Slower pedestrians, such as elderly people and those with children, could be given more time to cross the road thanks to smart traffic lights.
The new system, developed by British tech company Now Wireless, uses artificial intelligence and cameras to predict when people are likely to cross a road. It also predicts how long it will take for them to use a pedestrian crossing.
No Wireless says its system can reduce congestion and stop-start traffic, as vehicles will no longer need to stop for ‘ghost pedestrians’ or a single person. The lights potentially only change when several people are waiting to cross.
The system uses cameras to detect people 15 metres away from the crossing and pairs this with AI analysis to ‘work out their intentions’.
‘Reduced risk of virus transmission’
It also enables people to cross a road without needing to push a button to stop traffic. Now Wireless says this means a ‘reduced risk of virus transmission by eliminating the need to touch a button’.
A number of parameters can be put in place to meet specific requirements for individual crossings, says the firm. For example, the lights could change after a specific amount of time elapses if the camera identifies a single person is waiting. Or they can change in a shorter time if many people are waiting to cross.
“As economies build back, information about pedestrian numbers, and making sure that crossing points operate efficiently, will be particularly important for urban areas,” said Brian Jackson, MD of Now Wireless.
The Grand Tour’s James May has called on the government to extend the two-year validity of driving theory test certificates. His plea comes as many learners have been unable to take driving lessons, or the practical test, during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Leaner drivers with expired theory test certificates have to pay £23 to retake the test. It is claimed that 70,000 people have successfully passed the test, but must take it again due to delays.
There is already a large backlog of people waiting to take their practical driving test – estimated to be eight months long – and May says the government’s refusal to extend theory certificates is adding 332 learners to this queue every day.
James May explained: “I know that the test is both very dull and quite difficult to pass. There’s a large group of – predominantly young – people out there who have successfully passed it and now, through no fault of their own, are going to have to take it all over again – and pay for it again. That’s if they even manage to book a slot.
“Just at a time when they need the most help to get out and get jobs as we emerge from lockdown, I think this is unfair and unreasonable.”
May continued: “The government seems to be arguing that they can’t change the law to extend the validity of theory tests. But that’s exactly what they’ve done in Northern Ireland, and they were quick to extend MOT validity for cars. I’m not sure why they’ve decided to penalise young drivers in this way. Perhaps they just want the money?”
The former Top Gear presenter’s call for action comes as driving lessons are allowed to resume in England and Wales.
High demand for lessons
According to the AA, more than 26,000 people have requested a notification for when lesson booking re-opens. Its Driving School offshoot has seen nearly 177,000 individual searches for driving lessons since December 2020.
“We saw huge demand for driving lessons after the first lockdown last year and anticipate even more people will want to learn to drive this year,” said RobertCowell, interim managing director of AA Driving School.
“Although instructors met the challenges of their increased workload when the last lockdown ended, learners struggled to book tests and it resulted in further delays. We hope they have learned their lesson and will be releasing more test slots sooner.”
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Fortunately, Bentley has already developed a winning reputation at Pikes Peak. In 2018, the luxurious Bentayga set a new record for Production SUVs with a time of 10 minutes 49.9 seconds.
The following year, Bentley used the Continental GT to claim victory in the Production Car category.
Winging it to the top
For 2021, Bentley has turned to the successful Continental GT3 race car as the basis for its Pikes Peak contender.
A carefully chosen biofuel will be used for the 4.0-l twin-turbocharged V8 engine, with a focus on maintaining performance as the altitude rises. Bentley promises that the short exhaust tailpipes, exiting from the side of the Continental GT3, will deliver dramatic sounds.
Aerodynamics are also key to the new GT3. The Pikes Peak car will wear the biggest rear wing ever fitted to a Bentley, with a two-plane splitter at the front and giant diffuser at the back.
New Zealand-born Rhys Millen, a multiple class winner at Pikes Peak, will be responsible for driving the Bentley.
A sustainable performance future
Aside from making a dramatic motorsport statement, Bentley intends to use the Pikes Peak experience to investigate which biofuels the company could use in future.
Bentley’s Beyond100 programme will see hybrid choices offered across the entire range by 2023. The brand will then become fully electric by 2030.
With plans to continue producing internal combustion engines for almost another decade, Bentley hopes that biofuels will create a sustainable interim solution.
