Pointless road signs: confusing signs set to be scrapped by councils

Pointless road signs

Confusing? Our roadsides are becoming increasingly cluttered with signs

If you’ve seen a pointless road sign near you, its days could be numbered. The government wants to get to grips with the increasingly confusing number of signs that are sprouting at the side of our roads. It is planning new-look signs and wants to give councils the power to cull confusing and pointless road signs.

A road sign review was ordered after it emerged that the number of road signs has doubled over the last 20 years. It wants to help drivers focus on what’s important by removing any pointless road signs – what road safety experts call ‘visual noise’ – from the road side. The fear is that the growing number of pointless road signs is contributing to an increasing number of road deaths. Department for Transport (DfT) figures for 2014 show that the number of road fatalities increased by four per cent compared to the year before.
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Consumer Rights Act: What new law means for car buyers and owners

Consumer Rights Act

Choosing and buying a car is often the easy bit. Now the Consumer Rights Act should make it more straightforward if things go wrong afterwards


Think the Consumer Rights Act doesn’t apply to you? Actually the reverse is the case. Despite what we may sometimes think, the law is on our side to ensure we don’t come unstuck at the hands of unscrupulous traders. However, on Thursday October 1, that law changes. The new Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the biggest shake up in consumer law for a generation, theoretically making it easier for buyers to assert their rights. But how will it work in practice for car owners? Here we explain the main things you need to know.
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Volkswagen emissions scandal: What it really means for British VW owners

VW emissions scandal

The Volkswagen emissions scandal has rocked the car industry and prompted drivers everywhere to wonder if they can trust anything car makers tell them. The outrage was discovered in the US and involves a programme hidden in cars’ computers. This can tell when the vehicle is undergoing an emissions test. It then switches the engine to a mode where it emits less Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) to pass strict air quality tests. There are 11 million cars world-wide that could be affected. Here’s what British drivers need to know.

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Young drivers: Experts say new laws needed to help cut casualties

Young drivers

One government idea is for drivers to have a minimum 20 hours of driving at night before they can take their driving test


The number of people killed on Britain’s roads increased in 2014 and young drivers are still the most dangerous category of vehicle user. It’s prompted experts to call for a review of driver training. Road safety experts say figures show one in five young drivers aged 17 to 24 crashes within six months of passing their test. And road accidents are the biggest killer of young people in the UK, higher than both alcohol and drugs. We investigate plans to reverse that trend.

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The boom in bus lane fines: how to appeal a ticket or PCN

Bus lane fines are drivers' latest menace

One bus lane camera in south London has so far raised more than £6m in fines (Picture © iStock)

First it was officious parking wardens, then it was hidden speed cameras; now comes a new menace to motorists: bus-lane ‘entrapment’.

Underhand tactics are being blamed for a massive rise in fines handed out to drivers who are caught straying into a bus lane. Five years ago, approximately 321,000 bus lane fines or ‘infringement tickets’ were issued. But last year that figure had climbed to over one million, raising around £30million in revenue for cash-strapped councils.

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Electric car questions: Are they value for money despite sales boom?

Electric car questions

Electric cars are cheap to charge but other factors inflate ownership costs (Picture © Nissan)

Electric car questions persist despite increasing sales every month due to drivers attracted by promises of big fuel savings. The Government and car industry’s Go Ultra Low, a body formed to push the benefits of electric cars, said in September 2015: “There are a whole host of benefits that come with an electric car…You can travel much further using less energy…This means financial benefits for electric car owners, plus our latest figures show that drivers can save around £750 a year in fuel by switching to electric.” But is that really true? We look at whether the costs of buying and running an electric car stack up.

Electric car questions: Does the government grant help?

The government has just confirmed that until February 2016, a £5000 grant is available towards the purchase of any new electric vehicle (EV). However EVs tend to have a more expensive sticker price than equivalent cars with petrol or diesel engines.
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Transport blackspots: How Brits have to rely on their cars

Transport blackspots

Even if people have a bus stop near them, public transport can take longer and be more expensive than running a car (Picture © iStock)

Public transport blackspots and the shocking reality of life without a car has been laid bare by new research. Insurer Direct Line conducted the study which showed that nearly a fifth of the British workforce would be unable to get to their jobs if they didn’t run a car.

The research, conducted in August 2015, revealed that six million Brits would find it virtually impossible to rely on public transport because they live more than five miles from their nearest train station. And one million Britons would be unable to get to their local town or city centre at all using public transport.

Things don’t get much better for non-car drivers even if they don’t live in a transport blackspot.

