Car tax evasion triples after paper tax disc scrapped

Since the paper tax disc was abolished the number of unlicensed vehicles on the road has tripled.

The data, published every two years, shows that the government potentially lost out on £107m from 755,000 unlicensed vehicles last year.

The RAC said the decision to get rid of the paper tax disc three years ago has proved "costly" when it should have saved the Treasury £10m a year.

"It appears that having a visual reminder was an effective way to prompt drivers into renewing their car tax - arguably more drivers are now prepared to try their luck and see if they can get away with not paying any vehicle tax at all, or are simply forgetting to tax their vehicle when they are due to."

When the abolition of the paper tax disc was announced by then-Chancellor, George Osborne, the Treasury said it showed government was moving "into the modern age".

The RAC said a third of untaxed vehicles had changed hands since September 2016, indicating that many drivers were not aware that tax does not carry over when ownership changes.

The seller receives a refund of any full months of remaining tax while the new owner must tax the vehicle immediately.

Half of motorists admit they don't know how to change a tyre

1,000 people were polled about their motoring knowledge, driving habits and the causes of stress and anxiety on the road 

Less than half (44 per cent) said they knew how to change a tyre, but only 23 per cent would consider using a tyre filler as a temporary measure.

Although the Highway Code includes rules for breakdowns on motorways, 44 per cent of motorists wouldn’t know what action to take if they become stranded on the hard shoulder, which topped a list of the worst places to breakdown. Yet more than one in 10 (13 per cent) have used the hard shoulder for other, non-urgent reasons, such as a child needing the toilet, a comfort break or even a picnic.

 The arrival of autumn means darker evenings, and driving at night causes anxiety and stress for almost two thirds (64 per cent) of motorists. Their biggest concerns when loved ones are at the wheel are breakdowns (32 per cent), followed by flat tyres (24 per cent), other drivers (22 per cent) and potential collisions (22 per cent). A further 89% admit of motorists admit experiencing road rage - the most-frequent causes being dangerous drivers (30 per cent), cyclists (17 per cent) and heavy or gridlocked traffic (16 per cent).

Claire Fenton from Holts, which carried out the research, said: “Flat tyres can come at the worst times – when you’ve got a car full of children, are running late to a special occasion or on the way to work – and this can be inconvenient, time-consuming and stressful. "As well as highlighting how many drivers feel stressed, anxious or angry on the road, it showed that many motorists wouldn’t know how to change a tyre on their car, or what to do if they break down on motorway hard shoulder." Holts make Tyreweld, an emergency tyre repair solution, which instantly re-inflates and repairs a punctured tyre so you can complete your journey in safety.

How to spot a crash for cash accident

There is now an article on the Road Angel site that has some very interesting points about how to spot a crash for cash accident.

With an estimated 380 fraudulent claims being made daily to car insurance companies, its definitely something worth reading up on....Here is a quick summary, for more explanations please read the full article (link at the bottom of page)

The Driving

• Slamming brakes on is a big red flag 
• Speeding up / slowing down suddenly 
• Constant lane changing

Commonly fraudsters operate either first thing in the morning or late at night, why? - less witnesses, making it even harder to prove your case.

The Driver

• Did they have their details pre written out of a piece of paper?  if so why?
• Demanding cash on the scene-  don’t give into it.
• Don’t forget to give your attention to any passengers. 

What they’re Driving

• Does the car have other scrapes and dents that could hint at a previous attempt? 
• Are their brake lights working? (offenders disabling these to help cause rear-end shunts) 

Take as many photos of the car / situation as you can

Where

Some postal codes suffering more than others so be more aware in these areas:



Any suspected crash for cash incidents can be reported via ‘Cheatline’ on 0800 422 0421 FREE.

Evidence is everything. Without evidence, what case do you have? Crash for Cash currently adds around £100 to each of our premiums (http://ow.ly/4nmx5Q) with this figure only due to increase. It may just be time for you to start fighting back with our discreet accident camera system Road Angel Halo.

Full article: Road Angel
Image: Crime Stoppers

Graduate Jailed for 3 Months After trying To Avoid Speeding Fine

Ayesha Ahmed  (Picture: PA)

A university graduate with a degree in international relations and politics has been jailed for three months after she tried to avoid paying a speeding fine.

 

27-year-old Ayesha Ahmed was caught speeding twice by a mobile police van in a 30mph zone near her home. Both times in her BMW on July 2014 5 minutes apart. One instance at 39mph and the other at 40mph.
But instead of undertaking a speed awareness course or paying the fines, Ahmed enlisted the help of a 'legal expert' who said a 'legal loophole' could help her dodge them completely at a cost of £450 – a fee likely greater than the sum of the speeding fines.

