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Showing posts from May, 2016

How much it really costs to put a young driver on the road

Back in 2012, it was announced that it was costing young drivers more than £5,000 to actually get on the road, with the car being the cheapest part of the whole process. Thankfully, I was quite lucky. It cost me £1,000 for intensive lessons, £900 for a car and then £950 for my car insurance. Road tax was less than £100 a year and my MOT was covered for the first year. Still, when you are paying it all yourself it is expensive (even when the total amounts to less than £3000). However, it turns out that four years later it is still just as expensive to get a young driver on the road. Comparethemarket.com conducted a study and found that young drivers were being burdened with insurance costs that were almost half the cost of the vehicle they had purchased or were looking to purchase. So how can you make it less of a financial burden to get on the road? Consider a telematics box Most insurers now will automatically offer a ‘black box’ to younger drivers before they can get car insurance wi

Put the phone down and buckle up – changes are afoot

Some of you may know that sinking feeling when you hurtle past a mobile speed camera, failing to see it until it’s too late. Most of us can attest to feeling nervous for a good two weeks following driving past a speed camera. Did we get the speed limit wrong? Is our speedometer accurate? Now, technology has made it possible to throw another nasty surprise through your letterbox. Working from up to one kilometre away, mobile speed cameras have had a tech boost and can now catch other offences such as using your phone, and neglecting to wear a seatbelt. Other drivers can be quite forceful when refusing to wear a seatbelt, and it’s a requirement I am always quite keen on enforcing. The argument I always face is that it’s not an enforceable law. Actually, as I keep telling them, it is. As well as being illegal, it is also highly reckless and dangerous to anyone in a vehicle. Children, grandparents, and even your dog are all at risk without a seatbelt. So what are the laws around seatbelts?

Driver privacy rules are set to change

We all value our privacy. We all like some things to stay within the four walls of our home, and we don’t like the idea of people nosing around through our drawers. We’re all aware that websites collect sensitive information, and understandably, we are quite cautious about it. Occasionally, websites are restricted as to what data they can capture from its readers online, just like mobile phone companies are restricted to what data it can obtain from its customers. Now, with drivers across Europe connecting their phones to their van or car whilst out on the road, the European Parliament has made the decision to adopt new rules that will protect the privacy of those who chose to connect to their vehicle. The new rules will now mean that people can choose to restrict their personal data when connecting to a vehicle. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has stated that where individuals can be identified by things such as GPS information constitutes as personal data, and having a