NY Wheel

Deciding that you are prepared to start learning to drive can often be quite nerve racking and without the proper amount of understanding of the procedure it may be quite daunting. Sadly you can’t just jump directly into a driving tester’s car and take your test; there’s documentation and procedure to carry out first. Take a look at several pointers that will help you on the path to your driving practice, some are very obvious but understandably it can sometimes pay to return to basics to ensure that nothing is missed.

Getting a provisional license may be the initial step you will need to carry out; the forms to apply for one of these simple can be found from a wide range of locations for example your local DVLA office or post office.

Choosing the best approved driving instructor is essential, you will generally end up spending a large amount of time together so ensuring that they are not only good drivers but good teachers can help you progress. You can obviously be taught by those who have had a full license for three years or over. Choosing to be taught by a professional approved driving instructor is recommended, not only are they trained to give you the best training possible however they also offer the safest option with their modified vehicles.

Learners who are a new comer to motoring in general will need a lot of lessons which by all means do not come cheap, it is estimated the typical motorist will need 45+ hours before they successfully take their test. Driver instructors know the latest legislation and curriculum for tests so that they are undoubtedly an infinitely more viable option when it comes to practicing for exams. Read the rest of this entry »

When seating your son or daughter in a car you should know of the laws surrounding seatbelts and child restraints because there are varying rules for various vehicles types and ages of child. In all of those cases it is the responsibility from the driver to ensure youngsters are restrained correctly.

Babies

If your baby is incorporated in the front passenger seat and an airbag is present, it is against the law to utilize a rear facing child seat. When the airbag was to release greater injury would be caused if the wrong restraint was adopted.

Children as much as three

Should be correctly restrained in both the leading and back of a car, the only exception is in a licensed taxi or licensed hire car where appropriate restraints are unavailable. In this situation a young child can travel within the back unrestrained. However, gradually alter ensure that the required child seating can be obtained because this was introduced for logical reasons not safety. Read the rest of this entry »

Countless individuals are killed or seriously injured in road accidents in the united kingdom each year and in several accidents, the main contributing factor is driver error. This can be related to the level of skill of the driver, the attitude, lack of judgement, lack of knowledge of vehicle characteristics. Defensive driving is all about developing the best attitude and approach, brushing up on general driving skills, researching the handling characteristics of the vehicle as well as other factors which we will discuss a little further.

Responsibility, concentration, anticipation, patience and confidence are the qualities which contribute towards driver attitude and it is the driver’s attitude which influence’s his behavior on the highway. In defensive driving, a responsible driver is definitely worried about the security of his vehicle and also the safety of all other road users around him. A defensive driver is always tolerant from the mistakes of other road users and is conscious that everyone is entitled to use the road just as much as him.

Due to the amount of traffic on our roads, concentration is paramount to defensive driving. You need to avoid driving if you are feeling unwell, upset or annoyed or suffering from any kind of stress. You shouldn’t let your passengers distract you against the job available, make telephone calls (even hands free phones can be very distracting), drink or eat, read road maps or even tune your radio during the move. Avoiding only the some of the things mentioned previously will assist you to enhance your concentration immensely. Read the rest of this entry »

Driving safely is something which anybody can tell you is harder than it looks. No human being has 360 degree vision, so as much as you watch the road, check your mirrors and pay extremely close attention to what you are doing you will still have a lot of work to do to ensure your safety and that of your family. The importance of keeping a close eye on what you are doing is absolutely paramount, and you should follow all the rules about driving – not just being sober, but being awake and attentive and not letting anything distract you. Not a cigarette, a cellphone nor anything else while the car is moving.

All of the above can protect you to a large extent. Often, though, you are not the only person in the car. When you have kids in tow it becomes less about how safe you are and more about ensuring their protection. You are old and wise enough to know what to do in an accident and take what action is necessary. Your kids still need help – and for younger children this will often mean a child safety seat. There are different kinds of child car safety seats, for different ages and sizes of children. Knowing that you have the right one makes every journey a lot more bearable.

