Aug28

Horse crashes through driver’s windscreen!

by admin on August 28th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Posted In: Animals, Bizarre

Catherine Lawrence’s face was badly bruised and her car written off after the collision with the horse near Tasman. Catherine Lawrence thought the airbag had gone off in her car after she crashed. It came as a shock when she realised it was actually a horse. Mrs Lawrence, 74, is nursing a badly bruised face and injured eye, but is lucky to be alive after the horse catapulted through her windscreen into her Nissan March on Wednesday night. The horse was killed instantly and ended up draped across the seats, while the roof was peeled back by the impact. More

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Aug27

Survey shows lack of head restraint awareness!

by admin on August 27th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Posted In: Driving Advice, Road Safety, Survey

According to a survey by road safety charity charity Brake and Direct Line Car Insurance, two in three motorists in the UK do not know how to correctly position their restraints. The top of the restraint should be level with the top of the head, but a majority of people think that the top of a head restraint should be level with the neck or ears, which is incorrect. Again, as many as two-thirds of motorists said that they have never or rarely checked their restraints, with only one in seven drivers claiming to always check. More

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Aug27

New curbs on how private clampers operate!

by admin on August 27th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Posted In: Clampers, Driving News, Fines, New Legislation

A new licensing scheme will impose limits on the maximum release fees charged by clampers and set a minimum time before cars can be towed away.The new curbs will also demand that signs warning motorists of the existence of private parking enforcement are clearly visible and, for the first time, drivers will be able to use consumer law to challenge exorbitant fines. The Government is also looking to give motorists the right of appeal against private charges after they have been imposed. One option would be to set up an independent tribunal, similar to that which enables drivers to challenge council-enforced tickets. Ministers are ready to act after repeated complaints from motorists about the antics of some clampers who have demanded as much as £700 to release a car. More

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Aug27

Middle classes stitched up with speeding fines!

by admin on August 27th, 2009 at 7:53 am
Posted In: Fines, Laughable, Speed Cameras

Thousands of middle-class motorists who challenge speeding fines face having to pay most of their legal costs even if they win their cases. Reforms, which have been described as a ‘ stitch-up ‘ aimed at excluding the middle classes, will limit the costs that can be claimed back by the drivers. From October, the Ministry of Justice is cutting the current generous level of costs awarded to successful defendants to the lower rates used in legal aid cases. Legal experts say that as a result, some court victors, who currently have between 80 per cent and 100 per cent of their costs reimbursed by the legal system, can expect to have only between a fifth and a third paid back. The new rules will also affect drivers who successfully challenge drink- drive and other motoring prosecutions. Currently, nearly 400,000 drivers a year – about one in four of those who go to court – win their cases. More

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Aug25

Steam car breaks record and travels at 140 mph!

by admin on August 25th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Posted In: Amazing, Bizarre, Technology

‘World’s fastest kettle’ reaches nearly 140mph to beat century-old landmark for steam-powered vehicles. A British-built supercar today broke a 103-year-old world land speed record for steam-powered vehicles. The 7.7-metre British Steam Car, nicknamed the “fastest kettle in the world”, reached an average speed of 139.843mph on two runs over a measured mile at the Edwards air force base in California. The timing beat the previous record of 127mph set by an American, Fred Marriott, in a Stanley steam car at the Daytona Beach road course in 1906. Marriott’s was the longest-standing officially recognised land speed record. It was beaten by the team based in Lymington, Hampshire, with Charles Burnett III at the wheel. Burnett piloted the car for both runs, reaching a peak speed of 136mph on the first run and 151mph on the second, a team spokesman said. Record officials recognise a land speed record as the average speed of two passes made across the same measured distance in opposing directions within 60 minutes of each other. The time of the two runs is averaged to obtain the official recorded speed. More

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