There is some ambiguity over where you should park your car in order to get the best car insurance quote.

Some insurers will reduce your insurance premium if your car is parked on a driveway as opposed to on the street and this is understandable. There is less chance that your car will be scratched, knocked or crashed into if it is parked on a private drive.

However, the big question is whether parking in a garage brings the premiums down even more. Some insurers relish the idea that your car is locked away from potential vandals and thieves however, others assess whether parking in a garage allows for you to scratch the vehicle, dent it whilst trying to park in a tight space or have objects in the garage fall on the car.

Holly Harper of Britannia Driving School said: “So anyone that’s thinking of having their garage converted into that extra bedroom or games room, have a look at car insurance quotes and see where your money can be saved.”

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ONE in six motorists stopped by police in the spring were done for drink-driving compared to just one in 20 in the Christmas party season.

A Home Office report out yesterday shows that the number of drivers testing positive or refusing a breath test was at its highest from March to May, 2009.

March saw 17% of drivers being caught out in England and Wales, with 16% in April and May. In contrast, December had 5% of motorists over the limit, despite many more being stopped.

Only 47,000 breath tests were carried out in March as well as April, compared to 189,935 in December.

A survey by road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line yesterday said 53% of drivers think there is a less than one in four chance of being caught over the limit.

Brake’s Julie Townsend said: “The number of breath tests being carried out is wholly inadequate.”

The Road Traffic and Highways (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill was successfully taken through its clauses stage by Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne MHK.

The bill increases the minimum ban for drink-drivers from one to two years and the maximum from three to five years. It sets out that someone whose drink-drive reading is between 115mg and 173mg in blood (the legal limit being 80) would receive a ban of two years, someone with a reading between 173mg and 230mg would receive a three-year ban and anyone over 230mg would be banned for five years.

Juan Watterson (Rushen) tabled amendments to the clause but said rather than moving them he wanted to just raise the issue of graduated penalties.

He said he had no problem with the principle of a higher penalty for higher levels of alcohol but said he thought the top end was set ‘rather high’.

Different forms of punishment, such as restorative justice, community service, should be used instead, said Mr Watterson.

He made it clear he did not advocate drink-driving but said he was concerned at the effect such a long ban would have on some people’s overall quality of life, for example in terms of getting to work.

Quintin Gill (Rushen) agreed with Mr Watterson that ‘the proportionality needs addressing’.

Chief Minister Tony Brown MHK weighed in to say he did believe the upper limit was proportionate.

‘It’s a privilege to have a driving licence, not a right,’ said Mr Brown.

‘If you have that privilege you have a responsibility to the wider public to take care if you are consuming alcohol.’

Mr Gawne also said he thought the higher level of ban was ‘absolutely reasonable’.

‘This is not about someone that’s gone out the morning after a hard night’s drinking, this is someone who is seriously drunk and should not be anywhere near a motor vehicle,’ he said.

John Houghton (Douglas North) tabled an amendment to the bill proposing that its wording creating an offence of causing grievous bodily harm to another person as part of a motoring offence should be changed to ‘serious bodily harm’.

Mr Houghton said the amendment was designed as a helpful measure to differentiate between the charge of GBH in criminal law and this motoring offence.

Mr Houghton said he did not want to diminish the seriousness of the offence but wanted to make it more understandable. Mr Gawne agreed.

The bill also includes provision for the Department of Infrastructure to charge HGV operators for damage caused to the road. This provision only covers new cases and not established operations.

It sets out the police’s powers to seize a vehicle if the driver is suspected of certain offences.

And it introduces sanctions against anyone taking business as a driving instructor without the relevant qualifications.

The next stage will be for Mr Gawne to take the bill through its third reading.

Drivers disposing of litter on the motorway are causing problems not only for other drivers but for those clearing it up and wildlife too.

It is estimated that around 700,000 sacks of litter have been collected over the last few years, with other rubbish including surfboards, tents and footballs.

Dumping any form of little on the motorway or any other road can lead to accidents. Cars have been known to lose control of their vehicle or have their view obstructed due to litter.

It is extremely risky and expensive to have people remove the litter, an expense the taxpayers are forking out for.

Just as importantly wildlife and the environment is taking a knock too.

