cheque. A few days later my cheque cleared. Yet I was still sent a warning to pay another fine for non-payment of the original fine which had now been doubled. It seemed that my cheque, although in all probability reached them by the deadline, was not regarded as payment on time since cheques take time to clear.

Being a cantankerous fellow I decided to allow Ealing to take me to court for payment believing that the District Judge may sympathise with my predicament. This was a bad move on my part. Although there are plenty of Courts in London, they chose to take the case to a court in Northampton. Naturally most people would not travel four counties to put their case and I was no exception. I was forced to pay up.

My short ingress into a bus lane had cost me about £500 in total. The lesson to be learned is that motorists are encouraged to commit motoring offences and fines will be completely disproportionate to the culpability of the offence. Motorists will be well advised not to take on the local Council because all systems are weighted against the poor motorist. Ealing Council has set up a well oiled system for milking the motorist.

A month later on Radio 4 I heard that a District Judge had admonished local Councils for relying heavily on fines to balance their books. I don't think that Ealing Council will lose much sleep over that!

Post script. I considered buying a toilet suite from a company in Ealing. I cancelled the order and bought elsewhere.

Guess where I've been (Oct'08)

As a diversion from work I went with my lad James to Santa Pod to participate in some drag racing - he drove my wife's heavily modified BMW 3 series and I used the driving school car. We had some very close racing together. No doubt our times would have been more impressive if we knew how to switch off the traction control completely but BMW do not encourage drivers to use their cars in this manner. It seems that just pressing the traction control button is not sufficient to deactivate the system completely, You have to delve in the manual for that!

(no engine parts were harmed in the process though my heart was racing somewhat :-)

Not In My Back Yard (Sep'08)

Ascot Residents have been complaining about the volume of trucks passing through the High Street recently. Unfortunately trucks from the Bracknell area used to head west towards the M4 before returning east to deliver to the West London industrial estates. With the increasing costs of diesel fuel recently, they have been heading east out of Bracknell towards the M25, via Ascot and Egham.

You may ask - "Why not join the M4 via Windsor?" Unfortunately many Ascot residents may not be aware of the Windsor truck cordon preventing lorries using this direct route. The folk in Windsor do not like the idea of lorries passing their town.

The next time you see a heavy vehicle trying to enter the cutting round the tiny roundabout at Sunninghill, don't blame the truck driver, remember the NIMBYs in Windsor responsible for these shenanigans.

The view - Stateside (Aug'08)

We had a splendid holiday in USA this month. This was a reward for our son James being offered a place at St John's, Oxford to read Physics.

It was interesting to compare and contrast driving styles between parts of the States we visited and UK. The 'slow' lanes of dual carriageways in America seem quite deserted, as in UK this is used for traffic joining and leaving the main road, drivers seem to avoid using it. However unlike Britain, this is used by drivers impatient to overtake.

Trucks are generally allowed to drive much faster in the USA and are usually permitted to use all lanes of dual carriageways. Artics often pull trailers which is not permitted in UK.

The use of headlights during the day seemed commonplace on fast roads. The heat haze made oncoming vehicles difficult to see in the distance if they did not use headlights. On our roads we would be flashed to encourage the driver to turn them off.

I also noticed signs forbidding drivers to avoid the use of engine brakes at night when driving through villages, presumably to avoid making too much noise.

The speed limits are generally slower in America (in spite of the wide straight roads) but this did not seem to affect the speed that drivers drove. I did not see any speed traps so presumably the Authorities are fairly relaxed about minor speed limit violations. May this continue. The imposition of slow limits and imposing a speed tax (fines) on violators would be political suicide in USA - they love their cars too much.

Fuel costs biting (Jul'08)

It was disappointing to hear that the Reading commercial driving school Big Wheelers has ceased trading. They started up before the Berkshire Driving School and the instructors I met were decent sorts who put a great deal of effort into their profession. I even bought a truck from one of them. Fuel price hikes are a problem for all of us.

Paying attention to detail (Jun'08)

The car has been giving stirling service for the last hundred thousand miles, and is now demanding that I spend money on her. I think that the plastic thingy in the clutch release bearing which keeps the steel balls apart has broken. This means that they are free to rattle around inside the bearing when you put your foot on the clutch bearing lightly. When you depress the pedal fully the noise stops since the steel balls are doing what they are designed to do.

You would think that such a small item would be cheap to replace and indeed on old cars this is so. Unfortunately with high tech machines, engineers deem that the flywheel has to be replaced as well.

Just in case some of you out there are thinking that it is unwise to use such such an expensive car for driving lessons, think on. Most new cars have dual mass flywheels and it is becoming common practice to replace this item when changing the clutch.

I will be a grand out of pocket but a little wiser. I will fit a little light in the foot-well. This little detail will help me check if drivers are riding the clutch.

You may actually save money by taking driving lessons with me!

It's good to be noticed! (May'08)

An elderly relative got lost recently when out driving. His wife contacted the police and within a short while he had been located driving towards London. It seems that number plate recognition was used to locate his car. What was to have been a short journey to the shops turned out to be an eight hour drive. When in London our relative was able to regain his bearings after recognising the Houses of Parliament. Eventually he returned home after a long, long drive.

His next birthday presents will be a sat-nav and a cell phone.

