Police officers in Mildura, Victoria have raised concerns about the accuracy of Apple Maps after the force have had to rescue stranded drivers who have followed the incorrect directions the software produced.

The mapping system shows Mildura in the middle of the Murray Sunset National Park, which is in fact 45 miles away from that location.

Sharon Darcy, acting senior sergeant said: “Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the park and the temperatures can reach as high as 46c, making this a potentially life-threatening issue.”

When the software was first released back in September, despite the criticisms, Apple defended the software. As time has gone on, they have since admitted the faults and are looking to improve the software.

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Nissan are experimenting with an adapted Nissan Leaf to see whether the car can park itself and even find the parking space to begin with.

The car has sensors which detect reflective white lines on the floor. It then uses cameras to guide the car into the space. At present the car only works with reflective white paint, so could not be used out on the main roads but could certainly take the stress out of car-park chaos.

Using your Smartphone, you can even order the car to find a parking space and when you are ready order the car to return to you.

The car has built in security cameras to deter any jealous thieves

Nissan don’t know if and when it could bring the vehicle out to the mainstream market, but is enjoying working on this novel idea.

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A DRIVING instructor has become the first in the UK to teach pupils using an all-electric car. Paul Tomlin, has bought a Nissan LEAF from the Holdcroft dealership and says that both he and his pupils are delighted with it.

Paul, of Waterdale Grove, Longton, says that he bought the car to save money and do his bit to help the environment but adds that it also makes his pupils better and safer drivers.

He says: “I had been looking at electric cars for some time and when I tested one it just felt right. There was a bit of a problem fitting dual controls but that was soon sorted.

“Being a driving instructor it is a bit difficult to be green because I do about 25,000 miles a year but this is a zero emission car and I save around £2,800 annually on running costs too. I recharge it during my lunch break and it works well.”

And Paul says that the LEAF is good for students too. It is exceptionally easy to drive because it has no gears, instant throttle response and there is virtually no noise and it also has a display showing the driver how much energy they are using or putting back into the battery.

Paul says: “The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is very keen these days to promote ‘eco-safe’ driving which is based on driving efficiently by proper observation and anticipation and not wasting energy. The LEAF is the ideal car for this because you can see instantly how much power you are using. Because there are no gears and because it is so easy to control my pupils can devote more attention to the road and traffic.”

One pupil has already passed her test in the LEAF after failing twice before in other cars.

Paul adds: “Since I took delivery of the Nissan LEAF there has been lots of interest from my fellow instructors and it’s easy to see why. The pupils love the car and the immediate success they have had underlines what an easy car the LEAF is to drive. For me personally I’m happy to now avoid the petrol stations and I feel happier for the environment by driving a zero emissions vehicle.”

David Dillon, dealer principal at Holdcroft Nissan, adds: “We’re happy to see the LEAF become the first electric driving instructor vehicle and thrilled for the pupils successfully passing in the car. With the pass success Paul has already enjoyed with a 100 per cent electric car, many young learners future first driving experience could well be in a LEAF.”

ASK does also teach learners in a manual gearbox car.

Cambridge taxi drivers have received more than 600 complaints, half of which relate to bad driving.

Members of the public have complained about taxi drivers who fail to give way or have caused a collision due to poor driving.

Councillor Colin Rosenstiel, who is in charge of the city’s licensing committee, wants to make changes and stop those creating a bad name for taxi drivers.

However, other complaints relate to overcharging and route disputes, rudeness, criminal damage and driver conduct. Cllr Rosenstiel said: “My concern is that the council’s determination to raise standards has not succeeded, I want to put in a renewed effort to do so.”

Despite the long list of complaints, only 18 drivers have been disciplined since 2008, according to council statistics. It is thought that courts are overturning decisions to suspend licences factoring in that taxi drivers are “only human” and suspending their licence could cause potential hardship.

Chairman or Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, has suggested that drivers who fall below the required standards be sent on a driver awareness course.

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You’ll probably hear your driving instructor bang on a lot about checking your blind spot, and he does so for good reason.

Whilst your mirrors are very useful and you should use them, you shouldn’t just rely on them. You need to look at your blind spot too.

We see people fail to check their blind spot a lot when they are changing lanes. When you come to changing lanes, you would have read in your Highway Code about mirror-signal-manoeuvre, which is of course important. But so is checking your blind spot. Make a habit of checking it. This also includes when you are reversing around the corner, bay parking and many other times when you’re on the road.

Be safe. Check your blind spot!

The DSA (Driving Standards Agency) have began their trial of offering driving tests from public  locations such as retail premises and public buildings.

From March drivers can take their practical driving test from Nottingham Trent University. Drivers will be able to select from two days a week and can set of from either of the Universities campuses.

The trial which was given the go ahead by Road minister Stephen Hammond will last between three to six months and reviewed after this period.

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Folkestone Academy in Kent has been in touch with Kent Police after a local resident Mr Mallett filmed drivers mounting the pavements and driving along the pathway.

Mr Mallett said: “I just saw one car after another just drive past on the path outside my house, opposite the school. It’s absolute chaos. It’s just an accident waiting to happen.”

A spokesman for Kent Police said they will investigate the matter and try contacting the drivers caught on camera whilst continue to monitor the situation.

Associate head teacher at the school, Mr Smith said: It’s frequently busy at the front of the school but for cars to take it upon themselves to mount the pavement to avoid the traffic is absolutely outrageous.”

