Ban plug-in hybrids from EV charging bays

In a report written for the RAC Foundation, Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) should be banned from using electric vehicle (EV) charging bays, freeing them up for use by ‘pure’ EVs.

This is because the charging rates differ so greatly, for example it would take the vehicles this long to charge for a 15 mile distance.

• EV = 5 mins
• PHEV = 1 hour

EV charging infrastructure expert Harold Dermott argues that – until PHEVs “have both a greater electric-only range and can accept electricity at faster rate” – they should be banned from using charging bays at motorway services areas.

 
Mr Dermott expresses concern that if PHEVs continue to block EVs from using rapid charging bays, the charge points will “never be available for their essential purpose of charging BEVs [battery electric vehicles]” and the income of network operators will “collapse”.

Source Auto Express

Raise speeding fines to £130 demands top police chief

Controversial proposals from a policing chief could see motorists who are caught speeding facing bigger fines and higher fees for driver awareness courses.

Alison Hernandez (lead on road safety for Police and Crime Commissioners), is lobbying Ministers to hike the cost of both Penalty Charge Notices and National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) sessions by as much as £30. 

 Fines:                       Current £100      Proposed £130

 NDORS course:       Current £90        Proposed £120

Ms Hernandez  told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I believe the law-abiding public feel it is wholly appropriate that those who are caught breaking our laws and making the roads more dangerous for all of us should be helping to pay for road safety activities. It is the “polluter pays” principle.

An additional £20 or £30 per offender could really make a difference to our communities, that money could go back into police forces to support work on road safety.

Last year around two million speeding offences were handed out. Out of those two million offences about half of drivers payed to take an NDORS course run by UK Road Offender Education (UKROEd) to avoid getting points on their licence.

While speeding fines revenue goes to the Treasury, fees for awareness courses – which are offered to those who marginally exceeded a speed limit – are split between the course organiser and the local police force.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘Speeding is unacceptable which is why there are tough penalties and enforcement in place for those who do so. Offences and penalties are kept under constant review to ensure the courts have sufficient powers.’

 To read more on this story please visit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk

Police have a new camera which can spot drivers using mobile phones or speeding nearly a mile away

Police have unveiled their new weapon – a camera that can produce clear images of people inside a car almost a mile away

The massive camera dubbed 'The Long Ranger' has been showcased at the launch of a pilot project called Operation Indemnis.

Police in Gloucester are using the camera to tackle various motoring offences including speeding, tailgating and using a mobile phone while driving. 

Previous Speed guns have been able to detect how fast cars travel but the new camera produces clear video footage and still photographs of the people inside them. 

Martin Surl, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire where the kit is being tested, said he hoped that it would catch people using their mobile phones.

What is the law on using a mobile phone while driving? 

•  It’s illegal to hold a phone or sat nav while driving or riding a motorcycle. Access must be hands free. 
• 6 penalty points and a £200 fine if you use a hand-held 
• You’ll also lose your licence if you passed your driving test in the last 2 years.

• The device must not block your view of the road and traffic ahead.
• You can get 3 penalty points 

• You must stay in full control of your vehicle at all times.
• You can get 3 penalty points

 Source: www.gov.uk

Officers will use the long-distance camera and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to check on what vehicles are on the roads and how they are being driven.

If the pilot is successful, it could be applied to any road in the county.

Source, to read more please visit  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Cardboard cop-out? Residents given FAKE policeman to stop speeding

Crafty councillors have unveiled their latest weapon against speeding motorists - 4 cardboard cut-out traffic cops complete with hi-vis jacket and speed gun. Known as "pop up bob figures"

Residents of Eglington Crescent in Edinburgh were concerned that motorists were regularly breaching the 20mph limit on their road and have now been given a pop up bob to use and advised to use it on alternate days.

Officers from The City of Edinburgh Council have praised the cardboard policeman as a useful road safety tool, however some others are not quite so convinced. 

Labour councillor Gordon Munro questioned the effectiveness of what he labelled a 'token gesture'.

'How effective are these going to be once drivers realise that’s all they are? Real police is what will inhibit driving.'

Superintendent Mark Rennie said 'Alongside high-visibility patrols and safety cameras, the ‘pop-up Bob’ prop is used in areas to help deter speeding and is a visual reminder to drivers to make sure that they drive in a responsible manner,'

'The cut out of a police officer holding a speed gun, which is not used in place of genuine officers, can be deployed to areas where speeding has been reported as an issue.

