LISTENING to football commentary on the radio while driving is as dangerous a distraction as using a hand-held mobile phone, scientists have found.

An investigation by the University of Leicester for esure insurance found that drivers behave more erratically when listening to sport on the radio.

Football fans and non-football fans were asked to use a driving simulator in a motorway scenario while listening to commentary from a live football match.

The study found that the driving behaviour of the fans became considerably more erratic during the match, especially at climactic moments in the game such as penalties or free kicks, while the non-football fans’ driving behaviour remained consistent.

“It is widely accepted that the distraction of talking on a hand-held mobile phone may lead to accidents,” said the University of Leicester’s Professor Michael Pont. “But other activities may have a similar impact – such as listening to sport on the radio.”

According to the report, which is entitled Football Focus, around two million motorists have had a near miss or an accident while listening to sport commentary.

Source: Autocar website, by Matt Rigby

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MEN make more mistakes with car maintenance than women, according to a new study by oil brand Castrol.

The findings show that women are less likely to have driven on a flat tyre, forgotten to use anti-freeze or put petrol in a diesel car by mistake compared to men. And the girls are also 11 per cent LESS likely to have over-filled fluids in their engine whilst topping up their oil, water and brake fluid.

However, women can’t claim perfection as a sixth of female drivers admit they don’t know how to open their car’s bonnet and 15 per cent admit they have forgotten to fill up the oil in their car’s engine.

Motoring expert Quentin Willson, who is backing Castrol’s ‘Right Oil for Your Car’ campaign, says: “I’m a great closet feminist and reckon women do lots of stuff better than men. They get too much stick for their supposed lack of knowledge about cars, so it’s great to see the sisters doing it for themselves and getting stuck into the male territory of DIY car maintenance. Blokes please take note!”

With the pressure of the financial crunch it appears more of us are attempting our own car maintenance, however men are more likely than women to have broken something on the car whilst attempting to fix it, with 6 per cent having snapped off the wiper arm whilst changing the blade and 3 per cent managing to short circuit the battery whilst jump starting the car.

Source: Motors Today website

CLICK HERE for video of Quentin Willson

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MOST DRIVERS don’t understand what many of our most common road signs mean, according to a survey by the road-safety charity Brake.

It found that the zebra crossing symbol is a mystery to 67% of the population, while half do not recognise the no-vehicle sign - and a third are flummoxed by minimum-speed displays.

Meanwhile, 15% of the 2,050 people polled failed to recognise the national speed limit, and only 12% could identify all eight of the signs they were shown.

The elderly who passed their tests when they were 17 are particularly at fault, says Brake, because it is likely that they have never opened the Highway Code since.

Said spokeswoman Katie Shephard: “This means that 55-year-olds have been driving a shocking 38 years without refreshing their knowledge about the rules of the road.

“This is leading to a dangerous lack of knowledge in drivers. Driving is one of the most hazardous things that people do on a daily basis, and we urge all drivers to refresh their knowledge of the Highway Code to help keep themselves and others safe.”

Copyright © Press Association 2009

Source: RAC website

CLICK HERE for a link from the BADDIA website to buy copies of ‘Know Your Traffic Signs’ and the Highway Code at a discount.

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A sophisticated in-car computer could soon make it impossible for motorists to speed, the system detects the speed limit and automatically slows the car if it is being driven too quickly.

It pinpoints a vehicle’s exact location via satellite and accesses a database of every road’s speed limit to determine how fast the vehicle should be travelling. 

The Intelligent Speed Adaption system will be unveiled today as part of the largest-ever pilot of its kind.

They say it undermines motorists’ freedom and claim it could hinder, rather than aid, road safety.

The trial is being carried out by Transport for London (TfL) which runs buses, trains, the Underground and major roads in the capital.

TfL believes it could cut accidents by around 10 per cent. 

Currently the computer is programmed with the speed limits on every road within the M25.

The new technology could render speed cameras obsolete – or at least substantially cut the amount of revenue they raise

The Government plans to order a nationwide map. The system offers the driver two modes – voluntary and advisory – as well as an override button.

In advisory mode the screen displays the speed limit and a face that smiles if the driver sticks to the limit and frowns if they go too fast.

It is the voluntary mode, however, that safety campaigners hope will one day become mandatory.

When vehicles reach the speed limit the accelerator is prevented from speeding up the car, no matter how far it is depressed.

