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Back Seat Driver: Text messaging while driving in Britain could result in prison time

A few months ago, I admitted to text messaging while driving and stated that I was not going to do it any more because it is so ridiculously dangerous.

Apparently Britain agrees and the Crown Prosecution Service is now putting it under the category of dangerous driving which can carry a fine of $10,000 and six months in jail. (Death by dangerous driving can carry a sentence of up to 14 years in jail.)

Britain's draconian approach to the use of cell phones while driving came my attention last week which I spent in Britain attending to my father who is gravely ill. My brother and sister also took time off during the week and as we coordinated visits to hospital, there were many times when a cell phone would have helped

But there was no question of using one while driving. With a widespread network of cameras in place to monitor traffic and speeding, anyone in Britain caught using a phone has faced fines since 2003. The only exception is calling emergency services.

Initially the fine was $60 but that was upped last year to $120 and three points of the offender's license.

The ban on cell phones followed studies which found that drivers using cell phones were four times more likely to have an accident - a figure which matches the legal limit of alcohol.

Here the laws against the use cell phones while driving come in different forms. California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands have enacted laws prohibiting driving while talking on handheld cell phones, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

In Rhode Island, school bus drivers (except in emergencies) and drivers younger than 18 may not use a cell phone.

At the same time, studies in Britain have found that a number of activities - eating, smoking, map reading and tuning the stereo - are potentially dangerous when done while driving. In 2006, a woman was fined $400 and had six points docked off her license when she was charged with careless driving after being filmed applying makeup while driving.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:35 PM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Even Trucks Hit the Wall in an Erratic 2007

DETROIT — They may be built like a rock, be able to haul boulders and hail from deep in the heart of Texas. But pickup tricks cannot stand up to tough economic times, according to the New York Times.

Final sales tallies announced Thursday showed that 2007 was the year the pickup hit the wall.

That’s bad news for auto companies, which have long relied on pickups as a steady supplier of hefty profits as they responded to consumers’ shifting tastes for other vehicles.

Even when sport utility vehicles lost their allure earlier this decade, pickups hung on, fueled by the need among builders and business owners to replace their workhorses, and by the need of some drivers to own the biggest wheels on the block.

But analysts say that high gasoline prices, the housing slump and the uncertain economy are causing pickup drivers to hold off trekking to the dealer.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:41 PM to Sales | Permalink | Comments 0

Bikers, fans to converge at motorcycle show in Novi

If you know the differences among a Ulysses, a Blast and a Lightning, we know where you'll be this weekend, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Those are the names of the latest Buells, the sports bike subsidiary of Harley-Davidson. The models will debut at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Mich, which runs Friday through Sunday.

This is the show's 13th year in metro Detroit, and last year it drew 40,777 enthusiasts to the area. The 27-year-old event is part of a 16-weekend series across the United States and Canada that attracts about 600,000 enthusiasts a year.

The show will feature hundreds of 2008 street bikes, dirt bikes, cruisers and ATVs from more than 19 manufacturers.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:35 PM to Motorcycling | Permalink | Comments 0

Tata Named Sole Jag/Land Rover Bidder

Ford opened up a new era in automotive history Thursday by announcing it hoped to sell the company's Jaguar and Land Rover brands to India's Tata Motors, according to thecarconnection.com

Ford had announced last year it planned to sell both Jaguar and Land Rover in a bid to raise more cash to sustain its core business in both North America and Europe while the company goes through a difficult and lengthy restructuring.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:34 PM to Ford | Permalink | Comments 0

Car sales lowest in 9 years; Toyota cruises to No. 2

Despite fierce year-end marketing campaigns offering no-interest, six-year loans and thousands of dollars in rebates, sales of new cars and trucks sagged in December, leaving 2007 with the worst sales in nine years, according to USA Today.

Automakers sold 16.1 million new vehicles last year, fewest since 15.6 million in 1998, according to sales tracker Autodata.

December sales were down 2.9% from a year ago and full-year sales were off 2.5%, Autodata reported. Detroit makers were hit hard.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:29 PM to Sales | Permalink | Comments 0

Car dealers close as Ford, GM, Chrysler keep cutting

NORWALK, Calif. — Instead of the stampede to inquire about year-end clearance sales, customers have been calling Ford dealer Norman Stutzke lately to offer condolences.
Stutzke shut down Keystone Ford this week after 39 years, one of hundreds of dealerships that face the ax around the country as Detroit's automakers downsize their retail operations, according to USA Today.

Having shuttered factories and eliminated hundreds of thousands of automaking jobs, Ford Motor, General Motors and Chrysler are now turning their attention to weeding out weaker dealers in bigger metro markets. They make fewer vehicles, so they don't need as many places to sell them.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:27 PM to Chrysler , Ford , GM | Permalink | Comments 0

California sues EPA over greenhouse gas regulations

SACRAMENTO — California sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for denying its first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs, challenging the Bush administration's conclusion that states have no business setting emission standards, according to USA Today.

Other states are expected to join the lawsuit, which was anticipated after the EPA on Dec. 19 denied California's request for a waiver, required under the federal Clean Air Act. The lawsuit was filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. At least 16 other states had been expected to follow California's lead and adopt the state's tougher emission limits.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson denied California the waiver, saying national energy legislation would be more effective than a patchwork of state regulations.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 12:22 PM to Environment , Government regulations | Permalink | Comments 0

Hyundai Predicts Higher US, China Sales

SEOUL, South Korea -- Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it expects to increase sales by about 10 percent in the United States and 64 percent in China in 2008 by introducing new models after missing targets last year, according to the Associated Press.

Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang said the company expects to sell 515,000 vehicles in the U.S. this year, up from 467,009 cars sold there in 2007.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:34 AM to China , Hyundai | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil Prices Fall on Jobs Report

NEW YORK -- Oil futures retreated further from their record levels above $100 a barrel Friday after the government reported lower-than-expected job growth in December, adding to fears of a recession that could crimp demand for oil, according to the Associated Press.

Gas prices, meanwhile, rose 2.2 cents a gallon overnight, following crude's recent rally.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell $1.57 to $97.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. Gas prices, meanwhile, jumped overnight to a national average of $3.074 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:25 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0