Emily Smith of Britannia Driving School said: “Ultimately we all suffer, so the simple message is: don’t litter. There are designated sites and dumps to dispose of your rubbish, if you are doing a long trip on the motorway keep a spare bin bag in the car, fill it up and dispose of it safely at the end of your journey.”

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The experimental speed limit of 70mph was introduced in 1964 and in 2011 MPs could push for a new speed limit of 80mph.

The new speed limit would not be applied to all motorways with the M25 maintaining a 70mph limit, but the changes being applied to the M5 and M4.

There will also be debate as to whether the change in speed should only be applied to certain times of the day.

Motorists in other parts of Europe have a higher speed limit and it is thought that with the advances in car technology and improvements in highway engineering, we can handle an increase.

However, some are opposed saying an increase in speed could also see an increase in road casualties.

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One thing’s for sure, she’s not scoring one for us women. You can picture the tabloid editor beaming already. Woman! Failed! Theory test! 90 times! Thanks to a freedom of information request, the worst driving student in the UK has indeed been unveiled: she is 26, lives in Southwark, and spent an astonishing £2,790 on driving theory test exams. Call it confirmation bias, but the opinion currently held by Neanderthals about females behind a steering wheel will only be strengthened by the story.

One has to ask, though: how can someone fail a multiple choice test so many times? There are only 50 questions, followed by four answers each. Candidates have to get at least 43 answers right – not an issue if one studies hard – and then face the gruelling hazard perception test (more on that later).

I know those details because yesterday morning found me and a dozen others wiping metaphorical sweat from our brows as we sat in a south London test centre, waiting to make good use of the knowledge accumulated in the past few weeks. Or in my case, days; I’m lucky to be gifted at last-minute cramming and passed. 45/50, if you must ask.

I won’t lie – the test isn’t that easy. The current pass rate for the theory test is 62.9%; people in the US are said to be horrified at our UK process. And while a lot of the expected answers are solidly rooted in common sense (“Q: You are invited to a pub lunch. You know that you will have to drive in the evening. What is your best course of action?” A. Avoid mixing your alcoholic drinks B. Not drink any alcohol at all C. Have some milk before drinking alcohol D. Eat a hot meal with your alcoholic drinks), others were more pointed (“How long will a statutory off road notification last for?”). Some, on the other hand, were downright stupid (“When should you take a call on your mobile phone while travelling?”).

The first written examination was introduced for wannabe drivers in 1996, before being replaced by the computer test in 2000. But is it a truly essential part of the learning process? Talking to my colleagues about the unlucky student who failed so many times this morning, many of them recalled the “good old days” during which you would just be asked a few questions by your driving examiner before passing your driving test: do you know what that sign is? Yes? What about this one? Good, all right then. Now show us how you park.

Take the dreaded hazard perception test – a glorious example of a terribly explained task which many people who did not train for the test with a DVD find impossible to understand. On paper, this sounds relatively straightforward: “Examinees watch 14 one-minute clips filmed from the perspective of a car driver and have to indicate, usually by clicking a mouse button or touching the screen, when they observe a developing hazard.” Because we’re told that each clip is supposed to contain one hazard (with one exception, which contains two), many viewers decide to react only once, when they should instead click every time they suspect they see a developing hazard (which can be anything, from a far-away pedestrian to an incoming truck). Surely such skills would be better assessed by an instructor during actual driving lessons? The same applies to the multiple choice part of test, where it is easy to “luck out” or take educated guesses (which I did on occasion during mine).

Truly, I couldn’t be convinced of the utility of the theory test. It did provide me with some basic knowledge, but it is nothing I wouldn’t have learned on the ground. The hard work lies ahead, in the hours during which I will drive the vehicle accompanied. I truly feel that practice, much like making a good damson pie, cycling or learning to tie laces, is the only way to learn. Perhaps the woman who failed so many times should just be given a free pass.

More than a third of new cars are now sold without a spare tyre. Ford, Volvo and Honda do not sell their cars with a spare as standard. Surely such an important safety item should be included?

To have a flat tyre on the motorway can put yourself and other passengers in danger. Most of us wouldn’t know how to change a tyre, that’s if we have one and would need to wait for break down assistance.

In the early days of motoring, drivers had to change their tyres often with stray horseshoe nails puncturing them. This meant driver’s would often carry two spares. However, in the U.S. spare tyres were prohibited during World War II due to a shortage of rubber.