The school have now advised parents and children to meet at a different location which is less congested.

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Foreign drivers could be banned from using interpreters to help them through their tests to prevent cheating, under proposals unveiled by Stephen Hammond, the road safety minister

The Government is also ready to scrap pre-recorded voice-overs, currently available in 19 different languages including Polish and several from the Indian subcontinent.

Both options are contained in a Government consultation which will continue until the spring.

“There is a potential road safety risk of drivers not understanding important traffic updates or emergency information,” said Mr Hammond.

“Allowing interpreters on tests also presents the risk of fraud, for example if they are indicating the correct answers to theory test questions.”

According to the Driving Standards Agency nine official interpreters have been banned since 2009 and 861 successful tests have been revoked after evidence of cheating was found during the same period.

Changes in the driving test are designed to mimic real life, scrapping turn by turn directions. It is feared in some cases interpreters could be giving more help than they are supposed to.

With the theory test, interpreters are supposed to translate the questions but there have been occasions when it is believed they have provided the answers as well.

While the issue of fraud does not arise with voice-overs, it is believed that drivers living in Britain should be able to react to road traffic information on the radio or on gantries.

The move was welcomed by Edmund King, the AA’s president. “If the problem with interpreters is one of fraud then more spot checks should be carried out without interpreters to ascertain whether the candidate has been unduly aided. If the problem is to do with cost, then the full additional costs of the service should be met by the candidate.

“We need to balance the importance of learning to drive safely with the desire to help those whose maiden tongue is not English.

“Obviously all licence holders qualified in the UK will need to understand essential road signs and the Highway Code.”

Wlodzimierz Mier-Jedrzejowicz, the chairman of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, described the proposals as sensible

“We feel that somebody coming to live and drive in Britain needs to know English and a translator should not be necessary.

“If they can’t tell the difference between Bradford and Bolton on a sign, they are going to slow down and bother people. Clearly they need to be able to understand information on roadside gantries.”

What do you think? Should interpreters be allowed for foreign drivers if they are necessary?

Theory and practical driving tests can currently be taken in 21 different languages however, this looks likely to change with the government looking to scrap this in a bid to stop cheating and ensure foreign drivers understand essential road signs and the Highway Code.

Research shows that nearly 145, 000 tests are taken every year in languages other than English and Welsh.

Currently when sitting the theory, you can select to listen to a pre-recorded voice-over in your selected language however, this raises concerns. Road safety minister, Mr. Hammond is said: “There is a potential road safety risk of drivers not understanding important traffic updates or emergency information….all licence holders qualified in the UK will need to understand essential road signs and the Highway Code.”

Nine official interpreters have been banned since 2009 after evidence found them cheating and not only translating the question or instruction but, often providing the answers as well and as a result hundreds of candidates who had passed, have had their licences revoked.

Not only do the government want to ensure drivers understand our rules on the road, but they need to look at the costs of continually developing and up-dating the voice-overs .

The government also hope that  by removing foreign translation it will increase ‘social cohesion and integration’ in Britain.

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Since 1859, when Belgian J.J. Etienne Lenoir first drove the first motorised automobile, driving has become a staple part of modern civilisation. As much a part of our everyday life as walking or talking, operating a car is an activity that many take for granted, now as mundane a task as answering a phone call or watching television.

However, all that could be about to change.

Google are in the midst of a revolutionary project that could see the end of driving as we know it; the driverless car.

The technology is being pioneered by one of the brains behind the infinitely successful Google Street View, Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that this is some Science-Fiction laboratory experiment unlikely to ever see the bright light of day; the Autonomous Car is in the early stages of production already, and the ball is already rolling rapidly towards making the driverless car a commonplace luxury.

In June 2011, the US State of Nevada passed a law allowing the operation of driverless cars within its jurisdiction. This law came into effect last March, and by May the first license for a driverless car had been issued. Since then both Florida and California have followed suit, permitting driverless cars within the state.

However Google are not the only trailblazers in the field of Autonomous cars; Audi has also been testing their own similar project on Nevada highways, and they have even refined the work started by Google, as whilst Google’s technology consisted of bulky computer equipment affixed to the roof of the vehicle, Audi has managed to minimise this to a much smaller mechanism that, at roughly the size of a human fist, can fit easily into the grill of a car, and therefore allows the capacity to retroactively update older models of cars to become driverless. Continental are also well into the way of developing their own version of the technology.

With a variety of companies challenging each other to be the first to release the driverless car, as well as a certainty of other competitors to appear in the not-too-distant future, it may seem that we will be seeing autonomous vehicles before our tax is up on our current pride-and-joys. However I wouldn’t expect to be getting in a quick nap on the driver’s seat on the way to work any time soon; Continental suggests that whilst the project is progressing well, it is likely to be 2025 before your road trip is provided by auto pilot.

It is expected that Japan will be the most likely location to first see the driverless car on its roads in any case, probably many years before the UK or US, and instead of a sudden revolution of vehicles rendering drivers redundant, it is much more likely that aspects of the technology necessary to make the driverless car possible will trickle down into the mainstream gradually throughout the next couple of decades. We already have access to adaptive cruise control, parking aids, lane-departure warnings, electronic stability control and predictive emergency braking. As Continental CEO Elmar Degenhart says; “We are convinced that automated driving has already begun.”