Low Cost Vans

As we go into 2018, it’s clear that the way we get about is going to change in a big way. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, headline news was that two huge firms – Uber and Volkswagen – have teamed up with technology giant, Nvidia. Nvidia if you’ve not heard of it before, it’s a company which grew off the back of making computer graphic chips. Now however, it is making a name for itself around autonomous cars. And its two new friends reflect how wide ranging this technology will become in our lives. For those of us in the UK, there is currently a question mark hanging over the future of Uber as last September, TfL didn’t give the firm the right to hold a London private hire operator licence. This was on the grounds of ‘public safety and security implications’, with concerns being over Uber’s approach to doing background checks on its drivers. Despite this, Uber is continuing to operate whilst waiting for a hearing on whether it can continue in the capital – that hea...

Love it or loath it, the drive home for Christmas is a necessary tradition for many. But amid the excitement of getting in the car and being able to legitimately sing Jingle Bells at the top of your voice for the next few hours, there’s a chance you might forget some things… So, here’s a few reminders before you leave your regular residence to travel home for Christmas: Get a winter check on your car before you go, particularly if you’ve got a long dark journey ahead. You can then sort out any issues and head off knowing that your tyres are ok and your anti-freeze is topped up Don’t forget to pack your presents! You know how you decided to be organised and buy some presents back in November? Well do remember to bring them with you Before you leave your house do a quick check that you aren’t leaving any milk or other food to rot away until you return (never a nice homecoming) And make sure you turn the lights off before you go so that you don’t waste electricity. You might howev...

WINTER IS HERE! It really is Narnia across the Isle at the moment. Prepare yourselves for your journey as best you can. Here's a reminder of what to stock up on for your journeys in cold weather. 7 essentials to carry in your vehicle this winter: - Snow socks, the thicker & longer the better! - Travel charger. Portable - remember the leads & to pre-charge. - Wool blanket / Hand warmers. - Food & Drink (carry a flask of hot water for tea/coffee/noodles, soup). - LED Flash / torch - with spare batteries. - Shovel - LARGE. - Windshield de-icer Staples are: first-aid supplies, jumper cables, gloves, a flashlight, duct tape and a tow strap. Check on the latest travel information, before setting off on your travels. The best places for this is with local police forces on twitter who often regularly update their information, the Met Office and the AA website. -  Met Office Link  -  Twitter List of 'most' UK localised Police Forces - see 'Members section'  - AA ...

On December 4 th , 2017 the Government will be introducing the new driving test, with various changes being made to adapted to the modern UK driving environment. To help you avoid coming unstuck for any upcoming driving tests, that you or a family member might be taking, here is everything you need to know about the new driving test.   The ‘independent driving’ section of the test will be increased from 10 minutes, to 20 With the average driving test taking approximately 40 minutes, the changes now mean that up to half of the test will involve the examinee having to navigate their way around UK roads without turn-by-turn directions. The increase in the time for the ‘independent driving’ section, is an attempt to more thoroughly examine the driver’s ability to safely navigate on higher speed roads. This is in an effort to combat accidents involving inexperienced drivers on high-speed or rural roads, with a substantial 3,850 of these incidents being reported in 2016 alone. Sat-Navs A...

UK drone users are likely to have to sit drone tests when new legislation comes into place next year. The proposed bill - set to be published March 2018 - suggests owners of drones weighing more than 250g will have to register and sit a test. In the meantime - THE DRONE CODE - already exists. Failure to fly responsibly may result in criminal prosecution. What do you think with regards to drone delivery future and van roof-top drone stations? Drone Code Link            Ref BBC News (26th Dec 2017) : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42126150        

You may feel like you don’t have a moment spare in the busy morning dash, but be sure to save a few minutes to de-ice your car window legally. Yes I did say legally… Little did I know until reading a recent news article , that poor windscreen defrosting management can actually mean you’re breaking the law. Confused? Well it makes sense when you think about it… What do many people do to warm their car up and thereby defrost their windows? Get the engine running! This is fine in itself of course, the problem is when people leave their keys in the car while the engine is running and go back in the house to finish breakfast/pack a school lunch/look for a lost library book. Leaving your car with the engine running on a public highway breaks Rule 123 of the Highway Code. Alongside that, you don’t stand much chance on the insurance if someone decides they fancy driving your car to work instead of theirs that day. The other way to break the law and end up receiving a fine at the start of the d...

The other night, at a crucial point in my tv programme, the screen went black and the lights went out. At the same time wind howled through the chimney. Clearly, the season of inclement weather is upon us and unfortunately, it’s looking wilder than ever. So although the last thing on my mind last night was getting in the car and going for a drive, sometimes you’ve just got to. Or maybe you’re already on a long journey and the weather suddenly turns. So this week, here’s my top five tips on how to drive safely in windy weather… Be informed As far as possible, check reports before you leave the house. Is there a massive traffic jam due to a road closure somewhere? Or is there a route you could take that would avoid going over a bridge or exposed area? Hang tight It sounds obvious but make sure that you have both hands firmly on the steering wheel - now is not the time to have one hand fishing about in a packet of crisps. Keep your space To keep yourself and others around you as safe as p...

