Can you make your teenager drive more safely?

It's a nightmare when your teenagers start driving. This is because:

1. You don't want them to die

2. It's ridiculously expensive

If, as a parent, you lie awake at night imagining your teenager trapped upside-down in the mangled mess of a head-on collision, you are not being melodramatic. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that the single biggest cause of accidental death among young people aged 15 to 24 is getting in a car and dying in a crash.
Forty per cent of 17-year-old males have an accident in their first six months of driving.

Once you know how dangerous the whole thing is, worrying about the cost pales into insignificance. But if you've already paid out for the car and the insurance, the last thing you want is to wave goodbye to thousands of pounds in garage repairs and higher premiums because your teenager has wrapped himself round a lamppost.

So what's to be done about the high accident rate for young drivers? Various proposals
are floating around. Maybe young drivers shouldn't be allowed to drive at night when it's so much harder to anticipate danger.

Maybe they shouldn't carry other passengers for a set period of time after they've passed their test (there's evidence that having your mates in the car tends to distract you, so that you drive less safely).

Maybe the test itself should be harder, or everyone should spend at least one whole year learning to drive.



While the new Secretary of State for Transport mulls over all these suggestions, the car manufacturer Ford has come up with a completely new idea. They have introduced the idea of MyKey, which will be available on all new Ford Fiestas sold in the UK from 1 January 2013.

Basically, MyKey means that the owner of the car (the worried parent) has the master key, and gives their teenager a second key that has been programmed to place restrictions on how the car is used.

If, for example, your teenager likes driving with the audio system turned on full blast, and you think this might be a tiny bit distracting, you can reduce the maximum volume.

You can set maximum speed, too. With MyKey, your teenager can't drive faster than 80mph unless (in an emergency) he really jams his foot down. But parents can also set a maximum general driving speed of 45, 55 or 65mph. Once your teenager goes beyond this, warning chimes will sound continuously – like a really annoying alarm clock – until he drops below your set limit again.

(Why is 45mph the lowest, I wonder? In London, where I live, there are so many traffic enforcement cameras waiting to fine you if you drive over 30mph, I can't help feeling that 25mph might be more useful...)

You can also set the software so that your teenager can't disable safety technologies that control traction or prevent low-speed collisions.

So are all these parental controls a good idea? My son Ben had mixed feelings. "If you were quite a safety-conscious driver, it might help. But if you were with your mates and determined to drive too fast, it wouldn't stop you."

I'm not sure I'm won over either. Ford's MyKey technology might make some parents feel happier.
But I think the only thing that's really going to stop inexperienced drivers from making bad decisions when they're behind the wheel is legal restrictions. It worked for seatbelts. It worked for drinking and driving.

Maybe, like they do in Northern Ireland, new drivers should be required to carry R-plates (meaning 'Restricted Driver') for a year after passing the test and have a much lower speed limit than everyone else. (The green P-plates for 'Probationary' in the UK are optional, so no help at all.)

Maybe newly qualified drivers shouldn't be able to drive at night, or on motorways, or with more than one other passenger in the car.

There are objections to the idea of restrictions. You could argue, for example, that it's safer to have one designated driver on an evening out rather than four teenagers in four separate cars.

But no solution is perfect. What's important is to give young drivers the time to gain vital experience.



Because the Ford MyKey technology is so new, no one knows yet whether having it will reduce insurance premiums. Logically, it should do. Anything that reminds a young driver to reduce speed should make insurance cheaper.

But if you want to encourage your teenager to drive more safely – and at the same time pay out less for his insurance – you might want to think about installing a little black box in your car that records how well he drives. If the insurer can see he's driving well – good acceleration and braking, for example – the premiums are likely to drop.

Even more importantly, one insurer, says that the incentive to drive more safely provided by this kind of insurance accounts for a 35% to 40% reduction in the likelihood of the young motorist being involved in an accident.