Dr Matthias Rabe, Bentley board member for engineering, commented that: “Our powertrain engineers are already researching both biofuels and e-fuels for use by our customers alongside our electrification programme – with intermediate steps of adopting renewable fuels at the factory in Crewe and for our company fleet.
“In the meantime, the Continental GT3 Pikes Peak will show that renewable fuels can allow motorsport to continue in a responsible way, and hopefully it will capture the third and final record in our triple crown.”
Bentley will undertake testing of the new car in the UK, before having it shipped to the United States ahead of the event in June later this year.
The number of young people with a full driving licence has declined to the lowest level on record.
According toDVLA data, 2.97 million people aged 16 to 25 in Great Britain hold a full licence, down from 3.32 million in March 2020. It’s also the lowest number since records started in 2012, when there were 3.42 million.
Driving tests and lessons have been suspended throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, while financial pressures have also increased.
The decline is sharper relative to the total number of young people, which has risen over the same period, according to a report by PA news agency.
According to a survey conducted by theDepartment for Transport in 2019, the most common reasons for 17- to 20-year-olds in England not getting behind the wheel were all financial: the cost of learning to drive (41 percent), of buying a car (31 percent) and of insuring it (30 percent).
Fewer than one in five (19 percent) of respondents said they were not interested in driving, and 12 percent cited the availability of other forms of transport.
‘A very stressful time for learners’
AA president Edmund King said: “This has been a very stressful time for many learners and indeed their instructors, who were unable to work”.
He added the disruption had been made worse by the government’s refusal to extend the maximum two-year period between passing the theory exam and taking a practical test.
There was “massive pent-up demand for both lessons and tests,” he claimed, and bookings were expected to “skyrocket when instructors can teach again”.
Steve Gooding from the RAC Foundation added: “Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by this fall in the number of full licence holders aged 25 and under in a year when the Covid-19 pandemic increased financial pressures for many, meant driving lessons and driving tests had to be suspended, and resulted in more young people being locked down in their family home.”
An air quality lobbying group led by an MP has called on the government to introduce stricter MOT testing for diesel particulate filters (DPFs) in order to reduce emissions.
At present, MOT testers only have to check for the presence of a DPF. However, the Westminster Commission for Road Air Quality says this is not good enough, pointing out that if the filter is damaged, particles will be emitted with reduced filtration. This could result in much higher particulate emissions.
The group – founded by Barry Sheerman, Labour MP for Huddersfield – cited research from Holland, which estimated 10 percent of diesel cars have damaged, faulty, tampered with or unlawfully removed DPF filters.
Members of the group include Renault Trucks UK, Siemens Mobility and the City of London Corporation.
Why are diesel particulate filters a problem?
Based on this data, the introduction of diesel particulate filter testing during MOTs could reduce PM2.5 particles in the UK by 1,000 tonnes per year, the group said.
It added a Dutch MOT testing centre measured a diesel vehicle with a faulty DPF and found that one single polluting vehicle’s particle emissions would be the same as from all the typical idling diesel vehicles with working DPFs in a 360-mile long, three-lane traffic jam.
Barry Sheerman, MP for Huddersfield and the chair of the group, said: “As a Commission, we are committed to identifying and following best practice in achieving improved air quality – drawing expertise from home and abroad. More rigorous assessments of vehicles’ emissions levels would mitigate the harmful health impacts of high roadside air pollution and in turn, save lives.
“We will continue to relay to the Government the merits of being inspired by the successes from the Netherlands, and bring attention to best practice elsewhere.”
The cost of car insurance has fallen to its lowest point in seven years, with experts calling it a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to research conducted by Money Supermarket, the average cost of fully comprehensive insurance in the UK fell by £73.32 to £417.06 – a fall of 15 percent – in the first quarter of 2021, which represents the biggest quarter-on-quarter drop on record.
The firm claimed that, as drivers have been covering fewer miles, and there is a reduction of the number of vehicles on the roads, there is more competition for insurance sales, which causes insurers to lower premiums.
Meanwhile, fewer miles driven has led to fewer claims – which makes insurance more profitable and allows providers to reduce prices and pass this benefit on to customers.
From January to March 2021, every region across the country has benefitted from a reduction in the average cost of fully comprehensive premiums, Money Supermarket said.
