Highlight of my visit to the 2008 British International Motor Show was a sushi for lunch.  The whole experience was dire.  For those not living to the east of London, the Excel exhibition halls are a nightmare to reach.  However, I’m not about to go on about the hours it took to get there, it was the time spent there when I arrived which was worse.

I have heard that the future of the event is in question and it didn’t take more than a few minutes to see why.  The visit to the one main hall was swiftly followed by one to the other opposite, and that was it as far as internal exhibits were concerned.

A quick glance down the list of exhibitors revealed a lack of full manufacturer presence.  No BMW, no Mitsubishi, no Porsche to name just a few.  The Heritage enclosure was the nearest followers of the Stuttgart marque could get to see one of their beloved models, in this case a yellow Carrera GT.

Events outside the halls abounded if you were so inclined to wait around for an ‘event’ to take place.  However, by the time I had overcome the disappointment of what turned out to be a flying visit, a quick escape was the only thing on my mind.

Gone are the glory days of the grand shows at Earl’s Court.  Many bemoaned the move to the NEC but our National Exhibition Centre was central, at the heart of the British automotive industry and proved a much better venue for showcasing world premières, however rare they became. 

I felt as if the whole of the 2008 show could have been shoe-horned into Halls 1 and 2 at the NEC, and those halls used to be just the preamble to what lay ahead in other equally vast halls.

OK, the NEC was never going to rival the bi-annual Frankfurt or even Paris events.  Nor did it quite have the cachet of Geneva, the smaller bijou event held each year at the beginning of March.  But at least the NEC had a presence.  For all its quality facilities, the Excel is far too small a venue to host an ‘international’ motor show.

No wonder so many manufacturers question the cost of maintaining a presence at a dying event.  ‘Bums in seats’ is the name of the game and you can hardly blame a manufacturer if it prefers to host its own ‘by invitation’ event at a race circuit or proving ground.

If the trend these days is to have linked ‘activities’, then an exhibition venue surrounded by water is hardly the first place you would choose to host a motor show.  The NEC has far more surrounding land to mount off-road and track activities. 

Perhaps with the pending loss of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone should consider mounting a challenge to Excel.  It is central, now has a good access road infrastructure, has different track layouts (both on and off-road) and its centre could host a major tented exhibition area.  Now doesn’t that remind me of a certain fleet event held years ago… 

New road building appears to be bottom of the transport secretary’s agenda following her announcement earlier this week that the Department for Transport is to pump £6 billion’s worth of investment into motorway and key road development in England.

Quite rightly Ruth Kelly has announced that she wants to get the best out of our road network but that should not be to the exclusion of new road builds where required.

The transport secretary plans to widen existing roads, open more hard shoulders to traffic, promote car sharing and introduce tolled roads all in a bid to relieve congestion.  But at the end of the day, that can only be described as a quick fix.

What we still desperately need is a fully integrated transport policy for the country covering land, air and water.  The transport policy relating to land should cover both public and private transport with the former focusing on bus, rail, tram and underground solutions.  It’s all common sense but when has common sense prevailed in the corridors of Whitehall? 

We need a joined up transport policy not a ‘band aid’ fix!  However, given that may be not so many of our politicians have joined up handwriting judging by their childlike behaviour in Parliament, a joined up policy paper may be asking too much!

One thing I would agree on is the proposal by the government’s chief medical officer’s call for a zero tolerance approach to teenage drivers involved in accidents after drinking.  If the thousand deaths through accidents involving 15 to 24 year-olds mainly involve road accidents then something needs to be done, as the total number of road deaths is now below 3,000 for the first time in over 80 years.  Apparently, many countries already adopt a zero blood alcohol limit for young drivers and it might help towards addressing the overall binge drinking culture among the young.

So Swindon Borough Council has declared what we all know to be true.  Speed cameras are a revenue generator for the Treasury!  Until the summer of last year, all councils received a percentage of takings but since then everything goes to central government, who then provides local councils with a road safety grant to hopefully erect more revenue generating machines. 

Apparently, official figures indicate that an average 100 lives are saved each year by around 6,000 speed cameras up and down the country.  Where speed cameras have done their job, they are sometimes put out of commission by having a plastic bag put over their cameras, much as with parking meters.

Swindon Borough Council, a Tory-led council, is bridling against the £400,000 cost per annum of installing and maintaining these unpopular devices.  It feels the money could be best spent elsewhere such as on electronic speed advisory signs (average cost £5,000, known to reduce speed by an average two to three miles per hour) and traffic calming measures.