Just as we’re getting our heads around the fact that driverless cars aren’t an invention from Back to the Future, it seems that Ford has found a way to turn windscreens into 50-inch movie screens as part of its ‘autonomous vehicle entertainment system’. Yes, that means that at some point in the future we could be watching Game of Thrones while not driving down the M4. And this could be just the tip of the iceberg… The fact that it’s even being considered shows just how much our lives could change - remember how phones were once trapped in homes and now we’re trapped to them? The days of getting into our cars, turning the radio on and going from A to B may be dwindling. So if you also relish the time-out feeling of being in a car in your own bubble, then brace for a potential pop. Because apart from cars becoming the new living room, augmented reality could also see huge billboards outside your car displaying a targeted advert just for you. It could be easier to find out more about you ...

I tend to think of driving in winter as a constant battle with rain, snow and misted windscreens. Driving in summer on the other hand, conjures up imagines of open top vintage cars with the wind in your hair and a new adventure every day. Like most things, the reality is a little different, with summer driving throwing up just as many risks as winter driving – the difference is that we’re probably a little less prepared for them. So let’s for the moment put aside the fact that in the UK we can get winter weather in ‘summer’ and look at the top things that you can be aware of to make your summer driving safe and sunny. Healthy tyres The higher temperatures that we get in summer can cause tyres which are damaged or set at the wrong pressure to blowout. So make sure that you’ve checked the condition of your tyres recently. And remember that if you load up your vehicle to take it on a holiday somewhere, check that the pressure of the tyres suit the extra load that you are carrying. Sun gla...

Ok so call me a sucker for advertising but surely I’m not the only person whose self-image is somewhat malleable… Imagine myself in a Citreon and I become a little bit French; perhaps with a bag of fresh baguettes besides me. Put me in a Fiat and my Italiano side starts to emerge and I’m jazzily parking outside a cute little coffee bar. And when it comes to the mainly British made Mini, I’m right at home (well I guess I’ve driven out of Port Talbot and am a little near to London but you get the picture…). So my excitement about the new electric mini planned for launch in 2019 was tempered slightly by the recent news that it might not be produced in the UK. This car should be amazing; it’s said to be based on current existing models so it’ll still look cute as a button but its mechanics will be anything but – by the time it’s on the market it'll have the breakthrough in battery technology that’s currently being worked upon. But if it’s not made in the UK, will it feel a little bit d...

A video recording of your commute into work probably isn’t something you’d want as a keepsake, but it could be incredibly useful… A company which manufactures in-vehicle camera systems – SmartWitness – recently monitored 3,000 commercial vehicles that had FNOL (first notification of loss) camera devices installed and then looked at the wider insurance claim statistics in the UK. They found that if there is no camera involved, then 40% of insurance claims are disputed. But where there is a camera, that figure drops to just 2%! It also seems that the people driving with a camera in their car were just that little bit more aware of how well they were doing… The research showed significant improvement in driver behaviour, resulting in 19% less incidents than the national average. Unsurprisingly this type of camera is becoming more popular in the UK, but interestingly it’s long been a technology used by Russian drivers. And then there’s the cyclists on our roads - go for a drive around Bris...

Most of us have witnessed some form of road rage when calmly making our way from A to B. My personal favourite is when someone beeps loudly because you haven’t left the traffic lights at the macro second the little man turns green. Patience is a virtue dear. As you may be concluding, I consider myself a considerate driver; a serene swan like presence on busy roads full of quacking ducks. But I recently had to put that to the test when I heard about a new ‘Driver Emotion Test’ that is now available. For the first time ever, there is a way of measuring how emotionally intelligent we are behind the wheel. Designed in partnership between Hyundai and behavioural psychologist Patrick Fagan from Goldsmiths University in London, it’s an in-car test that looks at how we respond to the stimulus around us while driving – it uses facial coding technology, eye tracking analysis and a heart rate monitor to better understand our emotions. The point (in case you’re wondering) is so that the more aware...

Happy new year to everyone! I hope you all had a good break and are ready to see what 2017 has in store for us all… New year, new self and all that. So while our human friends detox, jog slowly around the park and consider trying out a new identity, I thought I’d look at how our four wheeled friends can reinvent themselves. As it so happens, van conversions have been big news in recent years. That’s due in part to the fact that vans have been increasing in popularity themselves – in fact last year saw a 2% increase in new vans being registered. But the fact is that those vans have to be just right for their purpose and the specific business requirements that they so diligently serve. Racking (the putting in of racks to the unimaginative) and storage solutions, are the fastest growing ways to adapt a van to your exact needs. And it makes sense – van drivers are often carting around cans of paint, tools and any other number of small nuts and bolts that could go astray if not put away pro...

Working for Low Cost Vans it’s no surprise that I feel a certain affinity for van drivers on the road; even if I am passing them in my convertible. But at this time of year if I see a big distribution van going past, I am even more interested in where they’re going and what they’ve been up to that day. Around 260 million parcels were delivered around November and December last year as Christmas shoppers decided to leave their own four wheels at home and shop from their armchair. It’s high demand and it’s not so much the vans I’m worried about, it’s the drivers. Earlier this year a BBC reporter went uncover as a driver at Amazon where he was told that drivers are expected to deliver up to 200 parcels a day. Not only was the workload intense, the reporter said he received the equivalent of £4.76 a month during his second week there - nowhere near the minimum wage. Of course this doesn’t mean that all drivers for distribution companies are facing bad conditions, but the change in the way...

