Firms may cut prices on plug-in electric hybrids to escape new EU emissions fines
Carmakers are bracing for a hybrid electric car price war this year as they try to avoid steep EU fines for carbon dioxide emissions.
Related: 2020 set to be year of the electric car, say industry analysts
Continue reading...A long-term resolution to leave the car at home could help waistlines as well as the environment
Since 2011 Beijing has controlled traffic growth by allocating new licence plates in a bimonthly lottery. There is less than a one in 500 chance of getting a plate in each draw but winning might not be as wonderful as it first seems.
The impact of increased motorised travel extend beyond air pollution. In the UK the total distance walked each year dropped by 30% between 1995 and 2013, and the distance cycled in England and Wales in 2012 was just 20% of that in 1952 – but these changes have been slow and are difficult to study.
Continue reading...Minibuses that run on Friday evenings and Saturdays buck state’s religious restrictions
Tel Aviv is one of Israel’s most dynamic cities, but the latest local craze could appear fairly humdrum to outsiders – a bus service that runs at weekends.
Packed 19-seat minibuses fill up fast with passengers, who excitedly gossip about the new routes. People patiently queue at bus stops, knowing they might have to wait for two or three buses to pass before there is a space. Still, they are upbeat. “It’s a pleasure,” said Ben Uzan, a 30-year-old electronic engineer. “It’s a blessed initiative.”
Continue reading...At least 51 people have been injured in a pile-up on a major interstate in Virginia. Authorities do not yet know the cause of the crash, but fog and icy conditions were contributing factors, said Sgt Michelle Anaya of Virginia state police. No deaths were reported but it took emergency crews several hours to clear the road and reopen all lanes of traffic
Continue reading...Firefighters say the passenger bus was struck from behind by a truck near the town of Gualan
At least 21 people, including nine minors, have been killed and a dozen wounded in a crash between a trailer truck and a passenger bus in eastern Guatemala.
The national disaster agency said the collision occurred early onSaturday. Volunteer firefighters told reporters the truck appeared to have collided with the bus from behind.
Continue reading...As prelude to day of action, power to thousands of homes deliberately cut by workers
Police fired teargas and charged at demonstrators in central Paris as hundreds of thousands of protesters across the country staged a show of force against the government’s controversial pension reform plans.
The violence erupted at Place de la Nation, one of Paris’s biggest squares, as riot police attempted to disperse protesters. Police said they had charged after coming under a hail of paving stones and missiles. There were 27 arrests by late afternoon.
Continue reading...London orbital motorway is likely to be affected for a considerable time, say police
The M25 has been shut after a serious collision involving a crane that overturned and crashed over both sides of the carriageway.
The incident happened at junction 27 with the M11 in Essex on Friday evening. It has caused huge tailbacks in both directions including more than 10 miles on the clockwise carriageway of the motorway around London.
Continue reading...New South Wales hopes to cut fatalities on the state’s roads by a third with devices that operate day and night in all weather
New South Wales rolled out mobile phone detection cameras on Sunday, hoping to cut the number of fatalities on its roads by a third over two years, transport authorities said.
The world-first mobile phone detection cameras, according to Transport for NSW, which manages the state’s transport services, operate day and night in all weather conditions to determine if a driver is handling a mobile phone.
Continue reading...Some retailers are giving inaccurate advice to shoppers in states where it is illegal to ride e-scooters on public roads or footpaths
Retailers are preparing for a Christmas boom in the sale of electric scooters, even though it is illegal to ride them on public roads or footpaths in several states.
Federal and state regulation has struggled to keep up with the technology, leaving consumers at risk of inadvertently breaking the law.
Continue reading...The government dreamed of a metropolis that is a beacon to all but the pace of change has left some behind and others disillusioned
Tāmaki Makaurau, the Māori name for Auckland which can be translated as “the place desired by many”, is living up to its billing. The city’s population has swelled rapidly to 1.7 million and is estimated to be adding 40,000 people a year. By 2048 it could host nearly half of New Zealand’s current population.