We may grumble about this 'Big Brother' society we now have but it is comforting to know that our safety is being monitored. Some may resent the fact that we are on constant surveillance but the 'Powers that Be' will only be interested in the small elements of society who are up to mischief. If the likes of insurance cheats and license dodgers have a precarious life and likely to come into line then perhaps our ludicrously high insurance charges may fall and more cash be made available to make our roads safer - rather than slower.

Is there anyone in charge? (Apr'08)

The burst pipe on the Bagshot Road last week caused bedlam as frustrated drivers sought alternative routes last week. Drivers heading south trying to link between the A329M and M3 found their route on diversion via Twin Bridges roundabout, a notorious bottleneck in its own right. Local drivers aware of the problem sought their own diversions only to find themselves in long queues of traffic threading their way through housing estates.

I appreciate that the Government has a policy of not building new roads as this, they claim, ?Encourages driving?. Perhaps an exception could be made so that the M4 and M3 could be linked by extending the A329M. An early decision on this will be needed because of the rapid expansion of Bracknell westwards towards Wokingham. In a short number of years the two towns will be as one and there will be little chance of persuading residents that houses should be demolished to make way for a motorway.

Is there anyone in charge of the future? We seem to be sleepwalking into chaos!

Random Musings (Mar'08)

Is the rest of the army out of step?

This is a problem often encountered on the road on Sunday. As a driving instructor I try to comply with the Highway Code, and this means that I use the left lane where possible. A tricky plan of action when you are the only car in the left lane and traffic in the lane on the right is stationary. Eventually one comes across an obstruction in the left lane and it is necessary to join the traffic lane on the right. Despite the recent policy proclaimed by the Highways Agency that we should 'merge in turn', those Sunday drivers on your right are a little put out that you appear to have 'got one over' on them. It is not unusual to be muscled out by these losers and be confronted by angry gesticulations as they close ranks against you. Eventually a 'proper' driver will hold back to let you out. This never seems to be problem midweek when professional drivers share the road with me.

Please read the Highway Code!

If you see me driving along a dual carriageway at 70mph, please do not waggle your finger and shout 'call yourself a driving instructor?' if you catch me up at lights. The maximum national speed limit on dual carriageways is indeed 70 mph and I am aware that few experienced drivers are aware of this. Perhaps the passing the Theory Test should be part of every driver's regular assessment. The pass mark will need to be lowered for 'experienced' drivers to give them a fighting chance of keeping their license.

The sad death of Hans Monderman, January 2008

Hans was best known as a traffic engineer, rather than as a driving instructor. He believed that if you treated drivers as idiots then they would behave like idiots. He had the concept of a 'shared space' where pedestrians and drivers mixed freely and drivers were responsible for the safety of pedestrians. Road signs, kerbs and barriers were removed completely; pedestrians and drivers shared the entire street. When this idea was applied to suitable roads, accidents became less frequent and traffic flowed easier. May I suggest that Crowthorne High Street be given Monderman's 'Shared space' treatment?

Minimum test vehicle for D1 test

Some parts of the DSA website have not been updated to include the specification for the minimum minibus test vehicle. I believe this to be -

Category D1

A Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) with 9 - 16 passenger seats with a Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) of at least four tonnes, of at least five metres in length and capable of 80 km/h (50 mph). Tachograph, ABS, seatbelts and examiner mirrors should be fitted. Note that using the Tachograph is not tested and I understand that it not essential for it to work for the driving test. Unless the school or college takes the vehicle abroad, I believe that it not, in practice, ever used.

Power to the People! (Feb'08)

It seems that the electric vehicle will soon be a familiar sight on our roads. The latest developments have shaken off their ?milk-float? image and are more than a match for the internal combustion engine. Lightweight minimalist sports cars such as the Tessla and Electric Atom have been shown on U-tube out dragging expensive supercars.

It appears that battery technology has been moving on apace and once research and development costs have been recouped, these batteries will be mass-produced cheaply using benign and abundant materials. Unlike the internal combustion engine, electric cars use almost no energy when stationary and are well suited to our clogged and hobbled road system. Power to propel these cars can be produced with far less carbon dioxide per unit of energy than burning fossil fuel in the car engine itself.

U-Tube Bikers (Jan'08)

It seems that a number of motorcyclists have been videoing themselves riding at outrageous speeds in parts of Britain and posting their reckless exploits on U-tube. Naturally enough the Authorities will stamp out their pranks and the weapon of choice will be the speed camera.

You might have gathered that I am not in favour of these devices as a means of generating revenue for the Government but this seems to be a clear situation where their implementation will improve safety. These cameras will be hidden and set to a speed high enough to avoid catching normal fast drivers going about their business.

Top Cop - More on the Speeding Cop! (Dec'07)

Hughes, the top cop from South Yorkshire was vocal in his draconian views on speeding drivers. Joy de vivre got the better of him and he was clocked doing 90mph in a 60mph zone on the A5 at Wrexham, North Wales, in his Y-reg Audi. He was banned from driving for 42 days for speeding.

Since most car speedometers over read by a considerable margin at high speed it is probable that the clock was reading about 100 mph at that time. His speeding was no accident. Yet many drivers accidentally lose their licence for being a few miles per hour over the limit. Some professions (such as driving instructor) require a license to be held for three years and even losing the license for a day would lead to unemployment.