The system does not affect the brakes. If an ISA-equipped car is driven from a 40mph to a 30mph or 20mph zone it is automatically and gradually slowed down.

‘This innovative technology could help any driver avoid the unnecessary penalties of creeping over the speed limit and at the same time will save lives,’ said Chris Lines, head of TfL’s road safety unit.

However, Andrew Howard, the AA‘s head of road safety, said: ‘Drivers are divided in their views of ISA; some hate it, some want it. Many have questions that will be answered only by trials like those being carried out by TfL.’

Paul Biggs, of the Association of British Drivers, believes the system ‘will stop drivers thinking’.

One local authority has already said it wants to place an order for 300 ISA units – which costs £400,000 to develop – for its own fleet.

They were made by the British division of Technolution, a Dutch firm, with funding from TfL.

TfL will reveal its findings in a report next year.

Source: Mail Online website, by Paul Sims

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THE WORLDFIRST racing team based at the University of Warwick has unveiled a car that’s not only powered by biofuel made from chocolate, but that features parts made from vegetable fibre.

The ecoF3 is designed to be “fun, fast and exciting” and to make the motor industry and motor racing think about the use of renewable materials and fuels. However, it cannot currently compete in Formula 3 due to its use of chocolate-oil derived biodiesel. James Meredith, project manager of the team said, “It’s been very exciting working on the project and important for our team to develop a working example of a truly green motor racing car. The WorldFirst project expels the myth that performance needs to be compromised when developing the sustainable motor vehicles of the future.”

The launch of the 145 mph vehicle gave the press plenty of opportunity for jokes, with one blogger asking: “What happens if it hits a wall? Would it just disintegrate into a well-balanced meal?”

Dr Kerry Kirwan from the research team added, “Components made from plants form the mainstay of the car’s make up, including a race specification steering wheel derived from carrots and other root vegetables, a flax fibre and soybean oil foam racing seat, a woven flax fibre bib, plant oil based lubricants and a biodiesel engine configured to run on fuel derived from waste chocolate and vegetable oil. It also incorporates a radiator coated in a ground-breaking emission destroying catalyst.”

CLICK HERE for video from Telegraph website

CLICK HERE for video from Warwick University

Source: Biofuels Media Ltd  , Telegraph website and Warwick University website

Comments please from driving instructors and driving schools who are BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) members giving driving lessons, Pass Plus, a2om BTEC in Driving Science, advanced lessons, automatic lessons, disabled lessons, towing lessons, refresher courses, motorway lessons, fleet training, instructor training, in preparation for driving tests or driver improvement in the Bedford area.

BEING DEAF presents a range of problems and so a Norwich man who wears hearing aids has made sure learning to drive is not one of them by setting up a sign-language supported driving school.

Graham Briggs started the British Sign Language driving school in 2007 and since then it has gone from strength to strength, with seven deaf people having passed their tests with him and three more currently on the books.

Instructions are given in sign language above the dashboard so that the students can see them in their peripheral vision and do not have to take their eyes off the road, and the signs to be used are agreed before the lesson begins. Mr Briggs also uses pictures to give instructions about car positioning and manoeuvres.

If the situation starts to become dangerous, he signals for the student to bring the car to a halt and then explains what was going wrong in sign language.

He said: “Because I have always been hard of hearing and had hearing aids since I can remember, I can understand some of the problems they have when they are learning to drive, and so I wanted to give something back. It’s nice to have someone who can have some empathy with you.”

One of his students, Donna Vallis, 23, who has been profoundly deaf since birth, said: “I wanted to learn to drive so I could have some independence and go wherever I want. Sometimes if the roads are really busy I find it hard to concentrate and get a bit scared, but because Graham can sign it makes things so much easier.”

Miss Vallis, who lives in Rotary House for the Deaf on King Street, has been learning to drive for three-and-a-half-years, and while Mr Briggs feels she would be more than ready to take her practical test, she is unable to do so yet because she has not passed her theory test, having taken it more than 10 times.

Mr Briggs said: “The theory test is particularly difficult for deaf people whose first language is sign language. Donna is fine with the hazard perception section, but the multiple choice questions pose a problem because of the terminology used within the test, and the ambiguity of some of the words. She finds it very frustrating because she is an excellent driver.”

Miss Vallis uses the Highway Code, which has been released in British Sign Language, and a game on her Nintendo DS, and hopes to pass the theory test soon so she can take her practical test, when an examiner will use similar signs to those she has been taught.