In certain positions, speed cameras are a strong deterrent and an undoubted saver of lives.  In other spots, they are a clear money-spinner.

I believe better road safety guidelines as to when and where they are used should be drawn up, as it is clear from public opinion that their use and positioning is clearly highly controversial.  At known black spots, and outside schools, they should be a ‘must’ but elsewhere electronic speed advisory signs and the like could be more effective in getting drivers to lower and control their speed.  Electronic signs are almost a form of real-time, ‘name and shame’ although I accept they do not stop everyone. 

Probably the most effective current deterrent are the average speed cameras deployed at motorway roadworks.  These definitely command the attention of motorists and could be selectively installed on major roads in and out of towns.

Official statistics show that the percentage of drivers who regularly break the 30mph speed limit has been lowered from 75 per cent to 49 per cent.  Obviously, there is a long way to go but with road deaths down below 3,000 per annum for the first time in over 80 years, as a country we are moving in the right direction.

Well counter to some thoughts including the sales director of our own rental management division, who ran a sweepstake on whether I would need to show a passport (as I wouldn’t even reach Folkestone), I made it in to Paris on Sunday! I did so along with the other 13 riders of our 14-man Leasedrive Velo team, after covering 250 miles over four days from Parliament Square in London to the Arc de Triomphe. As we entered the Place de la Concorde I raised my arm aloft in a victory salute and the feeling of euphoria as we pedalled up the Champs Elysées had to be seen to be believed. But best news of all was that the original target set of raising £5,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care had been well and truly smashed. Latest news is that over £13,500 has been raised with still more money coming in. I expect us to be able to donate more than £14,000 so a big ‘thank you’ to all who supported us.

I won’t pretend it was easy and some of the hills were tough going. I didn’t like the approach to Brands Hatch on the first day, nor the ‘Seven Valleys’ on the second day, which formed part of the longest stretch – 75 miles in total.

The weather wasn’t bad to us. It didn’t rain although we had a strong headwind in France over the three days there. The last day was the hottest and sunniest, despite previous warnings of heavy thundershowers. Like each previous day, we crossed beautiful countryside and passed through pleasant quiet villages before grouping up together after an early lunch break for the group ride in through the suburbs of Paris to the finish.

While the rest enjoyed beer, champagne and an evening meal in Montmartre, unfortunately yours truly had to catch the 15.45 Eurostar for an early morning meeting in London.

What had really struck me on the ride was the difference in road surfaces between our two countries. With the exception of a few miles, the road surfaces were silky smooth in France, while we bobbed and bounced in England. Why can’t we enjoy proper smooth road surfaces in this country? And why can’t we build road surfaces with proper foundations that can take the weight. Even the minor D roads in France carried heavy trucks but were damage and pothole free. Either we have poor road engineering or France benefits from extra EU funding. I hate to say it but I believe it is the former, combined with a lack of proper funding.

Anyway, thanks again for everyone’s generosity. As I said, the greatest news was the amount raised for Marie Curie Cancer Care. This most worthwhile charity celebrates its 60th anniversary this year and now benefits from an extra £13,500+.

And having covered 250 miles under my own steam I’m going to take a well earned rest for the next two weeks.

Permit me for feeling slightly smug on the eve of my epic 250-mile London to Paris Bike Ride in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. For four days, I will not be reliant on finding a forecourt with fuel or having to dig deeper in my pockets for every litre I use up on my travels.In quite a unique experience for me since I was a teenager, I am going to be reliant on my own pedal power to get around. I’m not yet sure how it’s all going to go but a sore backside is certainly guaranteed. I seem to be keeping up with the miles in training but saddles are a poor substitute for the comforts of a nice anatomically-designed leather driver’s seat. After the first day, I guarantee I won’t feel quite so smug!

The good news for all you drivers back home is that the second round of strikes by Shell tanker drivers has been called off. Agreement on future wages has now been reached so the 600 or so fuel stations that ran out of fuel should soon have their stocks replenished and everything return to “business as usual.”

The bad news is that despite the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announcing that they were going to up oil production, a sure sign that Opec will follow suit in September, fuel speculators have driven the cost of a barrel of oil close to $140 at the last count. Maybe it’ll have overtaken that record by the time you read this.

