Archive for the ‘Automotive’ Category

Yorkshire drivers suffer the most congestion

Posted on: July 11th, 2012 by Richard Raw No Comments

If you thought your commute was bad, spare a thought for the drivers of Yorkshire.

The Leeds-Bradford area is the most congested in Britain, with drivers spending 86 hours a year stuck in jams.

Traffic in the conurbation increases journey times by an average of 28 per cent – and up to 63 per cent in the morning rush hour, a study has found.

Even Londoners have it easier, with drivers in the capital spending 74 hours a year in jams.

The traffic research, by satellite navigation firm TomTom, found Warsaw, in Poland, to be the most congested city in Europe. Leeds-Bradford came seventh and London eighth.

The research by satellite navigation firm TomTom looked at 31 cities across Europe with populations of more than 800,000.

The two Yorkshire areas have suffered a five per cent increase in congestion since last year, the biggest of anywhere in Europe.

Traffic Jams in Bradford

Traffic Jams in Bradford

Drivers there face a delay of 36 minutes for every hour they drive in peak periods.

Third-worst in Britain was Birmingham where drivers spend an average 73 hours a year stuck in traffic jams.

Traffic in the West Midlands city is delayed by an average of 21 per cent because of congestion with delays of up to 28 minutes per hour during peak periods.

The worst days for congestion are Tuesday and Thursday in Leeds-Bradford and Birmingham while Mondays and Thursdays are worst in London.

The index is based on real travel times data captured by vehicles driving the entire European road network and compiled from five trillion data measurements.

The overall congestion level for all cities analysed in Europe is 24 percent – meaning peak journeys are a quarter slower than when traffic is flowing freely.

A spokesman for TomTom said: “It is amazing that Leeds-Bradford has overtaken London in our congestion ranking, with journeys in the area taking up to 63 per cent longer in the morning rush-hour.

“It shows that congestion is not limited to the capital, but is rapidly spreading around the UK’s regional cities.”

Harold Goddijn, chief executive officer of TomTom, said: “Over the years, with the help of our customers, we have built the largest and most accurate database of travel times in the world.

“When we combine this travel database with our detailed real-time traffic information and routing technology, we can not only pin point congestion, but can guide drivers away from congested areas onto faster routes.

“Even when only a percentage of drivers use a different and faster route, the available capacity on the entire road network increases, which benefits all drivers.”

Source: Daily Mail

South Yorkshire Police to shame uninsured drivers

Posted on: June 21st, 2012 by Richard Raw No Comments

Uninsured vehicles in South Yorkshire are being put on display in Sheffield to shame the drivers who’ve failed to get cover.

Uninsured drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000 every year according to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau. They also add around £30 a year to every honest motorist’s insurance premium, amounting to more than £500m a year in costs to the UK.

MIB research suggests that 1 in 10 young drivers don’t know they need insurance, despite the fact that it is a legal requirement.

Once an uninsured vehicle has been seized by South Yorkshire Police the owner has to produce a valid insurance certificate within seven days. They then have a maximum of 14 working days to claim their vehicle before it is crushed.

Drivers without insurance face prosecution, which will result at the very least in fines and points on their licence making it more difficult to obtain insurance in the future.

“Uninsured vehicles are a real danger on our roads, as a force we are seizing uninsured vehicles every day in order to make our roads safer for everyone. Since January this year we have recovered 780 uninsured vehicles, 200 of these have subsequently been crushed because the owner could not provide valid insurance documentation”, said PC Bruce Yacomeni, South Yorkshire Police.

Source: ITV News

Bright red cars attract more bird droppings than vehicles of any other colour

Posted on: June 21st, 2012 by Richard Raw No Comments

A study recorded the frequency that birds left their mark on cars in five cities around the UK, and found crimson motors were targeted the most.

Green cars were found to suffer least, followed by silver, while white vehicles escaped more often than black in the analysis of 1,140 cars in Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol over two consecutive days, to see whether colour made a difference to birds.

During the study, drivers were also asked how quickly they removed droppings from their cars.
Only 17 per cent, one in six, said they wiped off deposits immediately when they saw them, 20 per cent said they took action “within a couple of days” while 55 per cent waited until the next car wash.
The remaining 8% never washed their cars or left it to others to organise.

As well as being unsightly, insurance industry figures show bird droppings on vehicles can be an expensive problem and estimate the damage caused by bird-poop-stained paintwork costs motorists £57m a year in unnecessary repairs.

Halfords car cleaning expert David Howells said: “This research does have a serious side because the problem annoys drivers, causes damaged paintwork and affects the value of vehicles. To protect your body work from damage, droppings should be carefully cleaned off as soon.”

Theories abound on motoring and social networking websites as to why birds are attracted to pooping on some cars more than others.
– A Lexus driver reckoned newly polished cars suffer because birds see a reflection of themselves.
– A Ford Focus owner agreed and said the darker the colour the deeper the reflection and the more violent the reaction.
– An Alfa Romeo owner said it depends where you park and a Mercedes driver said blue was the worst as it reminded birds of water.

Others thought birds saw red as a danger or birds went for similar colours to their own plumage, such as in seaside resorts seagulls went for white cars, while in cities pigeons go for grey.

The Halfords study found little difference between cities and the seaside in the colours that specific species of birds apparently aim for.

Researchers who compiled the results found 18% of red cars were marked with droppings, blue 14%, black 11%, white 7%, grey/silver 3%, green 1%.

Leading car polish experts Autoglym said the damage to vehicle paintwork arose not from the acid or alkali in bird faeces, but from paint lacquer softening and expanding to form an uneven mould around the dropping which produced a dull patch.

Grainier textures from seed eating birds produced more the most blemishes, so pigeons are worse for motorists than seagulls.

Autoglym says that birddropping damage can only be prevented by owners removing the poop as soon as possible.

The British Trust for Ornithology were more circumspect on the role of colour in the “drop zone” for birds. ““We do know that birds can be attracted to certain colours during display but it (droppings on cars) is probably more to do with where you park; if you park where birds roost then you are going to get more droppings on your vehicle,” said a spokesman.