Many myths persists about the advantages and disadvantages of driving diesel cars over petrol and vice versa, but what are the facts?

Car Cost – Diesel cars can cost more to purchase than their petrol equivalents, by as much as £1000 – £2000. However, this will pay off in the long run if you drive more than 15,000 miles per year and don’t drive often in cities.

Fuel Cost – Whilst diesel fuel is more expensive to buy when filling up, again you will get your money’s worth if you do a lot of driving, as it has a more economical rate of miles per gallon.

Running Cost – Petrol cars will usually have a higher rate of road tax to pay, and will often not have as good a re-sale value as their Diesel counterpart – although the insurance is usually cheaper with Petrols.

In general, there is no way to tell overall which type of fuel car is best for you, it just comes down to your specific needs.

Safe driving from Britannia!

Vanessa Price, the owner of a Smart car, was fined £50 for parking at a right angle to the kerb in an on-street parking bay. Although the ability of Smart cars, which are less than 9ft long, to fit into small spaces at right angles to the pavement is well known, and a unique selling point, the traffic warden insisted that the front of the car overlapped the white bay markings, leaving it illegally parked.

Mrs Price, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, finally had her ticket overturned last month after a year long battle. She won her battle at a parking penalty tribunal after the adjudicator said she had not breached any traffic regulation order by leaving her car as she did.

Price stated that she pursued the case not because of the money but because she believed it to be wrong. Legal costs were in excess of the £50 she had been fined.

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The DVLA has announced that it intends to abolish the paper counterpart driving license in 2015.

In another move to further digitise motoring records, the DVLA will remove the necessity for a paper license, however drivers will have to keep their current photo card license.

Any driver that has an old style paper driving license issues before the arrival of the photo card license in 1998 will not be affected.

Following the invalidation of the paper license, holders can destroy the license if they so wish.

The changes have been announced after a review last October by the Department for Transport into how the DVLA could further improve it’s quality and service whilst also saving money for the taxpayer.

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It has emerged that the DVLA has made nearly £22 million in the past four-and-a-half-years selling drivers’ private details to parking enforcement firms. The information includes drivers’ names and addresses as well as vehicle details and is often used by companies to issue and collect fines.

A total of 31 companies have paid for data over the period, despite many facing criticism from motorists over their behaviour. These figures have been released by the DVLA in response to a freedom of information request.

The DVLA’s response was that it does not profit from the sales, rather the fees are set to recover the related administrative costs and so the applicant and not the taxpayer funds the activity. The DVLA stressed it has strict criteria for those using its electronic database, including valid Data Protection registration, probation periods and audits to monitor behaviour and use of data.

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As many as one in five motorists have admitted to driving the morning after a heavy drinking session . . . despite knowing that they may well still be over the legal drink-drive limit.

With the Christmas season upon us, and Seasonal revellers across the country indulging in late-night boozing sessions, both legal and driving authorities are advising designated drivers to stay away from alcohol, as well as warning those who have been indulging to stay in passenger seats only.

The AA has even warned that many infamous “sober-up” remedies are actually ineffective, leading many drivers to think that they are fine to drive, when in fact they are actually putting themselves and others in danger.

Drive safe this winter from Britannia!

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Scotland introduced a new legal drink-drive limit on midnight Thursday which was reduced from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. This has brought the limit in line with much of Europe but lower than the rest of the UK. Though the new limit was enforced at midnight, by 6am four people had already been arrested for breaching the level.

The new limit means that motorists could find themselves exceeding the limit after one glass of wine or pint of beer. This brings the law closer to a zero tolerance of driving after drink driving. This is something campaigners have been urging for some time, arguing that even the slightest bit of alcohol can affect driving ability and so much be avoided.

The change has resulted in a warning to drivers south of the border that they may be able to get behind the wheel legally after a drink in England but find themselves over the limit if they travel to Scotland. However, many argue that this shouldn’t be a problem as motorists should avoid alcohol altogether if they know they will be driving.

Drivers have also been warned to think carefully about driving the morning after a night of drinking. For most people, it takes about an hour to process one unit of alcohol which means it could take up to 12 hours to be safe to drive after drinking a bottle of wine.

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The Christmas Season is finally upon us; Christmas parties are in full swing, families are journeying to visit, hectic shopping has taken over the next few weekends and mothers across the country are dropping presents off to friends and family members like there’s no tomorrow.

So I’m sure we all have plans for our cars to break down this winter?

No? Then you had better read our top tips to avoid breaking down here:

– Always be prepared. You will always break down when you least expect it, so always keep a kit in your car ready for this eventuality. In this emergency kit you will want some water, some back-up fuel if you have ran out, a flash light, some blankets to keep you warm and a mobile phone with it’s battery charged full. This is also a good idea if you are involved in an accident.

Have we missed any items off? Let us know!

– Remember your Hazards. If you break down, you will need to switch on your Hazard lights to alert other drivers of your presence and your vehicle status. This is especially important on winter nights as the dark will make it harder to see you.

Safe driving from Britannia!

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