In the 1980s only a couple of thousand people lived in the central city. Now some 57,000 people call it home, a figure that was not expected to be reached until 2032.
Continue reading...All 111 members of parliament will get vehicles from the Apec fleet, but the fate of 40 Maseratis is not yet known
Papua New Guinea’s prime minister will receive one of the Bentley cars controversially purchased by the government at taxpayers’ expense for the 2018 Apec summit, officials have confirmed.
James Marape became PM in May with promises to crack down on corruption. The finance secretary, Ken Ngangan, has told the Post Courier newspaper that all 111 members of parliament will get vehicles from the Apec fleet for their electoral duties, though no one apart from the PM will receive a Maserati or Bentleys.
Continue reading...Gilets jaunes-style movement has threatened to bring down national government
Regional elections in Norway on Monday are being billed as a referendum on the country’s environmental policies, with the country split over road toll rises that have already threatened to bring down the national government.
A sharp increase in motorway toll and congestion charges in recent years has helped fuel a political movement that is proving a threat to mainstream parties in a number of major cities.
Continue reading...Child reaches high speeds during night-time motorway adventure before pulling over and putting his hazard lights on
An eight-year-old boy has been found safe after taking his parents’ car for an 87mph (140km/h) night-time spin down a motorway in Germany.
He tearfully told police he “just wanted to drive a little bit”.
Continue reading...Committee says ban on hands-free use should be considered amid rise in road deaths
Tougher restrictions on drivers using mobile phones, including extending the ban to hands-free devices, should be considered, MPs have said.
The transport select committee said using any type of mobile phone while driving had potentially catastrophic consequences. The MPs called for more severe penalties “commensurate with the risks”, as road deaths linked to phone use have risen steadily over the past decade.
Continue reading...Rider was reportedly in the fast lane when he was hit from behind by a motorbike
A 30-year-old man has been killed after being hit by a motorbike while riding his e-scooter on a French motorway.
It is the third death linked to the increasingly popular mode of transport in the Paris region in four months, and has sparked further safety concerns and renewed calls for their regulation.
Continue reading...Outage caused travel chaos and cut electricity to almost 1m people in England and Wales
The energy watchdog, Ofgem, is demanding answers from the National Grid after a power cut left people stuck in trains for up to nine hours and cut electricity to almost 1 million people in England and Wales.
The biggest power outage in a decade caused widespread disruption on the rail network during the evening rush hour on Friday. Traffic light systems stopped working, causing gridlock in some areas, and Newcastle airport was left in darkness. Power had been restored to 900,000 customers by Saturday, but the rail network was struggling to get services back to normal.
Continue reading...Failure on National Grid network affects train services and road users
Large parts of England and Wales have been left without electricity following a major power cut, electricity network operators have said, with a serious impact reported on rail and road services, including city traffic lights.
Passengers were shut out of some of the country’s busiest train stations during the Friday evening rush hour, while hundreds of thousands of homes were left without electricity after what the National Grid described as a problem with two generators.
Continue reading...The annual GUM AutoRally is the most prestigious event of the vintage car show season in Russia
Continue reading...‘We’re not boy racers,’ says organiser after 17 injured, two seriously, after spectators were hit
Local people and witnesses to a crash at a car meet in Stevenage that left 17 people injured have said the event was not organised or policed properly.
For 17 years, drivers of modified cars have gathered in the Hertfordshire town to parade their vehicles for fellow enthusiasts. Thursday’s event, which was raising money for a charity supporting bereaved parents, turned to disaster when some of the spectators watching from the side of the road were hit following the crash between a Nissan 350Z and a Toyota GT86.
Continue reading...Father and son accused of offering the cars on social media for $45,000 to $60,000 – a fraction of the price of the real thing
Police in Brazil say they’ve shut down a clandestine factory that was producing fake Ferraris and sham Lamborghinis.
A father and son who owned the workshop in the southern state of Santa Catarina have been arrested on industrial property charges.
Continue reading...