Just imagine having a gadget in your car which all but guarantees that you will never have to wait at traffic lights again.

Journey times, fuel consumption, emissions and even possibly stress and speeding could be reduced significantly as a result.

The extensive pilot program is being tested in Audi’s home town of Ingolstadt, Germany.

The in-car gadget communicates with a network of 46 “intelligent” traffic signals and then tells the driver how fast to drive in order reach the lights when they are in green mode.

It is acknowledged that the system will not benefit drivers during particularly heavy commuter traffic, but new approaches to networked control of traffic signals together with ever improved communications systems between lights and systems installed into vehicles offers great hope for improvements in traffic flows.

The testing of the gadget on 3 busy junctions in Ingolstadt established that drivers of the cars with the gadget installed in them rarely had to stop at the lights.

Such a system will undoubtedly help with attaining the seemingly aspirational targets (or that’s what they seem like) for reductions in CO2 levels but could make an ever bigger impact on finances for haulage contractors, bus and coach operators.

Eco-friendly car insurers may even view them favourably once testing is complete and the product is made available internationally.

Anyone thinking of drinking and driving over Christmas can be assured that police will be out in force, and will not hesitate to stop and breathalyse anyone they suspect of driving whilst under the influence.

Driving today is very different to what it was say, 20 years ago with more crowded roads. Couple that with extended life expectancies and it is clear that our roads will get even busier.

TV and radio stations will shortly commence playing the latest anti drink driving campaigns.

The 2008 “Think” campaign will be directed predominantly towards increasing awareness of the affects of alcohol, particularly in younger drivers between the ages of 21 to 30 years old.

Whilst drink driving occurs across all age bands, the younger generation are considered most likely to offend.

Not all drink drivers however, are likely to find themselves over the limit deliberately. The spiking of drinks and effects of some medication can often cause individuals to be over the limit.

If you are a driver, be cautious, buy your own drinks and be particularly careful to steer clear of any alcoholic drink if you are on medication.

If you are a passenger, don’t even think about spiking a driver’s drink, no matter how funny or cool you think it may be.

You are risking your own, and every other person riding in the car along with the possible livelihood of the driver who was kind enough to drive you around whilst you celebrated Christmas.

Don’t be too surprised if they don’t thankyou if you do!

Speed cameras, the curse of all motorists.

Even the most law abiding of us periodically breach speed limits.

As we all know, speeding convictions attract endorsements on our licences and if we get enough of them, we could, at worst, face a ban from driving for a specified period and/or look forward to enjoying increased insurance premiums at next renewal.

There are 41.2 million drivers in the UK according to DVLA driving statistics and Swinton, one of the UK’s leading high street insurers, conservatively estimates that between six to eight million of these drivers have points on their licence.

Following a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Swinton, 48% of drivers consider it time for the government to rethink their approach to managing speeding.

It is unquestionable that speed is considered a contributory factor in many accidents but constant accusations of simply using these cameras to generate income is misdirecting people’s opinion and benefits they bring.

The survey revealed that opinions are split regarding the concept of drivers being rewarded for safe driving with 48% believing a random financial bonus awarded by speeding cameras would be a good idea and 44% thinking it wasn’t.

An interesting concept – just imagine receiving a cheque in the post congratulating you on good driving.

It may also help reduce the number of drivers out there that have failed to advise DVLA of their new address as well.

You are driving along a fairly busy road, slowing up to turn right into a side road. There is no break in the oncoming traffic so you have to stop.

Your indicator is on, flashing away, your foot is on the brake pedal so your brake lights are also clearly displayed, yet inexplicably, the car behind you crashes in to the rear of your car.

You do not feel like you have been injured and you quickly realise that your car is still drivable, so, to avoid further congestion, you complete your manoeuvre into the side road and pull up, intending to exchange contact details etc. with the other driver.

To your surprise, the other driver has continued on with their journey and no longer in view so you don’t even have their car registration.

All of your potential witnesses, endeavouring to complete their journey’s no doubt, are also noticeable by their absence.

An all too common occurrence, unfortunately.

Not all is lost however; it is possible that, even in the absence of witnesses, there is still a chance that you could pursue a claim for the damage to your car and any injuries that develop through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB).

The MIB is a fund of last resort and as such will consider claims for property damage and injury where compensation cannot be claimed from another source.

East Sussex now possesses the un-envious title of being the area where people are most likely to claim on their car insurance policies for theft from their cars.

This revelation was revealed following a study based on 10 million car insurance quotes provided over the past 10 years.

The results revealed that over the past 5 years, drivers in the village of Winchelsea are more likely to submit a claim on their car insurance for either theft of the car itself or for items stole from their cars.

Surprisingly, Winchelsea is a small, ancient rural village with a total residency of only 580 people, 50% of whom are retired and 20% are not even full time residents. Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Godstone, both with populations of around 5,900, were the second and third places insurers are most likely to receive claims from for car theft.

With the cost of car insurance premiums reported to have risen by 7.5% in October to an average of £724.28 according to the AA’s British Premium Index, underwriters will undoubtedly be taking note of such a high percentage in the incidence of theft in the area and adjust their insurance premiums accordingly, even for those that have never made a claim.

Data such as this suggests that those residing or frequenting areas where there is a high number of such incidents may do well to consider protecting their no claim bonus, but more particularly ensure they take extra precautions to protect their vehicles and contents by improving security and most of all, ensure they do not leave any valuables in view.

Weather conditions in recent months have made driving particularly difficult with more than the average risk of accidents.

