Should Driverless Cars be on Britain's Roads January Next Year?

The UK government has set out plans to allow driverless cars to hit public roads in Britain as soon as 2015, they have even gone as far as proposing a £10 million 'prize' for the town or city that signs up to guinea pig the scheme. Currently in the UK unmanned autos are only allowed on private roads

The States and Japan are already ahead in the driverless 'revolution' stakes and the UK government are keen to not be left behind. Vince Cable the Business Secretary is expected to announce that research and development plans iminently and January 2015 has been mooted as a start date for public testing.

Obviously the question of insurance is one of the main complications "Who takes responsibility in a driverless car crash?"

• Car's Owners?
• Passengers?
• Vehicle Manufacturer?
• Producer of the Navigation Program?

Always at the forefront though safety will be a concern for many of us, given that the technology is new and unfamiliar. I personally would find it strange having the control of the car taken away from me and im sure I will be hitting the " metaphorical passenger brake" will the cars even be laid out now that the passengers have no need to see the road or navigate? guess it would be cool to travel in a mobile "living room type situation"

Should driverless cars be allowed on Britain's public roads next year, what do YOU think?

Spain Uses Helicopters to Catch Speeding Drivers, Will UK Follow?

Spain's forth airborne radar detector has launched this weekend, with the fifth due in a matter of weeks. With the summer season is well and truly underway, the launch coincided with an anticipated 3.5 million trips on the roads of Spain, .

The Pegasus helicopters cover the main road networks of

• Galicia
• Castilla y León
• Asturias
• Cantabria
• Andalucía
• The east coast

According to the DGT the aim is to control the speed on the mainly conventional roads.

The equipment on board the helicopter works with pinpoint accuracy, and is capable of not only videoing traffic violations as they happen, it can record the speed, registration details and even the identity of the vehicle occupants. They do this using a panoramic camera for tracking and a second for detailing such things as the number plate. The equipment is able to monitor speeds of up to 360 kilometers per hour.

The first Pegasus equipped helicopter launched back in March of 2013, since that date 2,064 drivers have been reported during the 672 hours of flight, during which time 13,458 vehicles have been checked. The accuracy of Pegasus was brought into question recently in terms of the margin of error calculations, but most vehicles caught speeding by the helicopter are recorded at more than 30 kilometers per hour above the permitted speed on the road in question. The worst drivers clocked during that time were a motorist traveling at 232 kilometers per hour on a 120limited stretch of motorway, and a driver clocked at 195 kilometers per hour on a conventional road with a limit of 90.

Question is how long before the UK start using this technology to catch its speeders?

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Woman Blames Dead Man When Caught Speeding

Eileen Metcalfe from Teeside tried to escape speeding ticket with an unfathomable lie, she blamed a dead man. She returned forms to authorities stating that her deceased friend, D

Police followed up on the information provided by Metcalfe, but became suspicious when the speeding ticket sent to Mr Hughes’ address was returned by the new tenant. Eileen Metcalf then claimed that the dead man's commemorative urn order form and the speeding ticket form got mixed up. Recorder Graeme Cook, the judge presiding, indicated to Metcalfe that she would not be locked up if she pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. She duly obliged

The Judges compassion later dwindled and he said he ‘felt like changing his mind.’after he was made privy to the Probation Service report, in which Metcalfe initially admitted that it had been a prank, saying she thought Mr Hughes’ family would “find it funny”. Mr Hughes died suddenly at the age of 26 in 2009.

This is not the first time we’ve heard of people shifting the blame to someone else after being caught speeding. No one will forget the highly-publicised scandal after politician Chris Huhne's ill-conceived decision to get his wife, Vicky Pryce, to claim responsibility for speeding, a move which later landed them both in jail.

avid Hughes, had been driving the vehicle at the time of the offence. She was captured doing 36mph in a 30mph zone by a speed camera near her home and due to the fact that she already had 9 points on her licence she was facing a total ban.

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Car That Runs On Air

The car that runs on air!  this video from CNN is already 4 years old. Looks like speed is a big issue as well as stability hence why it is being branded an "urban" car. I'm assuming that in 4 years some of these issues might have been ironed out in a new design, alas I cant find anything and can only presume that the technology rights were purchased by an oil company scared of losing in petrol sales? If anyone has any updates pleas post below as we would be really interested to find out

The Speed Cameras That Make Over £100,000 a Year

4,815 drivers have been caught by just one speed trap along the A52 Clifton Boulevard in the past year. It raked in more than £100,000 to make it the seventh most lucrative in Britain.
The camera itself is carried in a police van and is used to enforce both directions of the 40mph dual carriageway between the QMC roundabout and Dunkirk flyover.

One taxi driver, Mark Limb who works for Cloud Cars, in Arboretum Street, Nottingham, said the speed trap was well known to drivers who use the route regularly. "The camera is normally there as you go over the flyover near the slip road for the QMC. Considering how busy the road is I am surprised people get the chance to speed. There are normally traffic jams in that area. I think it is just money-making because the speed limit changes on top of the flyover from 50mph to 40mph. The camera itself has been there for six or seven years and it is well known but I don't think it is needed because it is a dual carriageway and they are usually 60mph anyway."

These figueres were taken from insurance company LV who a few days ago released a list showing the top 10 highest earning speed cameras in the UK. LV had asked Nottinghamshire Police and Nottingham City Council how much money the speed camera generated but they both said they could not say how much cash the Clifton Boulevard camera made. The estimate of over £100,00 is made because the camera below it in the list (eighth place) operated by Surrey Police, caught 4,530 drivers and made £126,260. The most lucrative camera is on the M60 and operated by Greater Manchester police, that camera made £189,140.

The research showed that police forces across the country handed out almost 400,000 fixed penalty notices for speeding and 73,944 court summons last year, meaning motorists paid £22 million in fines. This figure doesnt even include those who got the chance to take a speed awareness course to avoid paying a fine or receiving points.

General secretary Keith Peat, of East Midlands-based Drivers' Union, said: "When you get a high-offender site like this something is wrong with the road – such as the speed limit being incorrect or the layout is wrong. The police believe that we are all actually naughty boys and girls but that is not true, you have to look in more detail. Not many people go out to purposely break the law but what causes speeding is when the limit is incorrectly set for that road." The Institute of Advanced Motorists agrees that there is an issue with the road but has a slightly different view on why. Head of driving standards Peter Rodger said: "Speed cameras well used are a good thing but with so many people being caught like this it tells us there is a problem here. Because so many are being caught the camera is not working and something else needs to be done to slow down the traffic. Something else should be done whether it is changing the road or something else."

Dave Nichols, spokesman for Brake, the road safety charity, said: "It is shocking to see so many Nottingham drivers taking needless, dangerous risks by speeding on the A52. Evidence shows that speed cameras are a highly effective way to reduce speeding traffic, which is crucial in making our roads safer and preventing needless tragedies. We urge all drivers to stay within the limits, and if you don't speed, you won't get caught or fined."

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesman said: "There are fixed speed cameras along that stretch of road and because drivers know to expect them, they are effective in keeping speed down. This mobile camera is stationed outside of that zone and there are drivers who have gone past the fixed cameras, speed up again in anticipation that they will get away with it, which is why this particular camera has caught so many. Speed limits are the legal limit, not a guideline. By breaking the limit, you break the law. We don't want people slowing down to pass the cameras before racing off."

Source NottinghamPost