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Sharing economy: How to earn money from your drive, garage and car

Sharing economy

Car clubs are an ever more popular transport solution with young urban drivers (Picture © Toyota)

Today there are more ways than ever for drivers to earn – and save – money motoring. It’s the result of the sharing economy, a largely internet-enabled phenomenon that allows people to rent their assets to others.

The sharing economy is certainly catching the collective imagination. Accountancy firm PwC believes it will go from being worth around £15 billion globally in 2015 to £335bn in a decade. According to PwC, car sharing is one of this new trend’s five main pillars (peer-to-peer finance, online staffing, peer-to-peer accommodation, and music streaming are the others). Renting out your car isn’t the only way drivers can benefit from sharing.

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Car finance complaints: sales boom leads to more moans from buyers

Car finance complaints

Complaints about car finance increased in 2014, industry experts say (Picture © Financial Ombudsman Service)

As the number of new car sales continues to soar so the number of car finance complaints is increasing. September 2015 will mark the 42nd consecutive month of growth in the UK new car market. But with more than seven out of every 10 new cars bought on a PCP (Personal Contract Purchase), the number of people getting into financial difficulties is also set to rise.

The result is an increase in car finance complaints, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and Auto Trader claim. They are reporting an 18 per cent rise in complaints relating to Hire Purchase (HP) and PCPs, increasingly popular finance products, explained in this useful guide to car finance from the Money Advice Service. The arrival of the 65-plate registration this week will see 450,000 new cars leaving showrooms across the country. Around 328,000 of those will be bought on finance.

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Best student cars for kids going off to uni

Best student cars

It doesn’t have to be like this! Follow our guide to student cars

Buying the best student car and running it on a really tight budget can be a nightmare for many young people. But there is hope. With more choice than ever in the used car market, there are lots of cars out there starting from as little as £1000.

Double your budget to £2000 and you’ve got your pick of great small cars that should cost a minimal amount to run. That said, insurance on any first car will be steep. That’s why you need to stick with models in a low insurance group and with a small engine so you’re not hit by huge fuel bills. It also means no modifications: insurance companies don’t like them.

You might think that such small sums of money will buy you a mega-mileage motor on its last legs. But £1500 gets a good-condition supermini with under 70,000 miles on the clock.

Below we’ve picked some of the best models for first-time buyers. They’re all small hatchbacks which means they’re practical, with plenty of space to lug all your equipment between home and uni. We’ve generally aimed low in terms of budget, but if your pockets are a bit deeper we’ve included a couple of more costly options.
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Traffic jams cost drivers 30 hours every year

Traffic jams

The daily commute. On top of regular journey times, drivers waste hours in traffic (Picture © Volvo)


Traffic jams across the UK are causing drivers to lose an average of 30 hours a year. Monitoring service Inrix claims that London is Europe’s most congested city with the average driver squandering 96 hours a year because of traffic jams. Next up was Greater Manchester with 52 hours followed by Merseyside with 37 hours, the data released in August 2015 said.

However, it’s in the Midlands where the biggest increases have been seen, with congestion up by 37 per cent (to 30 hours) in North Staffordshire and 33 per cent (to 28 hours) in Coventry.
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Electric car charging roads on test in the UK

Electric car charging roads

Is this what the electric highway of the future could look like? (Picture © Highways Agency)

Electric car charging roads that will refuel battery-powered motors as they drive along are to be tested in the UK. The pilot project, a first in Britain, has been set up by the government’s Highways England. The aim is to boost the number of low emission vehicles on the road by making them easier to live with.

Electric car sales in the UK increased by 167 per cent in 2014, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The government wants to ensure this trend for switching to low emission vehicles continues. It’s investing £500m in alternative fuel transport technology over the next five years. Part of this will be on roads that can charge electric vehicles. In July 2015, Highways England published a feasibility study: Powering electric vehicles on England’s major roads. The testing of electric car charging roads result from that.

Electric car charging roads: How they’ll operate

The government’s plan is for major roads such as motorways and A-roads to feature the new charging technology. Trials will take place at a special testing facility later this year. Pure electric vehicles will be fitted with wireless technology enabling them to receive a charge on the move. Equipment installed beneath the road will generate an electromagnetic field to charge the cars.
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A fifth of drivers skipping car care

Drivers skipping car care

Not having your car regularly maintained can cost drivers more in the long run (Picture © Institute of the Motor Industry)

Drivers skipping car care is nothing new. But a new survey shows that a fifth of us aren’t bothering with the routine servicing necessary to prevent breakdowns. If that figure sounds worrying, the proportion of drivers skipping car care is even worse in London where a third of car owners are putting off essential maintenance.