You may be thankful to hear that the most dangerous day on the roads - 5 December - is now behind us. But without wanting to sound like a party pooper, this doesn’t mean it’s time to think that we’re in the clear for this time of year. The most dangerous day date, which was revealed by Co-op Insurance, came about after the company analysed insurance claims. The reason for the date? A culmination of factors really - icy roads, people rushing off on shopping trips, darker nights... Now the last time I looked, all those factors were still around. And judging by the police launching December campaigns across the UK about drink and drug driving, it’s clear that there’s still scope for things to go seriously wrong. So I’m going to share a top tip that we do at Low Cost Vans that might help… A big part of the police efforts to keeping the roads safe at Christmas is breathalysing tests - doctors say that even small amounts of alcohol in the system can slow reactions and increase the risk of ac...

As the guys at work know, I’ll take any opportunity to jump in one of our vans. I feel a lot more confident in the high driving position and of course it can be quite fun to peep into people’s gardens. And it seems that I’m not the only one that enjoys the birds eye view - SUVs now account for 24.4% of the total European market. But is the UK ready for this increase in popularity? Possibly not. Recent research by Accident Exchange links a 35% rise in minor prangs to SUVs. This is interesting when one of the reasons that they’re popular is due to a feeling of increased security… So is it because drivers are too busy being nosy in their high driving position? No, it’s because of parking bays! When those little square boxes were drawn up, cars were on average much smaller. The average UK parking bay is 4.8m long and 2.4m wide, but SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class are more than 5m long and nearly 2m wide. This causes all sorts of complications; their bottoms stick out onto the road ...

Well if I wasn’t just bestowing the virtues of electric cars last week... This week I find out that a 30% drop in nitrogen dioxide levels could cut accidents by 5%. The link was spotted by a clever PhD student at the London School of Economics (LSE). Through studying data from between 2009 and 2014, he saw that in areas where nitrogen dioxide concentration rose by just one microgramme per cubic metre, the average number of accidents increased by 2%. Unsurprisingly, the link was particularly prominent in cities. The student, called Lutz Sager, put some of the increase in accidents down to the physical distractions that pollution could cause, such as limited visibility. But his main theory was that the increase in poor air affected the drivers’ health and ability to carry out mental tasks. And as keen a driver I am, I can believe that. Driving through a busy city at rush hour, in the rain, perhaps when you don’t know where you’re going… It’s exhausting! Just because we jump in the cars e...

Life is too short to worry about tyres. So let’s just clear up the whole winter tyres v all-season tyres conundrum. (And at the same time, point out that tyres are exactly that, not tires as our friends across the pond refer to them!) Do I need winter tyres? Well. Here’s the thing. Is it cold outside baby? Experts say that if the winter temps are regularly below 7 degrees celcius, you should start thinking about winter tyres. But if you live somewhere it rarely snows and winter temps are relatively mild, your all-season tyres are probably fine. What’s the difference between winter tyres and all-season tyres? It’s kind of what it says on the box. All-season tyres are built to handle nearly all road conditions - dry, wet and even light snow. Winter tyres are designed to perform in wintery conditions – low temperatures, ice, slush, and snow. Sometimes the tread of all-season tyres can harden in low temperatures, meaning there's less traction. Winter tyres have special rubber compound...

The risks of car hacking When thinking about getting a new car, everyone has a checklist of features they want it to have. Whether it’s alloyed wheels, leather seats or an AUX cable; we all have our preferences. As the decade is progressing, one of these features may be an internal electronic control unit (ECU). This could come in the form of a touch screen system, or an in-car sat nav. But do these connected systems pose a threat to vehicle owner and passenger safety? Many experts believe that these electronic systems can be hacked just like a computer. They have labelled this process car hacking. What is car hacking? Car hacking can be described as the manipulation of code in a vehicle’s ECU to gain control of its functions. To put it frankly, your vehicle will be under new occupancy and you would have no choice in the matter. I know what you’re thinking - “If they hack my sat nav, I can drive without one”. That’s where the risk lies. The functions in which car hackers can gain domin...

2017 will not only commemorate our 20 th anniversary, but also marks the introduction of the updated practical driving test in the UK. Let me provide you with the ins-and-outs of the proposed new driving test, as stated by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in a report published last month. Why the change? The new and improved driving test has been administered in an attempt to reduce road traffic collisions, both in general and involving new drivers. This is following a report undertaken in 2012 showing a fifth of those injured or killed in road accidents were involving a driver aged between 17 and 24 years old. In addition to that, a quarter of the deaths of 15 to 19 year olds can be attributed to road accidents – the biggest killer of that age group. Another reason for the adaptations is the increase of in-car technological advancements like satellite navigational systems. The changes aim to keep up with the technologies that are used in modern vehicles. The DVSA stat...