As I’ve said many times before in my blogs, we are going to have to change the habits of a lifetime in order to conserve this most precious of commodities. Whether the London to Paris Bike Ride puts me off cycling for life remains to be seen but I would hope that for short trips hopping on a saddle rather into the driver’s seat becomes the norm for me in the future. I should sure have the legs for it!

Ever since I’ve been training for next week’s London to Paris Bike Ride in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care, I’ve taken an inordinate interest in potholes. The jarring you get when you drive over the things is nothing compared to the shock waves transmitted from the seat post into the nether regions! Fortunately, I’ve avoided the really big ones which can cause extensive damage to bike, body and pride.What I’ve observed over recent weeks is the proliferation of new ones. I always understood that you got them after the frosts of winter but for them to start erupting in the spring seemed new to me. Then I thought about it as I was riding along. They’ve been springing up since we’ve had all those heavy rainfalls. If rain can break up the road surface, it doesn’t say much for the standard of construction and surfacing of our roads today.

This is backed up by a newly-published report from the Department for Transport (DfT) entitled ‘Transport Statistics Bulletin Road Conditions in England 2007’, which presents grim reading. It supports my on-bike insight that our unclassified roads are deteriorating fast.

Potholes were found approximately every 200 metres on some roads while the worst roads where identified as having suffered, I quote, “whole carriageway major deterioration.” Don’t you just like the phraseology! These accounted for almost half the cases of deterioration and encompassed cracking, deformation, loss of supporting aggregate and defective patches, the latter quite inexcusable as I have referred to in an earlier ‘black holes’ blog on the subject.

By contrast, the motorway network needing maintenance stood at around a constant six per cent according to DfT while trunk roads have improved by two percentage points to five per cent by 2007. No doubt DfT will point an accusatory finger at local councils but meanwhile it is we poor-suffering drivers and cyclists that cop out. If skyrocketing fuel bills are not enough, we’re now faced with repair costs to wheels, tyres, and in some cases, suspensions. At a very minimum, many vehicles are having their wheel tracking thrown out of alignment by the constant pounding on poor road surfaces with resultant uneven tyre wear.

Just to add the icing to the cake, pardon the pun, the DfT report goes on to identify that while road surfaces on motorways have good anti-skid properties, the skid resistance on a quarter of other major roads was brought into question.

HMRC seems to be taking the plight of the ‘at work’ driver, using his or her vehicle on company business, to heart by introducing revised advisory fuel rates (AFRs) by waiving the traditional one month’s notice of a change in rates. Whether employers implement the changes with immediate effect is another matter but even if their systems do not allow an immediate change they can apply them retrospectively back to June 1. Good news hopefully for the ‘at work’ driver.

Fuel prices have been concentrating the minds over recent weeks as rates have rocketed at the pumps with no sign of easing. At a time when government is scrabbling, like the rest of the population, to make ends meet it must come as a welcome relief to the Chancellor to have an injection into the coffers thanks to fuel duty.

But what of the future? Don’t expect fuel rates to drop significantly back down. The fact is that demand is being “fuelled” by the growing world economies so the simple economic law of supply and demand will prevail with the likes of India and China ensuring rates remain high. The irony for us on our small island is that North Sea Oil can cover most of our requirements.

Government is caught between a rock and a hard place. Does it bow to the pressure of the road hauliers and reduce duty? Equally, does it win over the hearts and minds of the general population by reducing the duty as a vote catcher? Or does it stick to its guns to pursue a greener road to the future.

Clearly, at some point, it needs to make a stand. And government should lead by example. The easy option is to abandon any green credentials it claims to hold and bow to outside pressure. That’s usually what happens when it comes to green policies. But should this be the case?

We have been banging the drum for too long about the effects of global warming and the need for drastic action to be taken. We are very much at the crossroads in terms of our ultimate survival as a species on this planet, and very much at a crossroads when it comes to all of us putting our money where our mouth is. Namely, agreeing we need to change the habits of a lifetime.

Faced with rocketing energy costs, rising food bills, only the privileged few cannot have revised their personal budgets. Like it or not, we are facing a new dawn. One where we pay the true cost for the basics of keeping ourselves fed and warm, with a roof over our heads. Certainly, over the past few decades, most seem to have lost sight of the latter in their pursuit of personal gain through rising house prices.

We now have a reality check, and rather than moan about it, we need to look at it positively and see it as an opportunity to change our whole approach to life and business for the better. As fleet professionals, we should already be doing our bit by questioning whether a journey is really necessary and operating a more holistic fleet policy embracing public transport. We need government, whatever its political persuasion, to take a firm stance and not be panicked into taking short-term solutions. We need an integrated green transport policy, and that means taking some unpopular political decisions.

