Police forces are now getting proactive under the latest county-wide crackdown on drink-driving.

North Yorkshire police have commenced their month-long campaign increasing awareness activity around the county.

As part of the campaign “I’ll be Des”, designated driver badges, lanyards and stickers have been made  available for people to display who is staying alcohol free to drive friends and family home after an evening out or an office party.

In the first week, more than 500 motorists were breath-tested, 13 of which were found to be over the legal limit for alcohol.

Most will accept that drink driving is socially and morally unacceptable and the fact that 13 people in North Yorkshire alone have ignored all the police awareness publicity and warnings suggests that many more will be caught and subsequently convicted around the country in the next few weeks.

Fortunately, there were no reports of any serious accident or fatal injury for those offenders caught in the North Yorkshire crackdown.

Their only consolation being that they will be facing personal and family embarrassment in court and receive a heavy fine and ban from driving followed by a substantial increase in the next car insurance premium when they get their licence back rather than having to live with the fact that they have caused death or serious injury as a result.

Let’s just hope the rest of the country is so lucky as well.

It is illegal in the UK to use a hand held mobile phone whilst driving.

Researchers at the University of Utah have invented a device which is designed to help reduce the number of road deaths caused by people on their mobile phones.

Called the Key2SafeDriving, it operates using Bluetooth technology to wirelessly connect keys to phones and it is hoped that insurers will recognise the benefits and offer lower insurance rates to users.

The young, and business drivers are most likely to use their phone whilst driving and it is hoped that both parents and companies will endorse the product as it offers a guarantee that the driver will not be distracted by talking on their mobile whilst driving thereby assuring concentration on the road and mitigating the chance of an accident.

The system includes a car key device for each driver and connects wirelessly with each key user’s mobile phone via either Bluetooth or RFID (radio-frequency identification) technologies.

To turn on the engine, each driver must either slide the key out or push a button to release it. The device then sends a signal to the driver’s mobile phone, placing it in “driving mode” and displaying a “stop” sign on the phone’s display screen.

Incoming calls and texts are then automatically answered with a message saying, “I am driving now. I will call you later when I arrive at the destination safely.”

Flood warnings issued throughout the South West over this past weekend showed just how volatile UK weather actually is. Thursday was dry and calm yet by Friday evening the weather turned to torrential rain fuelled by strong winds.

Trying to drive through fast flowing water is extremely hazardous and many vehicles on South West roads simply gave up the ghost and broke down.

It is in situations like this that drivers start to appreciate the real value of breakdown cover which is offered alongside car insurance policies by many insurers.

Premiums tend to be very reasonable and to be able to secure valuable assistance by making a single telephone call to a company trusted by your insurer is immeasurable in these circumstances.

Ask any driver that has had the harrowing experience of being caught in a country lane by the sight of a rush of water coming down the hill towards you at speed and you will always receive the same response – scary!!

Anyone caught in such a situation should firstly consider whether they would be better advised to drive through the water or attempt to drive away from it.

Either way, slow down. but keep the revs up and slowly try to navigate your way through to higher ground. Be careful to keep an eye on any banks for signs of possible collapse as you go.

If the engine fails, contact your breakdown cover provider immediately, if possible, get yourself and passengers to higher ground and in out of the rain.

Whatever you do, do not panic, think calmly and quickly, if there is anyone in the car that is unable to walk etc. or in need of medical assistance, contact the emergency services immediately.

The Government is poised to get tough on uninsured drivers by introducing legal measures to compel registered owners to prove they have insurance cover.

Jim Fitzpatrick, MP has announced that the Department of Transport would begin consultation on regulations to enforce provisions within the Road Safety Act 2006.

The Government is committed to introducing new steps to clamp down on illegal motorists and tackle the one in ten cars being driven around the UK roads by uninsured drivers.

It is a criminal offence to drive a vehicle without at least 3rd Party Cover which is intended to compensate innocent victims in the event of an accident or injury caused by a motorised vehicle.

Insurance premiums have risen significantly in recent years, particularly for younger drivers and by coincidence (?), so have the number of people taking a chance and driving around our roads without insurance cover.

Little wonder really considering the penalty for driving without insurance can be as little as a £100 fine whilst the insurance premium can be £1000 plus.

Insurers do not however take too kindly to drivers that have been convicted of driving without insurance and increase their premiums accordingly to display their disapproval.

This all too often causes a “Catch 22” situation whereby offenders who cannot afford these increased premiums are tempted to yet again to start driving their car around without insurance risking further criminal prosecution.

Police in the South West are warning drinkers to stay alert and watch out for anyone trying to spike their drinks.

Whilst this sort of activity can happen at any time throughout the year, police have made a special point of mentioning it following a couple of recent incidents in the South West whereby victims of drink driving offences have admitted losing their memory of events over a period of a few hours and feeling sick even though they have had little or no alcohol to drink.

South West Police advise that whilst some people may be just doing it for a bit of a laugh, there is evidence to suggest that in other parts of the country, “drink spiking” is being done for alterior motives, such as drug-assisted sexual assault.

The biggest difference between having your drink spiked with alcohol and having your drink spiked with drugs is that drugs cause you to lose track of extended periods of time (six or seven hours) and you start to feel unwell very quickly. Alcohol causes you to lose your memory for just a few hours.

Some people have even described being drugged as something like an out of body experience, realising what is happening but unable to do anything to prevent it.

If you believe you have been subject to drink spiking, contact the police immediately as the  drugs used tend to leave the body quickly.