Unfortunately the legal expert sent details to police that claimed it was a woman from Walsall who had been driving and not Ahmed. Suspicions were raised when police discovered eight other speeding offences had been attributed to drivers at the same address.

The international relations and politics graduate was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice at Wolverhampton Crown Court and sentenced to three months in jail and a 58-week driving ban.

Police constable Steve Jevons said: "Ahmed has paid a heavy price for thinking she could lie her way out of speeding offences. She never met this "legal expert" and paid via a third-party. Ahmed was given every opportunity to admit her guilt – an admission that would have spared her a jail term."

He added: "It’s a sorry tale. She has no previous convictions but a potentially promising career is now in ruins and all because she wanted to retain a clean licence."

Jevons warned anyone caught speeding to avoid taking similar action. "Don’t be conned by anyone saying they know a person who, for a fee, can ‘make speeding fines go away.
"These people try passing blame on to ‘phantom’ drivers, knowing the authorities won’t be able to trace them and assuming the matter will be dropped." Probably best to pay up, folks. Or avoid speeding in the first place.

Source

Roadside Smartphone testing!!

Police may start using a "textalyser" soon the new gadget will help them gauge if a distracted driver has been using their mobile phone before a road incident.

The move is in response to the rise  of instances of distracted driving that have led to accidents and death.

The idea was proposed by a draft legislation in New York, which would require drivers to submit their phones for testing, if pulled up by authorities.

"Reports indicate that 67 per cent of drivers admit to continued use of their cell phones while driving despite knowledge of the inherent danger to themselves and others on the road," the draft law said.
"Therefore, it is in the state's interest to treat this impairment with a similar methodology to that of drunk driving."

The new law, known as "Evan's Law" is named after 19-year-old Evan Lieberman, who died in a 2011 collision caused by a distracted driver. His father, Ben Lieberman, helped to draft and implement the law through his awareness nonprofit  Distracted Operators Risk Casualties (DORCS).

How the device would work

Obviously, due to privacy laws, police would not be able to force people to unlock their phone to check their recent calls, texts or social media activity.

Instead, the "textalyser" would look at metadata on the phone just to check whether it was used recently or not - keeping conversations, contacts, numbers, photos, and app data private.

Mobile phones are biggest accident risk in the UK

67 people were killed in Britain in the past three years purely because drivers were on their phones - and this doesn't include those who may have just put down their phones or been about to pick them up.

The Department for Transport has said that of 88 deaths caused by distractions in 2012, 17 (or 19pc) were due to mobile use – the highest death rate compared to other in-case causes such as people, children or sat-navs.

For more in depth information please read the article by the Telegraph

Elderly driver goes wrong way at roundabout then down no entry road!

Weve come across this footage that shows the moment an elderly man drove the wrong way around a busy roundabout – and then down a ‘no entry’ slip road.

the manoeuvre on Sunday morning was caught by Mr Johnston from West Lothian as he travelled along the A89.

As Mr Johnston approaches the roundabout opposite Kaim Park (A89 Edinburgh road towards Bathgate), a white Hyundai i20 hatchback can be seen driving anti-clockwise around a roundabout. Instead of stopping, the driver continues to weave in and out of vehicles causing the drivers to slam on the brakes in shock.

Then rather than trying to exit the roundabout safely, he drives down a ‘no entry’ slip road towards more oncoming vehicles.



The 30-second clip was shared by Scotland’s Worst Drivers, a website which shames bad driving north of the border.

James aid: “The elderly driver either got confused or just wasn’t paying attention, and drove the wrong way on the roundabout into traffic.

“He then proceeded through a ‘no entry’, driving into more oncoming traffic. I have no idea what the guy was thinking…I was gobsmacked.”

A spokesman for Scotland’s Worst Drivers said: “The fact this driver never attempted to correct his mistake, and then drove down a closed road, rings alarm bells to me.

“I find it concerning that he appears unaware of what he is doing and carries on as all is normal.

“This again raises the need to introduce compulsory retesting for elderly drivers.”

Despite dozens of other cars on the road at the time of the incident, it appears that no-one was injured as a result of the driver’s actions.

 Source scotlandsworstdrivers.com

Penalty points and a fine rather than opt for a "boring" course

A driver caught using his mobile phone asked for penalty points and a fine rather than opt for a "boring" course, police have said.

The unnamed motorist stated on a caution form he had completed a driver improvement course the day before.

He wrote: "Just give me the points and fine - I did the mobile phone course yesterday. It was as boring as hell."

Those who commit motoring offences are sometimes offered courses as an alternative to penalties. No details about where the man was stopped have been released.
.
The force's road policing team shared a photo of the form on Twitter with the comment: "Some will never learn".