The survey, conducted by garage chain Kwik Fit in August 2015, shows that drivers in the south west of England are more savvy. This is where the most conscientious car owners live with just 13 per cent missing servicing.

Bizarrely, almost half of those drivers skipping car care are doing so in the knowledge that they’re just storing up more trouble – and bigger bills – for the future. Kwik Fit has even estimated how much this approach is taking. The company reckons an extra £154 million will have to be found for the additional work that will ultimately be needed.
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Why it’s dangerous to drive with a bulging tyre

Bulging tyre

Replace any tyre that has a bulging sidewall like this. It is potentially dangerous

Having a bulging tyre – a lump in the side of the tyre – should prompt drivers to take immediate action.

Tyres lead a tough life. They’re subjected to a variety punishments from Britain’s ravaged roads, with potholes, crumbling verges, speed bumps and aggressive kerbs all taking their toll.

The result can see a bulge, typically about the size of the top of an egg, appear. It means the materials within the tough sidewall have been weakened. The next thing that could happen is the bulging tyre suffers a blow out – effectively explodes – and that could possibly lead to a loss of control of the car.

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How to sit comfortably and avoid back pain when driving

Back pain: guide to sitting comfortably when driving, with advice from the British Chiropractic Association

As the summer holidays get into full swing and millions of motorists take to the road, drivers who are sitting comfortably in their car are luckier than they may have imagined. Four out of five people suffer from back pain, according to the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), and of those surveyed this January, 40 per cent say that sitting down aggravates back or neck pain. It’s enough to send a shiver down a driver’s spine.

Tackling the problem of sitting comfortably when driving and avoiding back pain doesn’t require action as drastic as buying a new car. That could be a very costly mistake, as it’s rare for a car to leave drivers feeling uncomfortable after a brief test drive; often it takes hours on end at the wheel before the telltale signs of back or neck pain begin.

Instead, there are plenty of practical steps to follow that should help most people get comfortable at the wheel. We asked Rishi Loatey, a practising chiropractor and member of the BCA, to share his advice for drivers and help banish Britain’s bad backs.  Continue reading →

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New car warranties and how to make a claim

 

Guide to new car warranties and how to make a claim

When you buy a new car you’re investing a lot of money into a very complex piece of equipment. You expect it to work efficiently for years to come, and the last thing anyone can afford to happen is that their new car proves temperamental and costs a small fortune in repair bills from the moment it’s parked outside their home. That’s where the manufacturer’s warranty comes in. There to protect you in the event of problems, a new car warranty should guard against repair bills for the first few years of ownership.  Continue reading →

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‘Bin the booster seat’ Britax urges parents in safety drive

Britax warns of dangers of the basic booster seat

Booster seats in a car are frequently a simple solution for parents as children grow taller and older. The appeal of such cushion-type seat bases is easy to see: they’re affordable (as little as £10), compact, light and portable. They are also easy to fit to any car as they are secured by a seat belt, rather than Isofix mounts. But Britax, a leading manufacturer of in-car child seats, says that the cheaper booster-type seats are dangerous.  Continue reading →

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Repairing tyres: All you need to know

Repairing tyres

Whether a tyre can be repaired depends on where the damage is. Whoever’s doing the repair should first remove and inspect the tyre (Picture © TyreSafe)

Knowing if you can or can’t repair a tyre could come in very handy for a lot of drivers. Tyre companies estimate that on average drivers get a flat tyre about once every five years. Considering tyres can cost upwards of £100 each and you can repair a tyre for around £25, understanding if you can fix a puncture could be a handy money saver. Here’s all you need to know.  Continue reading →

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Buying cars: Drivers say pressure from a salesman is the worst part of buying a new car

Buying cars

All smiles now but the reality is people worry about the car buying process (Picture © Auto Trader)

Buying cars isn’t something we enjoy doing, according to new research. But despite our dislike for the process, the research found that customers’ expectations when it comes to buying cars are frequently worse than the reality.  Continue reading →

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Is buying a used car warranty worth it? What is and isn’t covered?

Is a used car warranty worth having?

What is a used car warranty?

Whether or not you buy a used car warranty depends on the type of person you are. Are you prepared to gamble and hope that nothing will go wrong with a used car? Will you save a small amount of money each month to build up a fund for running and repairing your car? Or would you prefer to play it safe? If the answer is play it safe, then you should consider taking out a used car warranty. This is essentially an insurance policy against the cost of parts and labour following any mechanical or electrical failure.  Continue reading →

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