Graham Wilkinson, from Shoebury, Essex, has been fined £35 for letting his son get out of his van whilst he was stopped at a zebra crossing. At the time, Wilkinson thought nothing of it but the seven-second stop, which also allowed pupils to cross the road safely, was caught on camera by Southend Council’s spy car and has landed him with a parking ticket and a potential £70 fine.

Council officials say Wilkinson was ‘parked’ during the brief stop outside Shoeburyness High School in Southend-On-Sea, Essex. However, Wilkinson argues that he could not have driven on even if he wanted to as children were walking across the zebra crossing and it is at that point his son got out the car. Wilkinson also spoke to a police officer who informed him that he had not broken road traffic law.

There is an appeals process if people wish to challenge a penalty charge notice and a significant number of tickets given as a result of these spy cars are found to have been given out in error.

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Much of Britain has lately been immersed in deep fog, and any motorist knows how difficult it can be to navigate the roads with this most dangerous of driving conditions.

Here are Britannia’s top tips for driving in fog:

– Keep your lights on at all times. Not only will this help to illuminate the roads ahead of your vehicle, therefore making it easier to see ahead, it will also make your own car much more visible to other motorists, reducing the likelihood of an accident. Use your dipped headlights along with wipers and de-misters.

– Keep your speed down. Driving at normal speeds should be discouraged in dense fog, as it becomes more likely that hazards will appear with less warning.

– Keep your distance with other cars. Do not tail others rear lights, as they are likely to stop abruptly, and this practice does not allow for much stopping distance.

– Use all of your senses – in conditions such as fog where visibility is limited, engage your other senses, particularly your hearing. If you are pulling out of a junction where you cannot see other approaching vehicles, wind down your window and listen carefully for traffic. When you feel it is safe to emerge, do so carefully but confidently – do not leave yourself in the path of unforeseen oncoming vehicles.

Safe driving this foggy spring from Britannia!

A great-grandmother has been banned from driving after knocking down a pedestrian at a zebra crossing in Hornchurch, Essex. Caroline Turner, 79, was banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay £220 to the injured pedestrian at Romford Magistrates’ Court. She was also fined a further £165 for driving her blue car after the accident, and ordered to pay a £130 fine and victim surcharge.

However, this isn’t the first time Turner has had her licence taken away. She had her licence revoked in 2011 after leading officers on a 27-mile chase at 10mph through Essex. She was only stopped when patrol cars formed a rolling road block on a dual carriageway – with one officer even jogging beside her car, telling her to pull over. She was banned from driving for a year and fined £100 after admitting to driving without due care and attention at Colchester Magistrates’ Court.

During the pursuit, she had ignored blue sirens, swerved into oncoming traffic and driven the wrong way around a roundabout – forcing other motorists to take evasive action. She had only just regained her licence before the most recent incident.

Perhaps she would benefit from a few refresher lessons!

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Samuel Lees, a 22-year-old motorist in Colchester, was seen by a police officer earlier this year driving at speed through a puddle soaking Debbie Pugh and her two children as they walked to school.

Lees received a fine of £500 as well as six points on his licence which means that as a new driver he will lose his licence. Anyone receiving six points within two years of passing their test has their licence revoked. Chelmsford magistrates also ordered him to pay £90 court costs and a £50 victim surcharge on top of his £500 fine.

However, Pugh finds the severity of his sentence too strict instead suggesting that a driver awareness court would have been enough of a punishment. The traffic policeman who witnessed the incident, PC Mark Hercules, argues that Lees’ actions caused distress to the young children who got drenched and that he could have potentially lost control of his vehicle and caused a danger to other road users following his actions.

Lees argues that his actions were not reckless at all and that he did not mean to splash the family as that kind of behaviour is not in his nature. He now faces losing his job through losing his licence since he uses his red VW Polo to drive to work in Chelmsford, 25 miles from his home in Colchester.

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Most learner drivers will opt to have their lessons in broad daylight, and consequently find themselves struggling to adapt when the necessity comes to drive in the darker hours.

Many drivers will admit that this is a different ball-game altogether, but how do you ensure that you stay safe behind the wheel at night?

– Never drive when tired. It is human nature to want to sleep at night, and so therefore you are likely to be more tired at the end of the day. However if you can help it, delay your journey until you have had some well-deserved sleep.

– Take all necessary precautions. This includes the same cockpit drill you would take in the daytime, as you are in as much danger on the roads at night as you are in the day.

– Stick to the speed limit. While this should go without saying, it is even more important in night time, when your vision will be impaired by your less illuminated surroundings.

– Keep your lights on at all times. Even if it seems like it is not helping you to see any better, the chances are that it is helping other drivers to see you, which is just as vital.

If you have to take a drive at night time for any reason, as always, drive safely!