You can understand my anxiety about losing my license since the mildest transgression could result in a loss of income and terminal debt. Driving is hazardous due to the wealth of high tech devices stacked up by the roadside which will automatically criminalise me and add me to the unemployment statistics. Is short the quality of my life is somewhat ruined by scam-cams. No statistics are taken on the reduction of life expectancy of professional drivers whose employment can be suddenly terminated by these devices.

Usually members of the Police force are absolved from this problem. More than 300 officers have been caught speeding in the past year in Wales. Only 29 cases - less than one in 10 - resulted in points being added to their license. Perhaps I am in the wrong profession, could I be a policeman?.

Speeding Cop! (Nov'07)

Officer Meredydd Hughes, a police chief who is at the forefront of combating speeding on Britain's roads, today admitted twice being caught out by roadside cameras. This, South Yorkshire's top officer, has played a leading role in national speed camera policy. Mr Hughes believed the policy should include hiding cameras, which currently have to be highly visible. He may lose his licence as a result of his misdemeanours.

Officer Hughes is just one of many professional drivers who run a great risk of losing their livelihood due to minor transgressions. It would be interesting to know if he inwardly continues to believe that portable hidden cameras should be used to penalise honest law abiding drivers who slipped up by mistake. No doubt he will keep this view to himself if he wishes to keep his position.

Highway code! (Oct'07)

The latest incarnation of this publication became available for distribution this month. The introduction of a section on invalid carriages is the greatest addition. Smaller but important changes include a more prominent section on vehicle towing and loading, (see rule 98) and this reminds drivers that if they passed a car test after 1 January 1997 they are restricted on the weight they may tow, (see Construction and Use Regulations 1986 and Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999).

It is gratifying to see the section on 'coasting' (122) no longer tells us not to do it. With the introduction of ABS the previous edition of the Highway Code was plainly wrong. It still lists why coasting can reduce control and I think the wording is now appropriate. An amusing part of the old Highway Code was the 'shortest stopping distances', originally formulated for cars which would now be museum pieces. The table (see rule 126) is now labelled as 'Typical Stopping Distances', a change well overdue but nevertheless welcomed.

Less satisfactory is the fact that there is no mention that it is inadvisable to stop at empty roundabouts. Fortunately it does advise following drivers to look forward before moving off to make sure that traffic in front has moved off, (185). Perhaps The Highway Code should also advise that drivers must watch out for other motorists stopping unexpectedly.

I am very disappointed that the Highway Code still states that all vehicles MUST pass round the central markings of mini-roundabouts, (rule 188). Clearly this can put drivers in conflict with vehicles suddenly approaching from the left. The stand-on vehicle will be closer and less visible to drivers approaching from the side road. Slowing right down on otherwise clear roads will also add to our carbon footprint.

Curiously the Highway Code only advises that drivers should avoid smoking if they are to drive safely, (whereas the use of mobile phones has eight references). Clearly hours of debate were conducted in a smoke filled room to decide on that!

As ever it would have been better if professional drivers had been allowed a greater input into the Highway Code. They spend more time on the roads and they would have a greater understanding of matters affecting safety. Perhaps the "Powers that Be" think that making road travel less efficient will encourage us to use public transport. They seem to have a policy to increase our road journey times and the Highway Code is just one weapon that our Masters use to achieve this. I am disappointed that this latest incarnation of The Highway Code does little to reduce our carbon footprint.

Average speed checks! (Sep'07)

I have recently had the misfortune of using the M1 south of Luton, the long stretch which has the 50mph average speed cameras installed. Fortunately the driving school car has an average speed computer function which I reset as I passed each camera and I had calibrated the system against my sat nav. This allowed me to average exactly 50mph and helped me avoid driving for protracted periods with vehicles either side of me. It only needs one driver to sneeze and his fellow travellers either side could be endangered. There is very little 'wiggle room' on those narrowed lanes. No doubt other drivers, relying on their hopelessly optimistic speedometers, thought I was risking points on my license but it is my job to know my car. If I had a criticism of the vehicle it would be that I should have also specified cruise control. However the car was very expensive as a driving school car and I had to draw the line somewhere.

Three legged Cross Binfield (Aug'07)

With global warming probably a reality, scenes like this will be increasingly common.

Has anyone considered this? (July'07)

A typical family car with a top speed of 120 mph needs about 121bhp to drive it at that speed. Since the power needed to move that car through the air at half that speed (60mph) goes down by the square root, it can be seen that just 11bhp would do the job. The other 110bhp are only really needed for overtaking and joining fast traffic. If roads were wider then overtaking would be easier and need less power. If acceleration lanes were longer we could join up with fast traffic without needing to accelerate so hard. We need not then have to buy cars with powerful engines just to stay safe and to avoid inconveniencing other road users. If roads were better then we could also avoid traffic jams.

You see where I am going? Better roads would save energy and reduce the rate that Homo sapiens is polluting the atmosphere. A spin off from this is that better roads are safer.

It is easy to blame motorists for having accidents at accident black spots but has anyone considered that our road infrastructure may perhaps need a little money spent on it?

I would not hesitate to advocate a rise in fuel duty to pay for this - except that the money raised in this manner would undoubtedly end up like the 'road fund' license. It will be taken from tax donor and used for other 'worthwhile projects'.

Some people need to be saved from themselves (June'07)

A top ranking policeman pronounced recently that "drivers who exceed the speed limit by even a modest amount are as guilty as murderers." Pretty strong stuff considering that many (perhaps even most) drivers exceed the speed limit by accident. This month I heard that the very same policeman has been in trouble for drinking and driving! More on this story as news comes in.

