The Dutch Reach – Get involved!

With the increase in bicycles on roadways across the country, better safety measures are constantly being debated to ensure both drivers and cyclists can share the roads in harmony. Dedicated cycle lanes, cycleways (shared with pedestrians) and cycle traffic lights are becoming more common place on roads throughout England. This is a good thing, no doubt. And yet much of the discussion regarding any improvements of shared…

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Are driverless cars in our future?

Let the record show that I think the idea of driverless cars is very cool. Simply program your destination via the car’s onboard tablet, or even from your mobile phone, and whoosh… off you go. You could be sitting in the back seat, gin and tonic in hand, leaving the car’s computers to do all the driving for you. Sounds idyllic, no? Sure does, but I hate…

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Driving to the Alps for half-term? Read on!

If you’ve taken the somewhat brave, and economically savvy, decision to drive to the Alps for your family ski holiday, a quick refresher course on how to drive in the snow wouldn’t go amiss! With half-term starting for most families next week, chances are you’re well on your way with your road-trip preparations. Train/ferry booked? Check! Car properly serviced? Check! Extra provisions in case of emergency? Check!…

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You’re fully charged for the winter, but is your car battery??

There’s no worse feeling than getting behind the wheel of your car, turning the key (or pressing the start/stop button!) only for nothing to happen because, gulp, you’ve got a dead battery. It makes your stomach turn. And of course, you won’t have a backup plan in place to ensure you arrive to where you need to be on time. Alas, this exact situation played itself out…

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New car buyers beware! New road taxes in full force!

Call it apathy, call it head in the sand, call it downright uninteresting. Any way you call it, road taxes are tedious. They are typically paid once a year (although monthly and six-month permits are certainly an option) leading people to simply pay and forget about it. I understand completely; in a similar vein my trick to dealing with a parking ticket once issued (if I am…

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Which grade of fuel should I be putting into my car?

My wife filled our car with petrol last week and said that she often wondered which of the different “grades” she should put in. Fortunately, my wife is a very smart cookie so didn’t need reminding that diesel was obviously not an option (gasp!). I proceeded to tell her my thoughts on whether it was worth paying more for premium petrol, or supreme diesel, which I thought…

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Getting ready for the ULEZ and what it means for you

I’ve had lots of inbounds from people who drive older cars in London on what the changes introduced by Mayor Sadiq Khan last October will mean for them. Confusion abounds courtesy of unclear timelines and unfriendly terms such as “ULEZ”, “Euro 6 compliant”, “NOx emissions” and others. Hopefully this little write-up can clarify the matter for you… Most of us remember the launch of the Congestion Charge…

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Your tyres – so easy to overlook and yet so important!

If we reason that, after stomping on the brake pedal with all our might, the last remaining hope of not crashing into something in front of us ultimately lies on strips of black rubber glued together then we should probably make sure that the black rubber underneath us is up to snuff. The importance of having properly maintained tyres can’t be overstated. I won’t bore you with…

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