In the West Midlands, policies were £101.54 cheaper between January-March 2021 than they were from October-December last year on average, representing a 17 percent fall in costs.
This is the largest drop of anywhere in the UK.
Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West, the North East and the East Midlands all saw prices fall by 15 percent.
Premiums for fully comprehensive car insurance are cheapest on average in the Crown Dependencies (£276.25), as well as the South West (£291.08) and Scotland (£324.31) and they are most expensive in London (£607.73), the firm added.
The cheap car insurance bubble ‘could burst’
“Extra competition for sales is causing insurers to lower premiums, as fewer claims means that insurance is more profitable and providers can therefore reduce prices and pass this benefit on to customers,” said Andy Teasdale, car insurance spokesperson at Money Supermarket.
“However, it is likely the bubble will burst at some point as lockdown eases and driving – as well as accidents and claims – start to rise again.
“It is unclear how many of those who have been working from home during the last year will potentially reduce their time in the workplace. If there is a significant shift, it could mean that we can enjoy lower premiums for longer.”
Toyota president and CEO Akio Toyoda has been named 2021 World Car Person of the Year by the World Car Awards organisation.
The charismatic Toyota leader beat four other global automotive execs to the top spot thanks to votes from 93 international motoring journalists.
Mr Toyoda succeeds last year’s winner, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, in being honoured as someone who has made a significant contribution to the global automotive industry.
“On behalf of all 360,000 Toyota team members around the world, thank you for this tremendous honour!” said Mr Toyoda.
“If you don’t mind, however, I would like to change this award from car ‘person’ of the year to car ‘people’ of the year – because it’s the collective effort of all our global employees, retailers and suppliers that has truly made Toyota what it is today.
“I for one couldn’t be a luckier or more grateful CEO.”
Under Mr Toyoda’s stewardship, Toyota’s image has been transformed. Long one of the world’s most successful car companies, it is now among the most exciting mainstream brands, producing models such as the GR Yaris, Supra and upcoming new GR 86.
“No more boring cars,” said Mr Toyoda early in his stewardship – and he is proving true to his word.
All the time, as the World Car Awards organisation points out, while actively participating in motorsports himself as a driver.
“Thank you again for this award,” he said, “and to my fellow car lovers, see you on the track!”
Lotus is the latest car brand to launch a manufacturer-backed Approved Used scheme for secondhand cars.
Called ‘Lotus Approved’, the scheme can be applied by dealers to any Lotus up to 20 years old, provided it meets a pre-agreed set of criteria. These include passing technical and cosmetic checks, which the Norfolk-based carmaker says will ‘deliver a high-quality and consistent standard of pre-owned car throughout the Lotus network’.
In addition, Lotus dealers will be able to offer flexible finance on these cars.
A spokesman for Lotus told Motoring Research that while dealers have been able to market approved used vehicles before, they all worked to different standards. The Lotus Approved scheme introduces a set of criteria that has been laid down by the head office for the first time.
In order to be granted Lotus Approved status, vehicles must pass the following tests:
The car must be given a minimum 12-month warranty by the dealer supplying it
The car must have a full service history and the dealer must conduct a HPI or Experian vehicle history check.
The dealer must run a vehicle identity check with mileage verification
The car will undergo a multi-point vehicle inspection by a Lotus factory-trained technician
A Lotus factory-trained technician will take the car on a 10-mile road test
The dealer will conduct an appropriate service and/or MoT if either/both are due within three months
The dealer will offer a full vehicle valet
The dealer will include 12 months’ breakdown cover
In addition, every Lotus Approved car comes with a free Certificate of Provenance, which provides detailed vehicle information. Buyers will also get a few ‘Lotus collectables’, including an engraved aluminium plaque, a leather keyring, a presentation tin of four badges and a Lotus ink pen in a branded gift box.
Many manufacturers offer ‘approved used’ schemes for second-hand cars, but by including vehicles up to 20 years old, Lotus is going above and beyond most others. Ferrari’s used offering, for example, extends to cars up to 14 years old.
‘A win-win scenario’
Geoff Dowding, director of sales and aftersales at Lotus, said: “The launch of the Lotus Approved programme is another significant milestone in the transformation of our business.
“This is a win-win scenario for everyone; for customers new to the Lotus brand it delivers added value and peace of mind, and for our retailers it’s an opportunity to expand their customer base.”
