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Cardiff council combats congestion through partnership with City Car Club

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

As of October, Cardiff will be the latest UK city to welcome City Car Club to its streets. According to Cardiff council the £120,000 scheme will help to greatly reduce the congestion being caused by privately owned vehicles. Initially, 10 low-carbon vehicles will be introduced into parking spaces around the city centre. These vehicles will then be made available to members of the scheme for rental by the hour.

Signing up for membership is done via the City Car Club website. Members will then receive a card capable of unlocking any of the car club vehicles. By entering a pin number to an on-board key-pad drivers will get access to the car’s keys. After using the car drivers are required to return it to its original parking space.

Coun Delme Bowen, Cardiff’s transport chief, claims that just one car club vehicle is enough to replace 20 privately owned vehicles in the city. He added that he hoped the new short term rental cars would not only free up parking spaces and reduce traffic jams but also encourage families to rethink their need for a second, or maybe even a first, vehicle.

Coun Bowen went on to say that those who took part in car club schemes were more likely to use public transport for other journeys.

City Car Club’s managing director, James Finalyson, said he was extremely excited about being allowed the opportunity to run Cardiff’s first car club. He added that City Car was the most experienced club in the UK, with operations already established in Bath, Bristol, London and Edinburgh.

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Drivers who travel abroad advised to learn local laws

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

British drivers are being warned that if they are planning to take their cars out of the country when they go on holiday they need to be aware of more than simply what side of the road they are required to drive on. A recent Sainsbury’s Car Insurance survey suggests that many motorists are not fully aware of the differing driving laws which are in place in the countries they intend to visit.

Of those responding to the poll, 15 per cent were not planning to take a warning triangle with them to set up in the road in the event of a breakdown. Not carrying or erecting a warning triangle is illegal in the Netherlands, Spain and France.

A third of Britons also admitted that they intended to drive on French roads without having a reflective jacket with them. This is also breaking French road laws which state that all drivers must wear one in the event of a breakdown.

Sainsbury’s Car Insurance also found that many motorists were not aware that using electronic devices to detect the radar emitted by speed traps was illegal in a number of European countries including Switzerland and Belgium.

Manager of car insurance at Sainsbury’s, Ben Tyte, said it was extremely important that drivers taking their vehicles overseas brush up on local driving laws. He said that it was especially important for those crossing borders whilst in Europe because the laws changed from country to country. Carrying the correct insurance policy is another top tip.

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Sixt offers penalty free car hire cancellations ahead of BAA strike

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

One of Europe’s most popular car hire firms has decided to offer its customers the chance to cancel their rental reservations free of charge if they find themselves affected by a possible strike by airport workers. Unite, the airport workers’ union, last week said that members would be rejecting a 1 per cent pay rise offered by BAA.

If a strike goes ahead, potentially as early as next week, Sixt customers at Heathrow, Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen could find themselves no longer requiring a rental vehicle. Sixt said it realised that a strike by airport workers was totally out of the control of its customers.

Sixt therefore wants to offer the security of being able to book a vehicle in the knowledge that the booking can be cancelled at any time if that customer is affected by industrial action.

The news that a strike may go ahead will be a further blow to travellers who have already experienced a year of disruption. First there was the travel chaos caused by some of the worst winter weather in decades. Then came the ash cloud over Europe which cost airlines and estimated £1.2 billion; and then there was 22 days worth of disruption because of strikes by British Airways’ cabin crew.

The ballot not to accept BAA’s offer was won by a 3 to 1 margin and Unite is now urging members to strike. If a walkout goes ahead it would mean that many essential airport workers would not be at their posts including security guards and fire fighters.

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Price of petrol to rise

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Life for UK motorists could become even more difficult than it already is if the price of petrol rises as forecast. The rising price of crude oil could see petrol jump by as much as 4 pence per litre over the next three weeks according to chairman of RMI Petrol, Brian Madderson. RMI represents two thirds of the countries petrol forecourts. Madderson added that the rising price of crude was bad news, but not entirely unexpected.