For more information about the driving school, visit http://www.bsldriving.com/deaf_aware.html.

Last week, the Norfolk Deaf Association held an event at The Forum, Norwich, to raise awareness about the problems deaf people can face in society and the ways they can overcome them.

To see a video of Miss Vallis’ driving lesson, visit the Evening News website at www.eveningnews24.co.uk

Source: Norwich Evening News website

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THE DRIVING STANDARDS AGENCY is to tailor the way out-of-hours tests are offered.

A new, flexible approach means that from 17 May, appointments for the practical car test outside normal hours will be offered where overall demand is high at individual test centres but not at those where it isn’t.

Appointments classed as out-of-hours are those offered at the weekend and, during the summer, weekday early mornings and evenings.

DSA Chief Executive, Rosemary Thew, said: “These changes will ensure that our examiners’ time is focused on where it is needed most and that we make the best use of our resources.

“We will keep the situation under constant review and offer testing outside normal hours to provide extra capacity where it is needed.”

For further information contact:

Miranda Rose, Press Office Manager
0115 936 6138
miranda.rose@dsa.gsi.gov.uk

Source: DSA website

Please note that Bedford Driving Test Centre is closed at weekends.

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DRIVERS of black-coloured cars are most likely to break speed limits, according to a poll.

As many as 25.4% of black-vehicle owners have speeding convictions and are 9% more likely than the average driver to have speeding points on their licences, the survey from insurer elephant.co.uk found.

Grey was the next “speediest” colour, with 25.1% of owners of vehicles of this particular hue having speeding convictions.

The next colours in the speed-conviction list were silver, blue and brown.

Owners of purple-coloured cars were least likely to have been caught exceeding speed limit, while owners of white, yellow and red cars have comparatively few convictions as well.

The survey was based on a study of data from 1.7 million drivers.

Elephant.co.uk managing director Brian Martin said: “We wanted to know why it is that drivers of black and grey cars appear to have more of a propensity to speed so we looked into more detail at the cars on our books.

“We found it didn’t necessarily correlate that black and grey cars would have bigger engines, so evidently for drivers of these coloured cars, the temptation to break the speed limit is simply too great whatever their engine size.”

Source: Motors Today website

Well, thank goodness I will be driving a green car!

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CARS could be fitted with external bags to cut pedestrian deaths and injuries, it has emerged in Bedfordshire.

Fiat Stilo with new pedestrian airbag system

Photo: Fiat Auto

A team, led by crash specialists at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, has devised a new design which is fitted under the bonnet.

When it believes the car is about to hit a pedestrian the u-shaped airbag inflates, providing extra protection while not interfering with the driver’s field of vision.

The design protects pedestrians by pushing up the bonnet beneath the windscreen, increasing the gap from the engine below so the bonnet is better able to absorb some of the energy on impact.

The airbag itself also cushions a pedestrian from both the windscreen and the pillars on either side.

According to the latest official statistics 646 pedestrians were killed on Britain roads in 2007 – more than a fifth of the total.

Of these around a third are believed to have died as a result of the impact with a windscreen or its frame.

Unlike other airbags that are designed to protect the driver and passengers, this system is purely to improve pedestrian safety.

Roger Hardy, the leader of the team which developed the system with a German company, believes it will be five years before it is put on the market.

The bonnet airbag has been tested on a Fiat Stilo and initial trials suggest it could reduce injuries by about half.

Mr Hardy, project manager at the Cranfield Impact Centre, hopes that car makers will be legally obliged to adopt the new technology, following the precedent of seat-belts and internal airbags.

But until then, he believes that manufacturers who do adopt the technology, will be given a higher rating by euro NCAP, the body which assesses car safety.

He is also confident that once the technology is in mass production, it will not add a huge amount to the price of a new car.

“It’s just another air bag, I don’t think it will cost a great deal.”

The initiative was welcomed by Andrew Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentarly Advisory Council for Transport Safety.

“The bigger the gap between the bonnet and the engine block, the better it is for the pedestrian,” he said. Manufacturers have been investigating a way of raising the bonnet and cushioning the impact.

“Car makers will have to meet tighter European standards of protection by 2012 and this is one way of encouraging them to reach a level which will protect the most vulnerable.”

Source: Telegraph website, By David Millward, Transport Editor

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