News - August
The car and the vine
HRH Prince Charles has found a 'vine' way to reduce his fuel cost – he runs
his Aston Martin on wine.
One of the most unusual fuels available at the moment, most people would
never imagine that the popular alcoholic beverage could power a car. The
luxury Aston Martin, a birthday present from the Queen, is currently the
only car in his fleet to use wine as a fuel.
Prince Charles is keen to be green and also uses bio-ethanol fuels to run
the rest of his fleet. His other three cars, a Jaguar, Audi and Range Rover
currently run off used cooking oil. Prince Charles has had all his cars converted
to be able to run off bio-ethanol fuel, without damaging the engine, the
cost of which has been somewhere in the region of £500,000.
This might be an environmentally friendly way for his royal highness to
run his car, but motorists are warned that unless they have a few £1000
to spend on upgrading their engines to handle eco-friendly fuels, they would
be better off sticking to standard petrol/diesel.
Motorists at their slowest in a decade
New statistics¹ from the Department of Transport have revealed that greater numbers of motorists are keeping to the 30mph speed limit than at any other point in the last decade.
It is being said that hard hitting road safety campaigns and the increased use of speed cameras are serious factors in why motorists are reducing their speed. As a result deaths have fallen to below 3,000, a first since records began.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said: "The prevalence of speed cameras has led to a change in attitude to speeding in urban areas. The fact they are out there has meant that people think twice about speeding. Very effective advertising campaigns have also hit home and that has definitely made a difference."
Statistics also reveal that the average driving speed has fallen to 55mph from 55.4mph last year, whilst the amount of traffic on the roads has risen by 11 percent in the last decade.
These facts have raised the question that not only are people more aware of speed cameras but with roads now more congested then every before, surely this has had an impact on the speed of the traffic. It also comes as no surprise that as fuel prices rise motorists are slowing down as a way of tightening their belts.
¹ Road Statistics 2007: Traffic, Speed and Congestion
Gran passes driving test after 27 years
Teresa Clarke, a grandmother from Wroxham, Norfolk, has passed her driving test after 27 years.
The 62 year old first started lessons in 1981 and has since taken 450 lessons, costing her a whopping £15,000.
In her 27 years of learning to drive Teresa has been through 20 instructors, many of whom refused to carry on teaching her. Teresa said: “For quite a few years, I just couldn’t keep to the kerb. My mind would be all over the place and before I knew it, I’d be on the wrong side of the road. A lot of my instructors didn’t like that.”
Teresa went on to fail her test 13 times, cancelling a further 35 as she knew it would end in disaster. Now legally able to drive, Teresa still insists on going out with her instructor, Patrick Beasley. She claims: “Patrick helps me keep calm; he tells me what I need to do and makes sure I don’t get too panicked.” Asked if she will ever drive on her own she goes on to say: “Once I get my own car I’ll start driving on my own. I can’t wait to get on the road.”
Teresa’s story goes a long way to prove that people should never give up on their dream of driving. However, drivers in the Wroxham area might want to watch out for Teresa, as something tells us she’s not quite the perfect driver just yet.