But some residents around the Haymarket part of Edinburgh have taken to social media to slam the cop cutouts.

One resident wrote online: 'I don’t think he’s cut out for the job.'

Another joked: 'This is a perfect late night pissed up thieving for any local student. Brilliant ornament for any student flat.'

More on this story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6134333/Edinburgh-residents-complained-speeding-cars-given-CARDBOARD-traffic-officers-use.html

Motorway speed limits 'could rise to 80mph' - but the public prefer going 10mph slower

Head of the Highways England Jim O'Sullivan has argued that the speed limit could rise in certain areas of the road network  to 80mph but it is 'public opinion' stopping the change.

Mr O'Sullivan also said that classic cars may be banned from fully-automated motorways in the next 30 years as they will not be able to communicate with the autonomous cars and lorries and will therefore present a risk, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The roads boss said that vehicles where the motorist is in complete control would probably have to be removed from the roads as early as the middle of the century.

Back in 2011 an official plan to increase the speed limit on motorways was launched by Philip Hammond, when he was transport secretary. At the time it was thrown on the back burner due to a lack of support from the Coalition Government and hasn't been revisited since.

The current top speed of 70mph was introduced in 1965, The Highways England chief executive said  'We have not done a formal safety analysis but there are parts of the network that subject to a safety analysis could probably operate at 80 miles an hour.'

Dont get exited though! the change is unlikely to happen to any time soon as the boss said that there is a 'low probability' that a consensus would be reached. He said that he believes the barrier is more to do with public opinion and views than it has to do with vehicle technology. 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer previously said in 2017 that the Governments plan was to have driverless vehicles on the roads by 2021.

Mr O'Sullivan said that during the initial roll-out period there will be a 'mixed economy', arguing that non-autonomous cars are a long way from being phased out.  

He also confirmed that the organisation's plan to increase the speeds from 50mph to 60mph on Sundays and that this trial  is due to begin before the end of the year, assuming the six month trial is a success it is likely to become the standard speed limit by the end of next year. 

To read more please go to https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6146599/Motorway-speed-limits-rise-80mph-says-roads-boss.html

Austrian man caught speeding 42 times in a row on same road

A man has been fined €3,000 (£2,700) for speeding on the same Austrian road 42 times in a row.

Mr Wallner was caught by the same camera every day he returned from work at three in the morning.

He told Austrian media he could not see signs for the 30km/h (18.5mph) limit on that stretch of road in the dark - and drove at the standard 50km/h (31mph).

Unfortunately it took more than a month for the first penalty to arrive - by this time Mr Wallner had clocked up dozens more still unaware that he was breaking the limit for that road.

When Mr Wallner received his first speeding notice in May it occoured to him that there would be more to come - and it may get very expensive.

Mr Wallner said he did not notice the speed camera - set up near a school on the route - because the area was always very dark in the middle of the night and the camera that caught him was an infra-red camera, which does not fire a visual flash.

Out of about 50 trips, he was recorded driving at a consistent 50km/h 42 times in a row.
In order to avoid the lengthy and expensive procedure to challenge them, he paid all 42 penalties.

He told Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung: "You cannot lodge an appeal against all the fines in one go, so I would have had to make 42 separate challenges."

"These are a good two months' wages for me, and there's no rebate for a bulk fine either."
However police did remove about €300 from his total.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45269474

McLaren seized by police after speeding in Welwyn Garden City

Officers caught a driver in a speeding McLaren on 13th August and the tweeted:

“79 in a 40. Not a good day. Especially when we find out the insurance didn’t renew.

“Vehicle seized. We offered to drive it to the recovery yard but control insist it has to go on a truck.”

A police spokesman confirmed the sports car was a McLaren 720S, and was stopped today (Monday, August 13) at 10.30am.

“It was recorded doing 79mph in a 40 zone,” he added. “Further checks revealed that the vehicle was not currently insured and as a result the vehicle was seized.

“The driver was issued with a Traffic Offence Report by officers, meaning he will be prosecuted for the above offences at a later date.”

It is understood that the motorist will have to prove he has got insurance and pay a recovery fee before being able to get the car back.