Drivers that do find themselves lucky enough to have a spare in the 21st Century will usually have a ‘spacesaver’ tyre. These are used in order to save space, reduce cost and lower the vehicles weight. However, they are meant as a temporary measure as they have a short life expectancy and are indented for limited distances.

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Congestion on Britain’s busiest roads has fallen by nearly 20 per cent over the last three-and-a-half years as motorists hit by spiralling fuel prices leave their cars at home.

New Department for Transport figures show significant reductions in delays on motorways and main trunk roads as well as a drop in the overall amount of traffic – and Ministers confirm it is linked to the recession.

Separate data shows that in some parts of the country, delays on a number of major roads are down by almost 50 per cent over the past year.

The Government statistics measure congestion on nearly 100 of the country’s main roads by recording the average vehicle delay for the slowest 10 per cent of the journey.

Congestion hit a high in July 2007, when the figure reached four minutes 19 seconds per ten miles, but in

January it was down to three minutes and 49 seconds, a drop of 17 per cent.

It marks the first reduction in traffic volume since the international oil

crisis crippled fuel supplies in 1979.

Roads Minister Mike Penning said: ‘The falls in traffic volume over the last two years are likely to be linked to the wider economic situation but we recognise that it’s a tough time for motorists as we tackle the country’s record budget deficit.’

A report by Trafficmaster, which supplies information about congestion to car satellite navigation systems via a network of speed sensors on major routes, said that the number of hold-ups last month on the M1 between Leicester and Sheffield had fallen 52 per cent compared with February 2010.

Graham Smith, the company’s data manager, said: ‘The simple explan¬ation is that there are now fewer vehicles on the roads.

There is considerably less commercial traffic and in some cases people are finding other ways to get to work.

‘People are also cutting down on leisure trips or driving to the shops. The cost of fuel is a major factor in people’s decisions about making journeys these days.’

Traffic volumes in city centres such as Leeds have also fallen and the numbers of motorists paying the congestion charge for driving in Central London fell by 500,000 between 2009 and last year, even though there was no rise in the charge.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics revealed that petrol sales dipped by 4.1 per cent over the three months up to January compared with the same period a year earlier as petrol prices rocketed.

There was an even greater drop of 9.5 per cent in the three months up to December compared with the previous year.

The fall in sales came as the cost of a litre of unleaded petrol soared to an average of 133.17p – £6 a gallon – earlier this month, up from 128.3p in January, and garages reported that many people could afford only half or even a quarter of a tank at a time.

Experts predicted that the cut of 1p a litre announced in the Budget would do little to reverse the trend of declining car use.

RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink said he was in no doubt that motorists were cutting down on driving as they felt the pinch.

‘We are seeing record numbers of people walking and biking. Evidence from the last couple of quarters is that the sale of petrol is dropping,’ he said.

‘A lot of people are combining journeys, making shorter ones and looking at alternatives like the train.’

He added that road improvements and extreme weather conditions were also factors.

Psychologists have found that women are extremely influenced by what car men drive.

The same man can be presented in two different cars and women will choose him in the more expensive car, meaning that women rate men higher if they drive a more extravagant vehicle.

But what can be said about men rating women. It appears that men are not interested in what car a women drives but more interested in her looks and figure.

Both sides appear to be impressed based on superficial factors, women look for wealth and status and men for good looks.

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Research has shown that drivers are not impressed with a number of service stations across the country.

The main complaints are that there is limited seating and often a pressure to buy products for the shop or cafe.

The toilet facilities are thought to be substandard – dirty and not stocked properly.

Car parking facilities are often limited and where parking is available you often have a time limit or have to pay a fee.

Service stations can often charge higher rates for fuel in the knowledge that drivers filling up will not have many other options. Therefore it is recommended you have enough fuel in the car before setting of on any journey in particular a long one.

On another note, there is a debate as to whether service stations should sell alcohol and during which hours of the day. One petrol station in Coventry has residents fighting a bid to reduce the number of hours alcohol is sold here. There are fears it could cause anti-social behaviour, increased noise levels and crime.

Emily Smith of Britannia Driving School said: “Having a rest, using the loo or purchasing a drink can help towards keeping drivers alert and in control of the vehicle. Service stations are vital tools in ensuring this happens, so despite their appearance take a break.”

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