On occasion, car owners have to cancel their car insurance policy, be it as a result of a medical condition, convictions leading to a disqualification, or simply because the car is no longer a viable proposition and is no longer roadworthy.

Within the small print of every car insurance policy is a series of conditions surrounding the cancellation of a policy.

The condition normally lays down the amount of the annual premium the insured can expect to receive back if the policy is cancelled before it’s year end. As an example, you may only receive the equivalent of say 3 months of the annual policy premium back if you cancelled your policy after only 6 months.

Running alongside any charges imposed by the insurance company, customers cancelling a policy can also expect to feel the additional burden of an administration fee imposed by the insurance broker, intermediary or administrator.

Generally, these additional administration fees are not clearly documented in either policy and/or covering letter and can vary from around £25 to as high as £55.

Insurers and intermediaries may however waive these costs in exceptional circumstances. For example, if an insurance company will not insure the replacement vehicle that has been purchased for whatever reason, they will usually offer a pro rata refund of the annual premium; namely, if your policy has been running for 6 months, you will receive 6 months of the annual premium back.

There are a growing number of people waking up to find their petrol has been stolen from their fuel tanks according to BBC reports.

Anti theft petrol locking caps seems to offer little resistance as determined thieves use ingenious lock breaking devices to simply break right through and siphon off as much fuel as they can carry or simply drill a hole in the petrol tank.

The spiralling cost of petrol and diesel is thought to have “fuelled” (please excuse the pun!) the increase in these type of thefts, and even though both the police forces and insurers across the UK have warned about such activity, it seems to have had no impact.

Thieves are not discrimatory. They seem to be getting more and more daring, and are not afraid to steal the fuel from cars parked on roads, car parks or even from cars parked in peoples’ driveways.

The dilemma for the car owner of course is “Can I?(or shall I?) claim off my insurance policy for the damage?”

Immediate thoughts - look to the question “Can I Claim?”

In short, NO!

Believe it or not, current insurance underwriting does not actually cover theft of fuel or indeed the damage to the petrol tank.

Theft/attempted theft only covers damage to windows and interior damage. A fuel tank is fitted on the exterior of the car and must be replaced – it cannot be repaired.

There is a good case in this instance for car owners to perhaps avoid fitting their cars with locking petrol caps.

Any would be thief would then simply have to undo the cap and siphon it off – the only loss would then be the fuel itself, a lot less than replacing a petrol tank.

The Corporate Manslaughter Act makes all UK companies responsible if one of their employees suffers an accident whilst at work. This includes periods when they are driving in connection with their work.

Health and Safety statistics reveals that people driving in connection with their work are involved in more than 20 fatalities and 250 serious injuries each and every week.

It makes sense therefore for employers to endeavour, in fact, invest, in ensuring their drivers receive the best possible training available.

Such training could include funding advanced driving courses or even sending your people off on special courses intended to help them develop exceptional, safer driving skills in dangerous conditions.

Such activities will help companies fulfil their legal obligations under the Duty of Care Act.

There will of course be personal benefit for the individuals as well as they will be able to claim reductions in their own car insurance premiums with some insurers as a result of completing the course.

The company enjoys lower fleet insurance premiums, better drivers tend to drive more safely and have fewer accidents so vehicles spend less time off the road, drivers spend more time on the road generating more income. The company avoids possible litigation and prosecution.

Everyone wins.

It’s a terrible time to sell, but a brilliant time to buy.

The classic car market, like everything else it seems, is struggling to maintain values.

Whilst it may not be a sellers market at the moment, there are some excellent opportunities for buyers to get their hands on a beloved dream car at heavily discounted prices as owners attempt to offload surplus cars.

Recent auctions saw a 1970 (H reg) Rolls Shadow worth an estimated £3k - £4k selling for just £2,300. A 1988 Bentley Mulsanne (S reg) worth an estimated £7,500 - £8,500 was eventually sold for £3,900.

Of more significant note was the sale of a 1956 Bentley S1 6 cylinder with an estimated sale price of £18,500 - £24,000 which was knocked out for the bargain price of just £14,800.

Classic car insurance underwriters take the value of the vehicle into consideration when assessing the risk, and ultimately, the insurance premium, along with other matters such as annual mileage, expected usage and place where it is stored.

It follows therefore that lower valuations could have a positive effect on premiums, so if your classic car insurance policy is due for renewal shortly, it could well be worth getting a new valuation.

Hopefully, premiums will not have risen too sharply, and the cost of the valuation will be more than offset by the reduction in your renewal premium.

A Westcountry medical student was killed whilst a passenger in a car which careered off the road hitting a tree.

The driver had completed the replacement of the rear wheel bearings just the day before following advice from mechanics and had even practised completing the job in a scrap yard.

Police investigations led to the conclusion that the wheel bearing had unfortunately collapsed after being over-tightened during reassembly.

A relatively simple mistake that any inexperienced person could make.

Whilst there are many basic maintenance repairs that can be undertaken by an inexperienced car repairer, it must be stressed that if you are in any doubt, get the job done professionally.

It may well seem a good idea to save a few pounds by undertaking the repairs yourself, but unless you know what you are doing, the risks are very real. Always remember, these risks are not restricted to you, there is every chance that if your repair failed, it could turn out to be just a devastating and fatal as the accident mentioned above.

Cars today are tested to rigid safety specifications, but that only applies to when they roll off the belt conveyors at the assembly line.

Insurers generally include a clause stipulating that the insured vehicle must be maintained in a roadworthy condition, and poor maintenance or repairs could lead to an insurer refusing any claim.