MP Fiona Onasanya accused of lying about speeding

Labour MP Fiona Onasanya has been charged with perverting the course of justice over allegedly lying about who was behind the wheel of a speeding vehicle.

The MP of Peterborough Fiona Onasanya appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 12 July charged with the offence. She faces two counts of perverting the course of justice. Her brother Festus Onasanya faces three counts of the same offence.

Mr Onasanya, of Cambridge, is jointly charged with his sister on the two counts she faces relating to incidents on 24 July 2017 and 23 August 2017. Both are due to appear at the Old Bailey on 13 August

The charges allege they intended to pervert the course of justice by driving a vehicle in excess of the speed limit, falsely informing the investigating authorities that a third party had been the driver and enabling them, as a consequence, to avoid such prosecution and punishment.

During the July incident, Ms Onasanya is alleged to have been driving - and during the August incident, her brother is alleged to have been driving.

The single count that Mr Onasanya faces relates to an incident on 17 June 2017.

The BBC contacted the office of Ms Onasanya and A Labour Party spokesman said: "It would not be appropriate to comment on an ongoing case."

Ms Onasanya, who was a solicitor before being elected to Parliament, is a Labour whip, meaning she is responsible for party discipline.

 Source BBC

Eight year olds caught speeding

You wouldnt expect it but Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency figures reveal that children as young as eight have been caught speeding by police in Britain in the last two years.

A Freedom of Information request covering 2017 to the present, unearthed that there were two instances where people aged eight were found in cars or on motorbikes.

At the other end of the spectrum more than 900 people in their 90s got penalty points for speeding (three of these incidents involving people aged 99).

If a driver is underage, the endorsements are held on file by the DVLA and the penalty points can be added to any driving licence they hold in the future.

The DVLA did not provide information about the circumstances of the driving offences, saying its role was to compile information provided by the courts.

But its figures show more than one million speeding offences were recorded over the period concerned.

Nearly 1,400 offences related to people aged under 17, including one aged 11 and three aged 13.
The majority of speeders were people in their 40s, which is thought to include the largest age group of motorists.

The highest number of speeders were aged 46, amounting to 30,075 offences

Source: BBC

Gatso vandalised with grey spray paint. Are fines still valid?

A Gatso camera on Wessex Way in Bournemouth, was recently sprayed grey - making it 'almost invisible' according to one motorist - any prosecution could still take place, according to Dorset Police.

The police said that they were 'aware of the vandalism'. Adding that repairs were carried out within 24 hours of enquiring about the damage.

However, drivers who believe they could escape any speeding prosecution because the camera is not its more prominent yellow colour are wrong.

Source: Bournemouth Echo
 

Why warning fellow drivers about speed cameras could potentially land you with a hefty fine

No one likes getting caught by a speed camera which means usually if you spot a new camera its just instinct to tell others about it if youre having a conversation, perhaps approaching the road that it is located on as a passenger in a car.

However extending a well meant warning other drivers using the same road as you by flashing your headlights could land you in hot water!

The Highway Code states you should only flash to let other drivers know you are there and doing otherwise could potentially prevent police officers from doing their job

Rule 110 states: “Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there.
“Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users.”

This means that drivers do choose to flash to warn others about a speed trap implemented by the police, they could be in breach of section 89 of the Police Act 1997 .

Under this law it states that it is an offence to “wilfully obstruct a constable in the execution of his/her duty.”

If the police deem you are obstructing their ability to perform their speed checks on other motorists you could be slapped with a maximum penalty of £1000.

Source msn.com

World's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden

The world’s first electrified road that recharges the batteries of cars and trucks driving on it has been opened in Sweden.

Just over a mile of electric rail has been embedded in a public road near Stockholm, and the government’s roads agency already has plans future expansion.

The technology solves the issu of electric vehicles charged as energy is transferred from two tracks of rail in the road via a movable arm attached to the bottom of a vehicle. The design is similar to that of a Scalextric track, although should the vehicle overtake, the arm is automatically disconnected.

The electrified road is divided into 50m sections, with an individual section powered only when a vehicle is above it.

The system is able to calculate the vehicle’s energy consumption, which enables electricity costs to be debited per vehicle and user.

The “dynamic charging” – as opposed to the use of roadside charging posts – means the vehicle’s batteries can be smaller, along with their manufacturing costs.