Last weekend the price of an average litre of petrol at the pumps was 116.65 pence. A rise of 4 pence would mean that petrol would hit 121 pence, marginally below the record price of 121.61 pence achieved in May.

Motoring organisation the AA said it was worrying how quickly the increase in the price of crude oil was being reflected at the pumps.

Spokesman for the group, Luke Bosdet, said a hike in the price of petrol would be crippling for motorists, especially in the south east. He explained that a lack of competition meant that filling up a tank in one town could be far more expensive than filling it up in the town next door because there was no competition on price.

Prices are unlikely to fall any time in the near future because of additional taxation on fuel. The coalition government intends to see through Labour’s budget plans to add an extra 1 pence per litre at the beginning of October with a further hike of 0.76 pence per litre as of 1 January next year.

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Paris announces electric car scheme

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

In an attempt to emulate its Velib bike rental scheme, Paris will launch its Autolib electric car hire venture next September. The scheme, the largest in the world, aims to offer Parisians the opportunity of being able to pick up a car whenever and wherever they need it. The idea is that by giving Paris residents the opportunity to pick up cars on demand the city will become less congested and less polluted.

Deputy Mayor, Annick Lepetit, claims that when the Autolib scheme is up and running, many residents will be able to do away with car ownership completely. She added that residents will now be able to have access to vehicles without having to deal with the expense and hassle of actually owning a car. The vehicles can be picked up and dropped off at rental stations throughout the city.

Lepetit estimates that it costs around $7,000 per year just to keep a car in the city. She claims that using the Autolib scheme will cut that cost dramatically.

Bill Moore, from EV World, a magazine specialising in electric vehicles, said the Autolib idea could prove to be a model for the rest of the world to follow. He added that there were some obvious hurdles to get over, such as theft and vandalism, but that if this could be achieved, the idea was a good one.

Officials claim that the vehicles will be designed in a way that makes them difficult to steal or destroy. When the Velib rental scheme was launched over a quarter of the original bikes were stolen, vandalised or ended up in the river Seine.

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Enterprise and Eckoh continue to help customers locate outlets

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Leading car hire providers, Enterprise, has confirmed that it will continue to work with speech recognition experts, Eckoh, in providing its customers with an easy to use store location service. Through its EckohLOCATE system customers phoning Enterprise to pinpoint the location of an outlet need only to say the name of the town they are interested in, after they are connected to Enterprise National Reservations, and EckohLOCATE will inform them of the Enterprise branches nearest to their location.

The speech recognition system also gives customers the option of finding out contact information, branch opening hours and the branch address. If a customer chooses, then the system is capable of patching their call through to a particular Enterprise outlet.

Eckoh’s chief executive officer, Nik Philpot, said that he was pleased the relationship between Enterprise and Eckho was still as strong as ever. He added that by providing the speech recognition service for simple information, such as outlet location, Enterprise customer service teams were free to concentrate on dealing with more complicated enquires.

The system cuts out the need for customer service representatives to constantly deal with handing out basic information which is requested by customers on a repetitive basis. Since launching its telephone reservations service to customers seven days a week, 24-hours a day, in October 2004, the service has dealt with over 1.5 million call minutes.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s IT director for Europe, Parthi Cumarasamy, said that it was always the firm’s intention to provide its customers with the highest possible level of service and, through Eckoh, Enterprise is delivering a fast, simple, efficient locator service.

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Study reveals men uncomfortable with their partner’s driving

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

More than one third of all men who took part in a recent poll admitted that they did not feel comfortable when their partners got behind the wheel of a vehicle. One in 10 added that they have had to ask their partner to pull over so that they can take over the driving. A similar number claim that they have been forced to grab the steering wheel from their partner in order to avoid an accident.

The survey, conducted by OnePoll.com, questioned 3,000 men about how they felt when their wife or partner was in charge of the driving. A spokesman for the market research company said that it was obvious that most men thought that they were better drivers than their other halves.

The number one complaint was that women tended to be easily distracted by things like other motorists, the scenery and children.

Men tend to believe that they have a more finely tuned ability to react to situations than women. Around 20 per cent admitted that they are unable to relax if their partner is in charge of the wheel and a similar number admitted that they had got into arguments over whose driving skills were better.