Although car seats can seem expensive, the importance of having the right one means that it is not a luxury purchase, but an essential one. The good thing about a car seat is that they are generally durable – as they need to be considering their purpose – and that when your first child outgrows it you can keep it in reserve for when you have your next. Buying a new one for each child is excessive, especially as you will need more than one for an individual child. When they outgrow their baby seat they will need a bigger one, and can need as many as three – an infant seat, a convertible seat and a booster seat. Calm down – after they outgrow the booster seat they will be ready to move on to seatbelts.

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It is difficult to escape the issue of obesity. According to scientists, it is becoming one of the biggest health problems for the UK’s population. It seems that we are alerted to new and alarming obesity statistics every time we switch on the TV, read the newspaper or pick up a magazine, yet the situation does not seem to be getting any better.

There is a constant barrage of solutions to the problem of obesity that are thrown at us. Some solutions present new and ingenious diets as the answer, others recommend a simple course of lots of exercise, whilst still others tout the effectiveness of appetite-restricting pills and medical treatments.

Whilst scientists and researchers discover the answer to reducing the problem of obesity, we need to find ways to cater for the needs of people who do not conform to the average size expectations. The clothing industry is taking this seriously, with a great variety of shops and online stores springing up which have been created with the aim of providing attractive clothing in larger sizes.

However, many other industries appear to be doing a lot less than clothes stores. Take car manufacturers, for example. There are no manufacturers which advertise the fact that they have specially designed interiors for larger people, and safety equipment does not appear to be as effective.

Research in the US revealed that obese people are more than twice as likely to die in a car accident as slim people. The study found that both people who have a BMI of 35 or greater (30 is obese) and those who weigh in excess of 15 stone have more than double the chance of being killed in car accidents.

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Road safety awareness has come a long way in recent times and whereas previously we may have bought a car because of its style, speed, functionality and perhaps even its pulling power,  now safety has become a major consideration when making that all important purchase. For this reason car manufacturers are constantly striving to improve their safety systems and come up with the latest innovations to get ahead of the pack.

Considering that it was a Volvo engineer who first invented the seat belt back in 1959 it is no wonder we’ve come to regard Volvo as synonymous with safety. For many years they have focused their marketing campaigns on the safety features of their cars and promoted themselves as making ‘the safest cars in the world’. However last year Toyota successfully took them to court and it was ruled that these claims were ‘misleading and lacked supporting evidence’. So have we been hoodwinked?

Let’s take a look at the evidence.  The most widely recognised safety testing is performed by Euro NCAP. They perform independent assessments of cars sold within Europe and award stars based on the safety of their performance in crash test situations.

In a press release Euro NCAP disclosed their top five overall achievers; Volvo didn’t put in an appearance until ‘joint 5th place’ receiving only three out of a potential five stars. Volvo was preceded by VW Golf, Honda Insight Hybrid, Toyota Prius, Hyundai i20. So it does seem that the public perception of Volvo may be somewhat misguided.

The tests cover all aspects of a car’s safety performance from frontal impact and side impact to child, driver and pedestrian protection. They are considered exhaustive by most; however some believe that other more unusual factors also come into play.

Believe it or not there have been several studies carried out worldwide to try to establish the safest colour car to drive! So does colour play a part in how safe a car is? Well according to the various experiments conducted it absolutely does.

It is apparent time and time again that silver is safest. In almost every study silver cars come out as least likely to be involved in an accident.  The reason for this (here’s the science bit) is because silver has highly reflective qualities and is not a colour that occurs naturally in the environment.  It therefore easily attracts our attention and stands out against the black roads or at night time, reducing its chances of being involved in a collision. The same can be said of white and other light coloured vehicles. Darker colours such as black, dark blue and bottle green cars are all thought to be at a greatly increased risk of being involved in more serious accidents.

It does appear that there is more to consider when buying a car than air bags and NCAP stars, although perhaps the most important safety feature is the one ‘behind’ the wheel.