Psychometric tests for drivers has been proposed this month. My experience of drivers who are likely to fare badly in such tests would be prepared to drive without licenses, no matter what the regulations require.

Shock Horror! (May'07)

May 2007 I have just heard on Radio 4 that the little G-wiz does not conform to the 40mph impact test that cars have to undergo. Naturally being under 500kg without its batteries it does not have to comply with the crash test. Since you would not expect these little vehicles pounding along in the outside lane of the motorway tail-gating the vehicle in front, is it not reasonable that they should be exempted from the regulations? Their natural environment is city traffic where the average speed is below 20mph. Get real, Radio 4 and check out stories which matter!

G-Wiz. (Apr'07)

This month I have had the opportunity to test drive an electric car, the diminutive G-wiz.

It looks far less cartoon like in the flesh and seems sturdily constructed. Both front seats lie next to each other because there is no gear lever and the handbrake is mounted beneath the dashboard reminiscent of many cars of the 1930's

It was a cold day but the electric heater worked well. The small cabin was cosy yet offered plenty of leg room for tall drivers. There are even seats in the back for taking passengers short distances - but too cramped for comfort.

Initial impressions were favourable with a smooth accelerator action and tiny turning circle.

Unfortunately my big feet knocked a relay soon into the drive and the engine stopped. The co-driver quickly re-plugged the item but clearly a small guard should be fitted to protect this item.

Road humps had to be crossed with care in the little G-wiz. The limited suspension travel needs strong springs to prevent bottoming out. Is this why Chelsea tractors are so popular in towns? - they would cope well with road humps.

On the open road the G-wiz bowled along well and kept up with the traffic along the 40mph speed limited road. Just for fun I took a roundabout at speed and the stiff suspension and low centre of gravity came into its own. Handling was precise and reassuring.

Braking is regenerative so that the motor acts as a generator and recharges the battery. Initial braking was great but just as the car came to a halt the regeneration stopped abruptly. You have to adjust for this when you drive. Perhaps the electronics need further development.

I would feel happy owning a G-wiz though much of the fun would be gained by adding modifications. The G-wiz is an interesting retro-step into the future and I will be following the development of the electric car with interest.

CO2, Speedchecks and Smoking. (Mar'07)

CO2

How often do I hear of the advice to drive in third gear to avoid exceeding the 30mph speed limit? I heard this again in the Archers, Radio 4. Naturally the carbon emissions are likely to be nearly double in 3rd than in 6th gear. Clearly most cars will not go slow enough in top gear. There is an argument to increase the 30 limit in towns to 40mph say, between the hours of midnight and 7am. This will allow a more efficient use of our roads and a reduction in CO2 emissions.

22 February.

I attempted to check my speedometer using a speed check numeric beacon parked on the pavement near Heatherwood roundabout. I turned off the air conditioning and windscreen wipers since I have discovered that spurious reflections from these can confuse the electronics in the radar.

The beacon worked fine when I was the only vehicle on the road but often read about 10% high if there was approaching traffic. This seems to me to go against the laws of Physics. Could anyone suggest a reason for this?

Smoking

I heard on the radio today that the European Politicians have decided that the smoking ban in public places will not apply to the European Parliament building. So often, it seem, the Great and the Good pass laws which are imposed upon us poor sheep and our livelihood can be taken away from us if we transgress by one iota. We blindly tow the line when we know that by doing so will serve no purpose. Many of our Leaders however, consider themselves far too important to be burdened with such triviality!

News this month. (Feb'07)

Remember April '06?

I questioned the accuracy of speed cameras. Surprise, surprise! A televised news feature 2nd February '07 highlighted the low accuracy of many of these devices. As I often say, "You heard it here first!"

Speed cameras need not just be put where accidents might be prevented, they may now be put where vehicles habitually speed. Fortunately they still have to be sited in a visible position and painted yellow and the speed limit must also be posted nearby. Without this precaution the cameras would be excessively effective and flash too many drivers. It is considered that antagonising motorists excessively may lead to a backlash.

Slow driving involves low gears, low gear results in poor fuel consumption. Please could we have a higher fuel tax and end this ridiculous emphasis on everyone driving slowly (and inefficiently)? We need more efficient roads; the present policy of hobbling them is bad for the environment!

Global Warming

January in England was the hottest on record. The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - a group of three hundred scientists and representatives of 113 governments - unanimously portrayed the problem of global warming as 'An existing and worsening threat'. Scientists convening in Paris came to this uncomfortable consensus which included that global warming could render popular foreign holiday destinations too hot for normal human habitation. We MUST reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Today, Saturday 10th on Radio 4 a well known politician sounded off that 'global warming has taken on the dogma of religion'. This just illustrates just how ill informed some of our leaders seem to be. I wish that this politician had read the relevant articles which appeared in the New Scientist, which I picked up from a local service station a few days ago. Believe me, they make scary reading!

I was aware of the likely affect of global warming thirty years ago and decided that diesel cars would be the best way forward. In spite of the problems of buying this fuel at the time I bought a VW Golf Diesel. Diesel cars were very rare at the time and finding diesel pumps was a problem. I cut my carbon emissions by 50% that year! It was worth the inconvenience.

The way forward will be electric vehicles. More about these in a later blog.