It is, as I say, a nightmare thinking of your precious teenager risking his life on the road. Do whatever you can to make sure he has a lot of experience of driving well before he heads out on his own. Driving lessons are horribly expensive, but they do make sure that the basic safety drill is drummed into his head.

Alternatively, buy him a bicycle...

Buyers demand discounts for dirty cars

 

Get out your mop, cleaning cloths and some elbow grease – it's time to clean your car if you want to get the best price when you sell it.

That's the advice form car insurance website elephant.co.uk, which looked at what adds value to a second-hand car and what makes potential buyers knock off a few quid before asking for the keys.

As well as a poor service history, lack of MOT and high mileage, car buyers don't like everyday spills and stains, dog smells and cigarette burns. Any or all of these could affect the value of your car.

So the advice is to thoroughly mop up spills, put a blanket down for pets and make small repairs to the interior. These will help ensure you get maximum value when you come to sell your car.


Researchers from elephant.co.uk talked to its network of approved repair garages to ask what things affect the value of a car. Smaller, less obvious faults such as stained or ripped upholstery, cigarette burns and dog smells appeared in the list as well as the more obvious lack of MOT, poor service history or high mileage.

Elephant.co.uk asked the garages to rank the 12 things that could knock value off the sale price of a car. The dirty dozen, in order of importance, are:

• High mileage
• Poor service history
• Poor old repairs
• Unrepaired damage dents
• Scratched or damaged panels
• Ripped or damaged seats or trim
• Faded or poor colour matched paint work
• Cigarette burns
• Soiled, stained or sticky interior
• Dog smells
• Cigarette smells
• Lack of MOT

Managing director of elephant.co.uk, Brian Martin says: "It's certainly common knowledge that a poor service history or lack of MOT will affect the amount you can ask for your vehicle when you come to sell it but our research has shown how smaller details matter too.

"I would certainly advise motorists not to cut any corners when it comes to the looking after their cars. Even simple things such as protecting your seats from pets or cleaning up spills can make a difference to the market value of your car."

The bods from elephant.co.uk also asked the garages how they thought motorists could maximise the value of their car. Apart from keeping the vehicle interior clean and fresh, the mechanics suggested keeping the fuel tank full and even having a full set of mats and mud flaps will all add value to a vehicle.

The glorious twelve things that could increase the value of a car are:

• Low mileage
• Full service history
• Full year's MOT
• Low number of previous owners
• New or good condition tyres
• Two sets of keys
• Full year's tax
• Valeted to high standards inside and out
• Clean interior
• Fresh and clean aroma inside the car
• Full tank of fuel
• Full set of mats and mud flaps

Martin says: "When selling a home, most of us would make sure it was clean, tidy and in as good condition as possible, and the same goes if you're selling your car. Whether that's privately or part exchange, take a look at our lists and see if there's anything you can do to maximise the price you get."

Forget 60 seconds - modern cars are stolen in just 10

 

The film franchise 'Gone in Sixty Seconds' was supposed to emphasise the skill of the car thieves involved. However, if a new report is anything to go by, they were amateurs, because the typical crook takes just ten seconds to steal a car.

So why is the average time falling, and which cars are most at risk?

Faster

The research says the secret of the thieves' success is the fact that they no longer try to force their way into a car and start it without the key: modern technology makes this nigh-on impossible in many cases.

Instead, in two thirds of cases, they just steal the key and drive away. This means that the average time taken to steal a car has fallen to just 10 seconds - from an average of a minute a decade ago.

Keys

It emerged that keys are remarkably poorly guarded. In just under half of thefts, they were taken from the property during a burglary, and the thief carried the loot away in the car.

Other thefts use more creative means to get around security features. 'Lifting' - where the car is loaded onto the back of a truck - now makes up 14% of all car thefts. This is up from 12% last year - and has been on the rise for the last three years. In other instances keys are forcibly taken from individuals while they are with their car - accounting for 6% of all cases where the criminal has the keys.