Also high on the list of complaints was the fact that many men felt their partners used the accelerator a stop-go button, causing journeys to become uncomfortable. Many men also put the fact that they believed their partners did not apply the brakes early enough high on the complaints list.

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Carrentals.co.uk seeks out best online car clips

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Leading UK car hire site, Carrentals.co.uk, has decided to launch a competition to find the best car related video clip online. Those wishing to join in have until September 30 this year to upload a clip, which is no more than 90 seconds in length, to their own YouTube page, as well as the Carrentals.co.uk YouTube page where all mini-films will be available to members of the public as well as a panel of judges.

The person who provides the most original clip will walk away with a 16GB Apple iPad. MD of Carrentals.co.uk, Gareth Robinson, says: “We know what an important role video plays on the Internet these days, which is why we wanted to bring together a selection of the best car-related clips for people to watch all in one place. The videos can be on anything relating to cars, but have to make the Carrentals judges laugh and they must be legal, safe and comply with all terms and conditions for the entrant to be in with a chance of winning an iPad.”

After all entries have been judged by the Carrentals.co.uk team, the winner will be announced on October 14 2010. There will also be two runner-up prizes for second and third place. Both will receive John Lewis shopping vouchers worth £50 and £25 respectively.

Those wishing to take part in ‘The Carrentals.co.uk Video Challenge’ will find all the necessary details, including full terms and conditions, at www.carrentals.co.uk/video-comp.

Carrentals.co.uk compares the prices of major car rental companies around the world to bring its customers the very best available deals.

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Avis enters Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Avis, one of the world’s largest general-use car hire brands, has just increased its dominance in Asia by opening its first branch in Vietnam’s southern economic hub, Ho Chi Minh City. The new operation means that Avis is now the only international car hire firm to be operating in both the north and the south of the country.

Avis opened the new branch in order to cater to a growth in demand for a reliable vehicle rental service within Ho Chi Minh City from foreign visitors. The new outlet is situated close to the city’s central business district on D3 Street, in Binh Thanh. General Director of Avis Vietnam, Le Viet Hai Son, said Avis wanted to expand its operations within the country, especially within Vietnam’s burgeoning economic centres.

He added that there was a demand for reliable tailored rental services and that this demand was bound to grow in centres like Ho Chi Minh City, as multinational corporations and businesses also grew.

Formerly Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam’s industrial centre as well as being the country’s focus for science, technology and economics. Avis aims to meet the projected growth in demand for car hire by foreign visitors, as well as those who will be in the city on a longer term basis. In order to cater for foreigners, part of the Avis team in Ho Chi Minh City is a professionally trained local driver with an excellent knowledge of English.

As always, a highly trained team of Avis employees will be on hand to assist visitors with any queries they might have.

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Crime figures down again at this year’s Glastonbury

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Glastonbury, arguably the country’s best loved and biggest outdoor music festival, has come to a close for another year. But whereas fans were concentrating on celebrating the festivals 40th birthday, the police have been celebrating yet another fall in crime figures at the event.

The total number of crimes reported at this year’s Glastonbury was 393. This is a decrease on 2009’s figure of 445 crimes, which was already less than the 483 crimes reported in 2008. Police said that 170,000 revellers attended the event and that only 0.3 per cent were the victims of any type of crime.

Of the crimes reported, the majority involved the theft of people’s possessions from the tents they were camping in. This type of crime resulted in 230 complaints to police. Personal thefts dropped from 61 in 2009 to 22 this year.

There were 117 arrests, all of which were drug related. 90 people were asked to accompany the authorities because they were in possession of drugs and 17 people were charged with dealing drugs.

Superintendent Ian Smith, who was in charge of the police operation at this year’s festival, said that he was extremely pleased that once again the level of crime at the Glastonbury Festival had remained low. He added that the police had been received well by festival-goers and that the feedback had been extremely positive. The event was wrapped up this weekend with a stage performance by the legendary Stevie Wonder, who was joined by the crowd in a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.

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