You cannot stop global warming by driving efficiently but you may be able to help Scientists by giving them a little more time to investigate ways of reversing the process. Obviously this involves cutting CO2 emissions by driving sensibly.

Please see the new chapter on Global Warming we have placed on the driving tips page where we provide various ways we can all help reduce emissions associated with driving.

Happy New Year everyone! (Jan'07)

Last year was busy for me and the new BMW 1 series is bedding in well. Clients enjoy driving it and my pass rate has improved with this car.

I understand that the cost per mile using public transport is on a par with the cost of running a small car. Obviously if you have passengers it is more cost effective to use your car. This is strange since public transport benefits from economies of scale. Perhaps a carbon tax would alter this?

Clogged roads are causing problems with public transport. I read today that the local bus company has lost one of its routes. It seems that the buses on the 191 route often get snarled up in congestion rendering the service not cost effective.

Clearly government should invest the vast sums generated by speed cameras into our road infrastructure and improve efficiency, rather than deliberately hobbling our roads which is the present case.

I filled up my blue plastic recycle bin when I first got it. I was then told that my plastic should have gone into the green landfill bin. It seems that the only plastic I can put in the bin are plastic milk bottles. At two a week it will be full in a year!

End in sight for 'Chelsea Tractors'? (Dec'06)

Recent events have caused a fall in sales of 4X4 vehicles commonly referred to as 'Chelsea Tractors' and wiped a chunk off their second-hand value. Mr Livingstone has said that he will increase the Congestion Charge on these vehicles. Mr Blair's idea of introducing Road Charging has also alarmed the 4X4 brigade. Needless to say, all drivers are alarmed at this last proposal. High mileage drivers like me will be most affected. It may result in prices rising and profits falling!

It is interesting to note that most new vehicles sold throughout Europe now have diesel engines. This is only natural since this fuel produces the lowest carbon emissions at the moment. In the future we will see electric vehicles becoming popular now that battery technology can give such vehicles the power to be exciting.

Damning evidence (Nov'06)

The Mail on Sunday October 15 published some damning evidence regarding the real use of speed cameras. An undercover reporter posing as a potential buyer for a foreign country had a meeting with a manufacturer of the speed cameras. This was at a posh dinner and alcohol was used to loosen tongues. John Bond who was recently the Chief Superintendent in charge of speed cameras in Warwick was very forthcoming on the financial advantages of speed cameras. He bragged of the fantastic sums made by these devices and the dubious techniques employed to maximise the returns. The article was a sad account of how motorists are being conned out of money in the name of 'road safety'

More depressing news - you may have found traffic slowing slower in Bracknell. This is because traffic lights have recently been re-set to detain traffic even when the road is empty. Next time when you are waiting near the front of the queue at lights you will see what I mean. There is probably a political reason for this - perhaps the local council are trying to get the government to build a ring road round the town and jams are being generated to exacerbate the current traffic problems. Travel certainly will become worse when the fields north of Great Hollands become a huge housing estate.

Michael has bad luck (Oct'06)

It was sad to see Michael Schumakers' car break down on the Japanese Formula 1 race last night. It has undoubtedly ruined his chances of retiring as the Worlds top driver. It was gratifying to see the loyalty of the Ferrari team towards such a superb driver

Speedy Gonzalas (Sep'06)

I have always admired Richard Hammonds' bravery when he tried to escape from a Volvo which had been dropped into a deep pool. His recent dramatic crash in a jet powered car is typical of the limits the man will go to - and sometimes exceed. I wish him a speedy recovery.

We are merely pawns manipulated by politicians! (Aug'06)

It seems that Ken Livingstone has arranged for the traffic lights in the London area to deliberately cause traffic jams. The National news pronounce that this is so Ken can claim success for reducing traffic delays when new road pricing is implemented in the near future. The lights will be re-timed to permit the free flow of traffic at the same time, so making the measures appear successful.

How Strange? (Jul'06)

I was travelling to Guildford last week and noticed a mobile advertising hoarding. The type shaped like a very steeply pitched roof with a space inside. There appeared to be two small windows in it. As I passed I noticed a number of police vehicles behind it together with their crew. If that was a speed trap or number plate recognition device, it was very elaborate. It certainly was not an undercover surveillance mission. Very strange

Diesel Do? (Jun'06)

A decade ago I predicted that within ten years there will be an outright win for diesel cars in the Le Mans 24 Hours. I was spot on. I also predicted that when this happens, the perceived advantage of petrol cars (i.e. greater speed) would disappear and diesel cars will become the normal personal transport, until, of course, fuel cell electric vehicles reach the market.

The Audi turbo diesels unexpectedly beat the petrol cars on their own territory. They easily out accelerated the other cars. The best petrol cars were off the pace by several seconds a lap.

Naturally the petrol proponents are shouting foul. It's not fair that diesel cars could make more laps before refuelling they say. Diesels should have smaller tanks so that the petrol cars could stand a chance in distance races.

The best production diesel road cars develop about 200bhp on four cylinders. The Le Mans winner had 12 cylinders and developed 650bhp. They ran on high grade diesel and had large turbochargers for extra power at high speed. That alone could easily account for the extra 10% power over road cars. Methinks that there will be considerable spin-off which will improve diesel road vehicles.