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Martyn Uzzell died from severe head injuries when he was thrown into the path of the car behind him when his bike hit a four-inch deep pothole on the A65 at Giggleswick, North Yorkshire. The inquest into his death heard that the tragedy was avoidable as workers from North Yorkshire County Council had inspected the pothole a month before the accident and decided that immediate repairs weren’t necessary.

This pothole is one of possibly millions that have appeared on UK roads in recent years due to several icy winters in a row together with this year’s floods. It is estimated that if all local authorities were given the budgets they need to fix their road, it would still take English authorities 12 years to catch up with the current backlog – some potholes are filled within a day or two but many take up to a month to deal with.

Unfortunately, there is no universal standard for road care, with each authority setting different schedules on how often their roads are inspected. And there is no standard for what constitutes a dangerous pothole – the criteria vary from council to council.

So, if you suffer damage, it won’t be immediately clear if the council will pay out. If they’ve abided by their own regulations, then they may well not be liable. And even if they are liable, they won’t always admit it. The average repair cost is in the region of £250; the expense of getting a lawyer or losing a no-claims bonus from claiming on insurance is hardly worthwhile for a cost this low. So, a lot of pothole damage goes unreported.

Despite this, the advice is to gather evidence and report the pothole and damage to the council; it is also worth submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to the relevant council and download the national code of good practice for highway maintenance. These pieces of information can then be used to evaluate the local authority’s defence against your claim. It may take a long time but usually the result is a successful response. And if the local authority still refuses the claim, it may be worth taking some legal advice.

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Many new and inexperienced drivers are put off by the daunting prospect of driving on the motorway. However this needn’t be as terrifying as most people think if you follow the basic rules.

Here are Britannia’s Top Tips for Motorway Driving:

– Perform your pre-flight checks. Check your oil, fuel, tyre pressure, brakes, clutch fluid and windscreen washer fluid to ensure that these are fully prepared for your journey.

– Plan your journey. Avoid looking at maps, and don’t rely on your sat-nav. Also ensure that you allow enough time to take a fifteen minute break every two hours to avoid fatigue.

– Remember the 2-second rule. Leave at least 2 seconds of reasonable space between yourself and the car in front, to prevent the possibility of a collision in the event of a sudden stop.

– Make sure you indicate before making any lane change or leaving the motorway.

– Keep an eye on those mirrors – the situation is liable to change much faster on a motorway than a normal road.

– Try to stay clear of larger vehicles such as trucks, coaches, etc., as these present more of a hazard.

– Stay on the left at all times, unless overtaking. After overtaking, return to the left lane as soon as it is safe to do so.

– Should the worst happen and you break down, pull into the hard shoulder as soon as possible, and call for help immediately. Emergency phones are situated along most motorways and will automatically relay your location. While you wait for help to arrive, you should stand clear of the hard shoulder for your own safety.

Following these simple rules will make motorway driving much easier for you. We are sure in no time you will be wondering what all the fuss was about!

Safe driving from Britannia!

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It is a well-known fact that traffic is getting worse, and it has been revealed that the ten worst roads for congestion in Britain are all in London. Despite London’s efforts to combat traffic by enforcement of the congestion charge, traffic jams have been on the rise.

UK drivers wasted a total of 30 hours in traffic congestion in 2013 with the London commute zone having the biggest increase in hours wasted, rising from 72 hours in 2012 to 82 hours in 2013. Of the 25 most congested cities in Europe for urban traffic, London was second only to Brussels.

The most congested road was the A4 in the afternoon peak between central London and the junction 3 of the M4 near Heathrow in west London, with 91 annual delay hours. The second worst road was the M4 going in the opposite direction in the afternoon between the M4 junction 3 and central London, with 73 hours of annual delays.

After London, the most congested areas were Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Nottinghamshire and Greater Birmingham.

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A UK teenager has been given a speeding fine – whilst on a driving lesson.

Stacie Ralphes, a seventeen year-old from Weymouth, Dorset, was clocked by a speed camera whilst travelling at 36 mph in a 30 mph zone.

With only 12 hours of driving experience to her name, the health and social care student was shocked to receive the fine whilst on her driving lesson with the AA.

As the car did not belong to her, the letter was forwarded to her home address after being received by the AA. Ralphes was offered a choice between a compulsory fine and three points on her (currently green) license, or a driving awareness course instead, the latter of which she accepted, at a cost of £110.

Whilst deciding not to appeal the speeding fine, the issue was raised with the AA, who have offered to pay the price for the course, as a gesture of good will, although they do deny any responsibility for the transgression.

This should stand as a warning that according to current UK laws, the operator of a vehicle (with a full license or not) is fully responsible for the speed at which they are travelling, and it is this individuals duty to ensure that they do not break speed limit laws. A driving instructor, whilst in possession of dual controls, is there to guide and advise the pupil, and to avoid any accidents, although the speed of the vehicle rests solely with the person behind the wheel.

Safe driving from Britannia!

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