Models at risk

There is a clear division between opportunistic thefts - such as those after a burglary - and those which are planned. The latter tend to be stolen to order. The thieves that took part in the research said that the most popular cars to be stolen are black Audis, followed by silver and black BMWs. When asked for the least desirable model and colour they named yellow Smart cars.

The research also revealed why so many stolen cars disappear from sight. One criminal said that stripping it back to its parts will often make ten times more for the criminal, while high-end cars many be shipped in lead-lined containers (to stop the tracker working).

More than 9,000 'unnecessary' road signs taken down

 

Thousands of unnecessary signs are being pulled down on the UK's roads.

More than 9,000 traffic signs will be removed from major and residential roads in a bid to reduce clutter.

London is ripping out 8,000 repeater signs and 4,000 poles installed on its roads in the early 1990s, while in Hampshire 200 traffic signs have been taken away along a 12-mile stretch of the A32. Somerset has also done away with a further 1,000 signs.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin is urging more local authorities to follow suit, and has published a guide on how to remove signs in the most cost-efficient ways possible.

Dana Skelley, director of Roads at Transport for London, said: "Unnecessary street clutter can make the journeys of all road users awkward, regardless whether they are motorists, cyclists or pedestrians, and can dissuade people from visiting local areas."

The biggest decluttering is in the capital where 8,000 repeater signs are being torn down. These signs reinforce the meaning of the restriction imposed by the double red lines – "no stopping".

Shaun Spiers, chief executive of Campaign to Protect Rural England, added: "Individual signs may be added with the best intentions but before long can sprout into a forest of clutter that degrades our countryside and distracts drivers.

"Rather than being hectored by health and safety signs alerting of any possible risk, people driving on rural roads should be encouraged to expect to share minor rural roads with a range of other road users."

Observer Training - The Next Step.

In part two of Neil's Observer training, he shares with us the first time he takes he fellow trainee observer on his own route.  


Providing a welcome break for most, the recent festivities saw the second part of my Observer training.

This time the routes we drove were solely down to me and my fellow trainee, which made some elements much easier and others a lot harder!  For example, because I'd initially scoped the route and driven it, I knew what was coming up, what actions I was hoping to see and where to look to find them.  As an Observer you need to be much more than just a 'passenger', instead you are an active participant - constantly assessing the Associate and offering advice where needed.  Having rehearsed the route in advance I knew when speed limits were going to change, where the tricky corners were and had planned which hazards I could use to check that the System was being correctly applied.  All of this meant that, in theory, my eyes could be in the right place at the right time.

However, in addition to all of the above, the Observer is also responsible for giving timely, and most importantly accurate, directions.  This is an area both my training partner and I need to work on for the next run.  Consider the confusion at being told "go straight over at the next roundabout" (does the Observer actually mean don't turn the steering wheel?!) or "at the roundabout ahead, turn left".  According to the invaluable training manual, directions should, whenever possible, comply with the "Alert, Direct, Locate" formula - alert the Associate through a command like "I want you", before directing them to what they need to do "to turn left" and locating it "past the row of shops" - to avoid any ambiguity.

As before, it was stressed that during a typical run (insofar as any drive is 'typical'), the Observer needs to be alert enough to take advantage of any opportunities which arise during the drive to use them as examples.  This could be a cyclist on the opposite carriageway or a bus at a bus stop (driving plans), a church coming up in the distance (bearing in mind most Mid-Kent runs take place on a Sunday morning, you can reasonably expect parked cars, a potential change in speed limit down to 30mph and possibly pedestrians), telegraph poles or hedges on a country lane etc.  There are numerous different situations which occur each time we set off that, as Advanced Drivers (or Associates), we naturally deal with.  An Observer's role is to use these to illustrate some of the fundamentals of the theory.

The final element of this training session was the completion of the run sheet.  This is a most important piece of paperwork since it gives both the Associate and future Observers some valuable feedback which they can then use to improve.  Having seen this from both angles - as an Associate when I was doing my Test and now as a future Observer - I can sympathise with this; I know that on the Sunday runs I've taken part in I have devoured the content on run sheets to get an idea about what to look out for during the next hour or so.  It should be used to reinforce the good points to the drive, with examples given so that they can be used as mental anchor points, as well as raise some elements for future work (such as practising commentary, reading the manual or working on the System).