How accurate are speed cameras? (Apr'06)

Beside Ascot race course last week was an electronic police sign which showed your speed. We were in a traffic jam at the time moving at walking pace. As we approached the sign it flashed that we were doing 31 mph. Obviously on-board equipment on the car had jammed the radar signal from the sign and made it flash a silly number. I wonder how many motorists have been unfairly prosecuted for speeding. It is the easy option to pay the fine and accepted the points on the license rather than question authority.

It is so easy to criticise. (Mar'06)

The authorities are criticised when they get things wrong, and rarely get a pat on the back when they display outstanding efficiency. May I redress the balance a little by congratulating the team who promptly removed a large graffito which had been sprayed on the wall outside the office. I had spent some time last year with a wire brush and paint stripper attempting to remove the writing, but with no success. This month I emailed the Council and complained about the mess. Within days the wall was pristine. Such service deserves recognition. Well done to all concerned!

Sometimes good things get done by stealth. A decade ago lane markings on roundabouts in Bracknell were a confusing mess. They have gradually been improved and are mostly quite logical. The authorities have an unenviable task. When things go wrong it is very obvious. Improvements, on the other hand are easy to miss.

Engines are becoming less efficient. (Mar'06)

Engines breathe better thanks to multi-valve technology and variable valve timing. This reduces pumping losses, enables fuel to burn more efficiently and thereby reduces pollution. At speed, internal mechanical frictional losses are relatively low compared with air drag. The upside of this is that modern streamlined cars travel at motorway speed with outstanding efficiency. Unfortunately it has become fashionable for roads to be designed to reduce traffic speed. This results in cars being driven in low gear and this increases mechanical frictional losses. The result? a considerable increase in carbon dioxide emissions.

Clearly this is not the way to comply with the Kyoto agreement. Roads will have to be redesigned to improve the efficiency of traffic using them. Perhaps a reversion to the transport philosophy used by the Romans 2,000 years ago?

Good citizens? (Feb'06)

An experiment to enroll a small number of drivers to keep rigidly to the speed limit had to be abandoned recently. As you know, one slower driver can impose his style of driving on a large number of following drivers and thereby enforce the speed limit upon them. The agravation caused by this experiment resulted in accidents as angry drivers tried to get past the do-gooders.

A 'plug' for the Vectra (Jan'06)

I understand that the policeman who was exploring the capabilities of his patrol vehicle may well be prosecuted for his actions. Has he not been put through enough anguish? - I cannot imagine that he would be repeating the offence. Incidentally, Vauxhall have brought out a faster version of the Vectra which would do 160mph without the aid of a following wind and a vivid imagination - but then police drivers will not be capable of handling the vehicle at speed since they would not have had sufficient experience to drive fast.

Recent Events! (Dec'05)

Less than four pence a year I pay for my tax disk goes on road improvements. I am forced to waste considerably more because I am stuck in traffic jams on roads which need to be improved. If I were to drive along the motorway at 80mph I would use about half the fuel that I would use if I were stuck in crowded urban roads.

Insurance companies use to load the premium of drivers if they had points for speeding. Many companies have given up this practice and now consider speeding to be a 'trivial' offence. So many drivers have points now.

A recent study revealed that drivers were most likely to get endorsements on their license because they accidentally exceeded the speed limit.

Some drivers get caught out where, in the name of safety, road speed limits have been reduced, signage is often poorly placed and speed cameras have been placed to catch the unwary.

Drivers should pay for the carbon dioxide emissions they produce. World governments MUST be brave enough to increase the tax on fuel. The representatives of the 157 countries at the Kyoto agreement would be signatories to a meaningless document if this were not to happen. The revenue should be invested in our transport infrastructure so that we can pursue our travels without the levy of devious taxes masquerading in the name of 'safety measures'.

I was reading an article in 'New Scientist' 3 December 2005, a report on global warming. Figures show the rate of global warming is accelerating. Whether the slowing of the Gulf Stream is a manifestation of the Guyer principle as the Earth attempts to counter Human activities which increase global warming or whether it is an indication that the Earth is about to flip into terminal climatical change is a debateable matter.

Sunday, 11 December 2005 - I was woken up at a little after six this morning. What I thought was a door slamming was in fact an explosion thirty miles away at Hemel Hempstead. An awesome event! I understand that there were fatalities. I offer my deepest sympathy for those affected by the explosion.

We live in troubled times.

Christmas came early to motorists this year! (Nov'05)

A survey released this month has shown that authorities which spent money on road improvements rather than extra speed cameras found that the roads became safer. I understand that new government thinking has contemplated this finding. Spending on new cameras will level out and the funds will, instead, be diverted into making the roads safer.

Victory for common sense!

Conspiracy Theory? (Oct'05)

Has the American government a conspiracy theory that the rest if the world is making up the story of ?Global Warming? in order to harm the USA economy? The Russians were hoping to launch a satellite last week which would have probably confirmed the existence of galloping global warming. It was lost.

The mishap to the satellite could make a splendid story involving sabotage at the highest level ? fiction, of course!

Jam today, Jam tomorrow! (Sep'05)

Ever wondered why there is always a jam in rush hour which extends between the roundabouts of Bracknell's Southern Industrial Area and Twin Bridges?

The chevron signs on the former are so big that traffic cannot see when aproaching vehicles turning into the industrial estate are coming. Drivers need to pause before gathering the courage to enter the roundabout. An arangement which is neither safe nor efficient.