Interestingly, we advised our clients’ drivers to watch out for a change in the law that could affect them financially. It seems our words of warning have rung true. From March 31 this year, councils outside of London became entitled to issue fines for driving infringements caught on CCTV. Previously, only traffic wardens and police could issue tickets outside London. In addition, traffic wardens no longer have to place a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) under the wipers of the offending vehicle but can issue PCNs remotely. This has led to accusations of traffic wardens sitting in cars issuing PCNs at a distance!

Several companies are already complaining bitterly about an increase in parking fines. To a degree, this is inevitable but if some of the complaints are to be believed traffic wardens would appear to be taking advantage of the changes. Do they receive bonuses for the number of PCNs issued I wonder?

Whatever, when the changes to the Traffic Management Act took effect, we warned they could result in a doubling of parking fines if the trend in London was followed. At the time, the top non-London authority for issuing fines was Gwent in South Wales. It will be interesting to see when official figures are released if this is indeed the case. Apparently, for London, this will not be until 2009.

The AA has already gone on record to state it fears that camera enforcement will show no degree of flexibility. It recommends that drivers put more pressure on local authorities by appealing against the fines as the majority of appeals are accepted. With over 200 councils in England and Wales able to issue PCNs remotely, it’s a tack worth pursuing, as inevitably the number of fines will rocket. Meanwhile, fleet managers should be on high alert to monitor the situation carefully.

Interestingly, we advised our clients’ drivers to watch out for a change in the law that could affect them financially.  It seems our words of warning have rung true.  From March 31 this year, councils outside of London became entitled to issue fines for driving infringements caught on CCTV.  Previously, only traffic wardens and police could issue tickets outside London.  In addition, traffic wardens no longer have to place a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) under the wipers of the offending vehicle but can issue PCNs remotely.  This has led to accusations of traffic wardens sitting in cars issuing PCNs at a distance!
 
Several companies are already complaining bitterly about an increase in parking fines.  To a degree, this is inevitable but if some of the complaints are to be believed traffic wardens would appear to be taking advantage of the changes.  Do they receive bonuses for the number of PCNs issued I wonder?
 
Whatever, when the changes to the Traffic Management Act took effect, we warned they could result in a doubling of parking fines if the trend in London was followed.  At the time, the top non-London authority for issuing fines was Gwent in South Wales.  It will be interesting to see when official figures are released if this is indeed the case.  Apparently, for London, this will not be until 2009.
 
The AA has already gone on record to state it fears that camera enforcement will show no degree of flexibility.  It recommends that drivers put more pressure on local authorities by appealing against the fines as the majority of appeals are accepted.  With over 200 councils in England and Wales able to issue PCNs remotely, it’s a tack worth pursuing, as inevitably the number of fines will rocket.  Meanwhile, fleet managers should be on high alert to monitor the situation carefully.

I see the government is about to get tougher on road safety.  It wants to top the country league tables once again for having the best road safety record.  Certainly, a very commendable objective.  However, I do have to take issue with its approach.

From what has come out of the corridors of Whitehall, it would appear that ‘at work’ drivers are going to be key targets.  I can already hear the groans around the industry.  We’ve had the ‘Driving at Work: managing work-related road safety’ guide, we’ve had the Corporate Manslaughter Act, whatever next?
It seems the government will seek to have all ‘at work’ drivers undergo a sustained programme of continuous driver training.  Presumably, employers will be expected to foot the bill for this ‘worthwhile’ on-the-job training programme.

The Road Safety Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick has declared that because a third of all crashes involve ‘at work’ drivers this section of the driving population is firmly in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) sights.  All well and good, but what about the other two-thirds?

What is the point of the DfT targeting ‘at work’ drivers if it ignores the rest of the driving population?  The maths does not add up, nor does the logic.  Improve the statistics but ignore the 66% of crashes involving ‘non-at work’ drivers.

Do I get the impression that organisations are becoming the scapegoat for government failings?

We had a good road safety record and we want a better one.  Nobody will argue with that objective but take a holistic approach to the problem.  Fortunately, we are talking about government initiatives to be put in place from 2010.  Let’s hope that the government takes heed of the feedback from its proposed consultation exercises.

We certainly need to point out the glaring omission in government’s proposed new strategy

Does anyone else want to say to these idiots – come on, give us a break!