More than 4 in 5 of motorists (85 percent) say they would like to see a halt on the construction of smart motorways “until the safety case is fully proven”, according to a new survey.
The poll of 4,500 drivers by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart also found that 84 percent have little faith in the safety systems’ abilities to detect their car if they were to break down in a running lane and protect them until help arrived.
Additionally, the IAM RoadSmart study found that 81 percent of motorists felt less safe travelling on a smart motorway compared to a traditional motorway, and 81 percent agreed that hard shoulders should be immediately reinstated on smart motorways.
Smart motorways aim to improve journey times by increasing capacity with the hard shoulder used as a normal lane. However, 40 percent of those surveyed said they found no noticeable improvement in their journey time.
Only four percent of the drivers that participated in the poll said they found a very noticeable improvement in journey times, while six percent claimed the introduction of smart motorways increased journey times.
‘Very little confidence in smart motorways’
“Our members include many high mileage, experienced and confident motorway users but the results of this survey are clear to see, with the vast majority having very little, or no confidence, in the safety of smart motorways,” said Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart’s director of policy and research.
“We would urge the Department for Transport and Highways England to listen to what smart motorway users are saying and to consider our findings, along with other in-depth research, to determine the best approach to developing the smart motorway network.
“Delaying decisions on smart motorways will only lead to more drivers getting stressed.”
Before tackling a long journey for the first time in a while, it’s also important to examine the condition of your car. Here are the top 10 areas to check before you hit the road.
Your car’s oil and coolant play a vital role in keeping your engine running smoothly. If the oil level is half-way between the minimum and maximum markers on the dipstick, you don’t need to add any more. If it’s below this point, pour in some engine oil, adding a small amount at a time.
Check the coolant level
Coolant, or anti-freeze, prevents your engine from overheating in hot weather and freezing in colder weather. It’s stored in a clear plastic container, usually located near the radiator. There will be a mark or sticker on the container to indicate the correct fluid level. You may need to dilute the anti-freeze with distilled water.
Top up the windscreen washer fluid
The reserve is usually close to the top of the engine and is often marked with a windscreen wiper icon. If you can see the fluid level is low, top it up, based on the manufacturer’s recommended dilution (you’ll find this in your handbook).
Check the battery health
If you’ve only been doing short journeys in your car, or haven’t driven for several weeks, your battery may have gone flat as it won’t have been able to recharge over longer trips.
A longer drive – half an hour or more – will ensure the battery has a chance to recharge. If you’re having trouble starting your car for the first time in a while, you may need to jump-start it using another car or battery pack.
Check the tyres
Your car’s tyres could have deflated or even developed cracks due to lack of use. Before you set off, check them all (including the spare) for any splits, holes or tears. Look for glass or nails that could cause a puncture or tear in the future, and also check the depth of tread on each tyre. In the UK and Europe, the legal minimum tread depth for cars is 1.6mm across the entire circumference.
Check tyre pressures
Ensure your tyres are inflated to the recommended pressures by checking the guidelines in your car’s handbook or on the panel inside the driver’s door. You can check tyre pressure using a handheld tyre pressure gauge or, if you don’t have one at home, you can check and top up the air at most petrol stations.
Check the brakes
When a car has been left standing for long periods, as it may have been during lockdown, issues can arise with the brakes.
Sticking brakes are a common problem. Most cars use disc brakes, which include brake pads, rotors and calipers. Over time, particularly if your car has seen little use, parts of the brakes can become rusty. As the surfaces will be covered in a light coating of corrosion, you’ll notice a sticky sensation, plus a grinding or squealing noise.
Check the fuel level
Cars parked for an extended period of time can suffer from moisture gathering in an empty fuel tank. This can cause rust to build up inside. To get around this, simply fill up the tank completely, or add a stabiliser fluid to keep it fresh.
Check the car’s exterior
While sitting on a driveway or on the road, it is likely that leaves or debris might have got stuck on the outside of your car. Before setting off, check the air intakes in the front bumper are clear, as well as the lower part of the windscreen.
Try the car’s doors and handles
While many cars won’t have been used much at all, others might have just had one user in the form of a keyworker. Either way, you should check all of your car’s doors, including the boot, and lubricate locks and moving parts where necessary.
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