Why does the Government fib? (1) (Aug'05)

The other day I checked the distance it would take to stop (on an empty road) at 70 mph. When travelling at this speed, I waited for a mark on the road to come up and then I braked hard. The car came to a rest with no drama. I noted the position and parked up to pace out the length. I had stopped within half the distance given in the Highway Code.

The Highway Code is way out of date. Since the braking distances were first published over half a century ago, better wider tubeless radial tyres covered with stickier rubber are now fitted to vehicles and all round disk brakes are now commonly found on cars. Parts are optimised using computers and the invention of transistors has led to antilock braking.

Clients dutifully learn the braking distances for the theory test. They are largely irrelevant to anything other than a veteran car!

Why does the Government fib? (2) (Aug'05)

I recently noticed the removal of signs on the A325 dual carriageway through Farnborough which proclaimed that there were 18 casualties along that road in one year and that we should comply with the 30 mph speed limit. The signs were fibs and this was unearthed by the Aldershot News. Just one accident along that stretch was speed related according to unpublished Government figures. This happened when an inexperienced motorcyclist on a new machine struck a kerb and was thrown off his motorcycle.

The results of Government fibs (Aug'05)

If we are fed with false propaganda in order to justify the placing of speed cameras, motorists will be antagonised. Genuine safety initiatives will not be respected.

LONDON BOMBING (July'05)

Thursday 7 July - a sad day for civilisation. May we offer our condolences to the families and friends of those killed in those selfish acts. The London bombings united the British nation of all religious persuasions and we hope that this leads to the nasty gang responsible for the carnage to be brought to justice.

SPEED CAMERAS REMOVED (June'05)

News this month revealed that a number of cameras in Birmingham were removed in the interests of road safety. Presence of these cameras were found to have increased the accident rate. (note the link may take a while).

RESEARCH FROM LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY (May'05)

A publication this month from the University of Liverpool (where I gained my Science degrees) revealed that speed cameras had no appreciable effect on road accidents.

ALIENS LANDING? (April'05)

Headline in the Daily Express Wednesday April 20, 2005 reminded me of an occasion when I was waiting outside a West London station one autumn night. Light traffic was flowing along the dual carriageway outside the station; a mist had formed in the cool air a few metres above the ground. As I waited I became aware of strange lights flashing around me. It seemed that I was in an electric storm - this was puzzling since the air was motionless. Were aliens attacking Hounslow? Eventually it dawned upon me. Drivers could not see the speed cameras and the clear roads that time of night allowed traffic to move at a slightly faster speed. The result - hundreds of motorists receiving points on their licenses. This is the headline that reminded me of this incident. "The £750,000 SPEED TRAP. That's how much was taken in 2 months. Can this robbery ever be justified?"

CANALS ON MARS? (April'05)

A Christmas present given to me in my youth was a set of encyclopaedias. I read about Piltdown man http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/a_piltdown.html the missing link and an article on the formation of the canals on Mars which included a map naming the canals. http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/tharsis/canals.html Of course those perceived gems of wisdom were later found to be fraudulent but they illustrate that myths perpetuate and too few of us are willing to question the great and the good. I stumbled upon a modern example yesterday when I typed in "Traffic calming and environmental effects" into my favourite internet search engine. The first three pages of search results were mainly postings from authorities claiming how their measures cut pollution. Let us dwell on this a moment.

All piston engines generate a high pressure in their cylinders when producing power. When the engine is being used to destroy energy, say, when a car is slowing for a traffic calming measure then a partial vacuum is produced within itself. Since vehicles use oil for lubrication and nature abhors a vacuum, the oil obliges nature by squeezing its way past piston rings, valve and bearing seals and gets into the cylinder and exhaust pipe. There it lurks until the driver accelerates once more. Lubricating oil is not primarily designed to burn cleanly and eventually disappears in a puff of blue smoke. Usually this is diluted by exhaust gases and we never notice it. Some oil gets trapped in the exhaust system where it puffs out the next time the engine roars in anger. We cannot stop it - it will get out somehow. You need not be a rocket scientist to realise that slowing vehicles are not good for air quality.

Worse still is the carbon dioxide generated as vehicles accelerate out of the traffic calming devices. You can measure this if you have a car fitted with a digital fuel consumption meter. The read-out is usually on a dashboard display and normally shows the time. 'Anorak' types know how to set this to display average speed and fuel consumption. I used my device to illustrate the argument that needless slowing will cause pollution.

When driving at a steady 60 mph in 6th gear along an empty road I recorded 60 mpg. I then simulated a series of road humps by repeatedly slowing to 10 mph and accelerating again. Average speed dropped to 15mph and consumption was a low 20 mpg. I had taken four times longer going along that road and used three times more fuel. Since the carbon atoms in the fuel were not created or destroyed when the fuel was consumed, my carbon emissions at the lower speed had increased THREE HUNDRED PERCENT!

Believe me, animals which travel great distances on little resources do not dawdle. Swifts, for example, do an annual return journey halfway round the World and produce only a few grams of carbon dioxide. They would run out of fuel if they had to keep stopping. They travel quite fast - in fact, if you could excuse the pun, they travel quite swiftly. If cars could be given roads which allowed swift travel then carbon emissions would drop.

This little experiment proves that traffic calming measures ADD to pollution. Authorities claiming otherwise are living on another planet - Mars, perhaps?

More information can be found at http://www.speedlimit.org.uk/hump.html , the anti speed hump page.