Säll said: “There is no electricity on the surface. There are two tracks, just like an outlet in the wall. Five or six centimetres down is where the electricity is. But if you flood the road with salt water then we have found that the electricity level at the surface is just one volt. You could walk on it barefoot.”

Photograph: Joakim Kröger/eRoadArlanda

Please read the full article at The Guardian

Driver who sped at 101mph after wife went into labour could be fined £2,500

A father clocked speeding at 101mph on the M5 motorway after his pregnant wife went into labour on the passenger seat has been threatened with a fine of up to £2,500.

Louis Baker wrote to West Mercia Police appealing for leniency over the “life or death” situation after being caught by a speed camera on the M5 in Worcestershire on April 14. They told him he will have to appear in court at a later date.

Mr Baker rushed his wife Laura and their unborn child to hospital amid complications surrounding the pregnancy, meaning she needed to be given antibiotics for four hours before giving birth. They were also worried because their previous child was born four years ago after an 11-minute labour.

The baby was born at Worcestershire Royal Hospital two hours after the alleged offence, 

Mr Baker said: “I have been driving for 10 years and I have never had a speeding ticket or a motoring offence in my life.

“When I first got the fine I spoke to a lady at West Mercia Police and she was very supportive and said to write a letter of appeal.

“I appealed but they rejected it and said due to excessive speed the fine could not be waived

“I would say that if it was your wife and child at risk in the same situation, anyone would do exactly the same thing.

“I have spoken to a solicitor but until I get a court date there is not much I can do.”
Laura, a trainee pharmacy technician, told the Birmingham Mail scans had shown her baby had stopped growing from 36 weeks.

The 26-year-old said: “Louis drove at 70mph for most of the journey but towards the end, because of the intensity of the contractions, I really thought the baby was coming.

“Louis wasn’t concentrating on his speed at that point, he was trying to stay safe on the road and get me to hospital as quickly as possible.”

A police spokesman said: “Due to the speed involved this case is being referred directly to the Magistrates Court.

“The independent magistrates will take into account any mitigation presented when determining their decision on the matter.”

Tesla driver banned for M1 autopilot seat-switch

Photo: Herts Police

A driver who moved into the passenger seat after putting his electric car into autopilot while at 40mph on a motorway has been banned from driving. 

Bhavesh Patel was filmed by a witness in another car sitting in the passenger seat of his Tesla S 60 on the M1 between junctions 8 and 9 near Hemel Hempstead.

The footage was posted on social media before it was reported to the police.

The court heard Patel told officers what he had done was "silly" but his car was capable of something "amazing" when he was interviewed at Stevenage Police Station.

He added he was the "unlucky one who got caught".

A statement provided by a Tesla engineer said the autopilot was intended to provide assistance to a "fully-attentive driver", the court heard.

Mr Patel pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at St Albans Crown Court, he was disqualified for 18 months and must do 100 hours of unpaid work. He also had to pay the Crown Prosecution Service costs of £1,800.

Man jailed after giving speed cameras the finger

North Yorkshire Police have today been promoting their recent conviction of Timothy Hill with a laser jammer to all the major news outlets. Reading between the lines we wonder if he was prosecuted for hiding his Range Rover and denying he was the driver as much as he was for having the jammer. The news story confirms the jammer ‘did its job’ and they could not get a speed reading on which to prosecute. It would also seem from this news story that the jammer unit was in some sort of continuous jamming mode.

However this guy was clearly an idiot for attracting attention to himself and having no regard to law or the police and we do not condone his actions. Jammers should be used to alert you to speed traps and give you a chance to check and adjust your speed if necessary, not to carry on driving with impunity with no regard to the laws of the road.

You can read the North Yorkshire Police statement here.

https://northyorkshire.police.uk/news/laser-jammer-prison/

Fines for parking and using bus lanes dropped four out of ten times when appealed

40% of appealed parking and bus lane fines issued by local authorities have been cancelled, figures suggest.

Nearly half of appeals to councils across the country over 5 years have been successful.

The RAC described these statistics “frightening” adding that drivers were “right to appeal”.

The Local Government Association praised the “effective” appeal process leading to this data.

Of nearly 4.3 million appeals, 1.8 million were successful, figures released under the FOI Act reveal. 

More on this story available here:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42557198