The completion of this I initially found challenging but am confident that, like so much of what I am learning, repeated practice and experience will help.


Neil Lakeland - Trainee Observer.

Neil Lakeland with fellow trainee observer Peter Bott ready for their next training session. 

Follow this link if you missed Neil's first instalment.   

 If your a member of the Mid-Kent Group of Advanced Motorist and wish to follow in the footsteps of Neil, please contact John Bowman.  If your not a member, and wish to take on the challenge of advance motoring, why not join us? Contact us by email or apply now on the web

More 20mph zones could be on the way

More towns and cities could adopt a 20mph speed limit, new research has found.

Figures obtained by The Independent show more than a third of local authorities have introduced measures to stop motorists exceeding 20mph on at least some roads, or are planning to do so.

Of the 75 local authorities that responded to a survey by the newspaper, 27 said they had introduced or were in the process of considering default 20mph zones, while six were awaiting new guidelines from the Department for Transport (DfT).

A separate poll for the newspaper found public backing for a blanket 20mph limit in built-up areas has reached more than 60 per cent, with support particularly strong among women, younger people and pensioners.

Eight million people are already living in authorities where 20mph limits are in operation such as Liverpool, Bristol, York, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and parts of London.

The move comes after official figures released in August showed road casualties in 20mph zones increased by almost a quarter in 2011.

The number of people killed or injured on roads in built-up areas with a speed limit of 20mph totalled 2,262 in 2011, up by 24 per cent from 2010.

Meanwhile casualties on 30mph roads were down by one per cent from 2010, recorded at 125,494 in 2011, according to data from the DfT.

Transport minister Norman Baker said at the time that local authorities were best placed to make the decision on whether or not to impose 20mph limits in certain areas.

"British Medical Journal research has shown a reduction in casualties and collision of around 40 per cent, a reduction in children killed or seriously injured of 50 per cent and reduction in casualties among cyclists by 17 per cent," he said.

"That is why we believe 20mph speed limits are useful in certain residential areas and support their introduction where it can be shown that they benefit road safety and quality of life."

Would you welcome more 20mph zones?

Fancy a 2012 Ferrari 458 supercar for £89k?

Fancy owning a 2012 Ferrari for less than the price of a brand new Porsche 911?

We thought that question would get you interested – a 2012 Ferrari 458 Italia is currently listed on Auto Trader for a mere £88,875!

That's less than the sum of money Porsche would charge you for a shiny new 911 Carrera 4 3.8 PDK, and makes this particular 458 not only the cheapest right-hand drive example on the used car website, but also the cheapest Italia in the UK!

For £88,875, you'll get a 458 finished in a luscious shade of black and with a vast list of optional extras.

As just a taster, this 458 has carbon brakes, an "internal Carbon Fibre Racing package", sat nav, "Super Racing seats", and 20-inch forged dark painted wheels. Bought less than a year ago, the original owner forked out more than £208k for this piece of supercar exotica.

However, as you may have guessed, there is a snag... quite a big one in fact.

This 458 appears to have had rather a large accident. Damage has been caused to the entire front-end of the car, with the headlamps, front bumper, bonnet and front bumper crossmember all bearing the brunt of the collision. The driver's side extension leg is broken away too. There's also light damage to the rear bumper cover and the airbags have been deployed.

The dealer says the suspension, wheels and main tub are all "okay". The car "starts and drives around no problem" and has all the paperwork, service books, two remote keys and two tracker keys.

The dealer believes the total cost of parts will be just £8k due to the 458 enjoying a healthy supply of second-hand parts.

We have to say that with left-hand-drive 458s in good condition and with around 10k on their clocks fetching £140k, it would seem this particular car represents good value for money. But the question is, could you drive around in a repaired 458?