DON'T EXAGGERATE! (April'05)

Equipment in a Vauxhall Vectra police car recently claimed that it reached nearly 160 mph. The top of the range V6 3.2 litre Elite model would muster in the order of 210 bhp and be good for about 140 mph. Pushing the car that extra 20 mph faster would need at least another 100 bhp I come to one of two conclusions. Either tax payer's money is spent on massive vehicle modifications to police vehicles which would include transmission and brake upgrades to handle the extra power - or perhaps the equipment in the police car over-read by 15%.

Now that some police forces are operating a 'no leeway' policy to maximise returns from speed traps, may we hope that their equipment has been thoroughly calibrated so that the innocent are not penalised.

BLAME THE POLICE - as usual (April'05)

A motoring magazine devoted a page to blaming the police for operating well publicised speed traps on the M4 recently. It seems that motorists were devoting so much attention to their speedometers that a multiple car pile-up occurred near to the police operations. Most drivers regard tail-gating as the worst driving fault in others yet seem to be completely oblivious that they themselves could be guilty of this.

WHERE IS IT NOW? (April'05)

Thirty years ago there use to be a device by the north bound road leading past Ascot race course. It warned drivers if they were tail-gating and flashed DRIVING TOO CLOSE. After it disappeared from that location I briefly re-discovered it again a few years later near Watford. Has anyone seen it recently? Such devices if modified with cameras and set up around accident black spots on fast roads would surely be useful safety measures.

A GREEN POLICY? (April'04)

Why are the local primary schools being closed down yet a large number of houses are about to be erected in the locality? Parents will have to drive their children further to school adding to congestion. The local government discourage road use by installing traffic calming obstructions, phasing some traffic lights to go red as vehicles approach them and in some places, putting yellow lines down to make vehicles park on both sides of the road so that park vehicles act as traffic obstructions. The traffic delays increases the number of vehicles on the road and adds to pollution. Holding up traffic hobbles public transport!

CALMING?

Yet another traffic obstruction has appeared in Great Hollands - a traffic 'calming' chicane. This, I understand is to prevent the recent near misses when vehicles emerging from a side street cannot be seen because of an overgrown Pyrocanthus bush. Would cutting back the bush be cheaper and more effective? I note the recent skid marks that have appeared on both sides of the obstruction!

So, following the same logic, if you put a rubber duck beside the site of a recent accident and there was not another accident there for a while, one could claim that the rubber duck was responsible for the improved safety!

DO SPEED CAMERAS SAVE LIVES?

It was reported by the BBC Tuesday, 15 June, 2004, 16:13 GMT that UK Cameras 'save 100 lives a year' .These are government figures so we know that they can be trusted. These lives have been saved by erecting 5,000 fixed speed camera sites at a cost of £54M (Source – Alistair Darling)

Here in the Thames Valley the number of injuries near cameras actually rose by 14% (BBC Tuesday, 11 February, 2003, 18:18 GMT) and over the last year (2003), seventy-seven more people died on Britain's roads. (Auto ExpressThursday 24th June 2004)

In the pre-camera decade, from 1984 to 1993, road deaths fell by 32 per cent (from 5599 to 3814). In the speed camera decade from 1994 to 2003 we have seen road deaths fall by just 3.8 per cent (from 3,650 to 3,508). (Reported in Auto ExpressThursday 24th June 2004 on a comment by Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign) The government claims that ‘speed cameras’ are responsible for improvements in accident statistics. What about the improvements to vehicle and tyre design and of course the changes to the driving test which has made the role of the driving instructor so much more demanding?

I sympathise with camera advocates who wish to take the moral high ground. As a parent and driving instructor I too wish to see a reduction from the 3.439 deaths which occurred last year but simply putting cameras up will not work. The statistics prove it.

Yes, saving 100 lives is admirable, especially since cameras raise £68M for the treasury, but ten times more people die of passive smoking in this country and 114,000 smokers die as a result of their habit. (That is 1,140 times more than lives saved by cameras) The treasury gains enormously from tobacco sales although smoking kills around five times more people in the UK than road traffic accidents. (Source, ASH).

As a driver with several million miles experience (I used to be a rep and HGV driver) I know that most accidents happen at badly designed junctions and bends. These are recognized ‘black spots’ and remain so. They need to be redesigned. On these improvements the government is seemingly reluctant to spend the money it raises from fuel tax, vehicle excise duty, camera receipts (£68M), tax on vehicle insurance plus the VAT from vehicle purchases, parts and repairs, business use tax and so on all of which motorists were led to believe was supposed to be put back into roads.

The quality of UK roads these days must surely be at their worst for years if not decades. Even if just some of the annual cost of running the cameras (£54M) was instead spent on improving road surfaces and junctions then the visible improvement would provide positive feedback to motorists that things were being done. Roads would be safer and I believe the number of lives saved as a result of such improvements would be greater.

Simply taxing and fining the motorist with no changes to the road infrastructure cannot affect accident trends - they will surely never be reduced that way.

GLOBAL WARMING

A sign on the back of a council vehicle read "An environmentaly friendly vehicle". We must do more than this to prevent global warming. No form of transport is environmentally friendly and sticking such posters on the back of vehicles is fibbing. Our government must realise that the policy of reducing car use by making road travel inefficient does not work. Roads should be improved and drivers taxed through increased fuel costs to pay for these improvements.

Anyone doubting that global warming is an urgent problem should click here - http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/

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