Trees have been particularly prone to the power of nature and many have given up the fight and been blown over.

Whenever the UK is subject to adverse weather conditions, trees always tend to fall and quite often, onto moving or stationery cars.

Comprehensive policyholders will be able to claim off their insurance policies and if they are lucky, will have protected no claims bonus so will be relatively unaffected other than having to pay their policy excess.

Third party Fire and Theft and Third Party Only policyholders however, are not so lucky. Their policies will not cover them for damage to their vehicles.

Their only form of recourse maybe against the owner of the tree and even then, only if it can be proved that the owner has failed to maintain it correctly by having it regularly inspected and failed to take any remedial advisory action such as lopping it.

If you are a landowner with trees near to public roads or walkways and you haven’t had them inspected recently, you may want to think about getting them checked out, along with your liability insurances just in case one does fall and causes damage or injury to a third party.

It’s that time of year when festivities and Christmas celebrations can overtake our common sense.

Any other time of year, people are unlikely to clutter their cars with items dangling from the outside of their car, their rear view mirrors, have inflammable Christmas decorations taped around steering wheels and cards sellotaped to windows and the dashboards.

Whilst it is perfectly legal to include some items, however, the law of common sense says that you should not affix anything that could:

1. Affect your vision whilst driving
2. Could cause injury to the driver or passengers in the event of an accident or following sudden evasive action
3. Affects your ability to drive the vehicle and manage the controls

It is appreciated that many will simply say “I don’t do such things or have any items likely to cause injury anyway so this reminder doesn’t affect me”.

Now have a closer look at your children’s cars, your friends’ cars and basically any car that you are likely to travel in. You may even have bought the accessories for them and then ask yourself the question again – could you be affected?

The chances are that if you look close enough, you will find items that put your wellbeing at risk in the event of an accident, just like someone sitting in the rear of a car without their seatbelt will, in all likelihood cause serious injury to both themselves and the front seat passengers in the event of an accident.

Technology is moving forward and not all for the good.

Some car insurers exclude cover against theft whilst a car is left unlocked or have the keys left in it at the time.

This is fair enough except for the fact that would be car thieves now have the ability to open cars remotely leaving no sign of the break in causing problems around the legitimacy of claims submitted for both the claimant and the insurer.

Police report that car thieves are now using a gadget which is able to   “clone” car key security codes when a driver locks their car doors using the key locking device.

These thieves are opportunists, and wait patiently in their own vehicles a short distance away looking for signs that the driver will not be back for a few minutes.

To eliminate this risk, be sure to manually lock your car door by hitting the lock button inside the car.

Needless to say, if you do happen to notice someone behaving suspiciously around a car park or near parked cars, report it to your local police immediately.

Hopefully, car manufacturers will take heed of this new technology and develop even more secure ways to protect our cars but in the interim, continue to take all valuables out of your car when it is not in use and leave nothing of value in view of passers by.

There will be few of us that have not been either personally involved or affected in some way by a car accident involving someone we know, whether it is a relation, work colleague or friend.

There is no doubt that any such incidents have a profound affect on not only the injured party’s lives, but their families and friends as well.

For a period, most will tend to moderate their driving and be more careful, take fewer risks, and have an increased awareness of potential dangers. After a while however, it is likely that we will revert back to our customary style and approach.

For those injured in the accidents however, their injuries may not permit them to do the same. The injuries may have made that impossible or at best only possible for a period whereupon after time, the injuries will cause problems.

In the early days following an accident, some injuries may be painful but as the pain subsides, so do the individual’s thoughts about claiming compensation, which could be a mistake.

Even though the pain has subsided does not necessarily mean that the injury no longer exists and you have achieved 100% recovery. The decision regarding the longer term prognosis should be left to the experts, namely Doctors and medical consultants.

Just because you only suffered what you believed were minor injuries at the time and you didn’t feel the need to seek expert medical advice, there are regulations in place that permit you to subsequently claim for compensation for injuries sustained in accidents.

At present, if you were over 18 years old at the time of the accident, you have three years from the date of the accident to bring a claim for damages for personal injury. 

If you were under 18 years old at the time, you have three years from your 18th birthday.

The Motor Insurer’s Bureau places the current number of uninsured drivers on UK roads at around 1.5 million.

Uninsured drivers are responsible for around 200 deaths every year and hundreds of other injuries.

Injured parties often receive a mere pittance in compensation whilst the offending drivers seem to be getting off light, often with fines which are less than the person would have paid in car insurance premiums.

Accidents involving uninsured drivers cost the insurance industry £500m annually and road safety campaigners and insurers have called for an urgent review of current rules.

On average, fines have fallen from £224 to just £185 which, even though the number of instances of accidents involving uninsured drivers has increased and courts do have the power to imprison offenders, offers no resemblance to fines that go directly into the governments coffers such as TV Licence evasion (£1000).

Even though the Motor Insurance Bureau is there to compensate the victims of negligent uninsured and untraced motorists and every insurance underwriting company is obliged, by virtue of the Road Traffic Act 1988, to be a member of MIB and to contribute to its funding, the compensation offered is subject to an excess.

Whilst the likes of Direct Line now reimburses this excess to it’s policyholders, insurers it seems have no form of recourse to recover their expenses other than increasing all the law abiding citizens insurance premiums to claw these monies back.

Is it right that offenders get off so lightly – the punishment for non compliance with the law should at the very least be consistent?

Why is failing to pay a TV Licence a more serious offence than causing injury to someone whilst driving without insurance?

If the average price of a car insurance policy is now in the region of £500+, so should the fines, at the very least.