38 | MARCH 2019
Motoring
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
THE 10-MINUTE PEAK FOR CAR ACCIDENTS
DURING EVENING RUSH HOUR
Winter car prangs, bumps and
Vehicle crime is
rife: more stolen
cars and more
online scams
With recent Home
Office figures revealing
a near 50% increase
in vehicle thefts over
the last five years (up
from 75,308 in 2013-
14 to 111,999 in 2017-
18), a new mycarcheck
survey highlights the
shocking extent of
online phishing scams.
scrapes peak in the 10 minutes between
17:00 and 17:10, according to new research
from industry specialist, AX.
This year has already seen snowfall and
icy temperatures cause chaos on Britain’s
roads, and more is to be expected as March
is second only to November as the busiest
for car-to-car incidents. Both November and
March are among the wettest months of the
year. *
The winter period of November to March
sees accident rates spike by 7.45% com-
pared with the summer months.
The analysis of over 57,000 vehicle
accidents managed by AX on behalf of its
automotive and insurance industry partners
shows that the evening commute between
16:00 and 18:00 accounts for nearly a fifth
of incidents on any given day.
Almost one in six prangs during the
evening peak occur in the 10-minute period
starting at 5pm, making it the most er-
ror-prone time for drivers, whereas taking
to the road just 10 minutes later could half
the risk of being involved in an accident.**
With 34% of accidents involving one car
hitting the rear of another, AX is warning mo-
torists ahead of the traditionally wet March to
leave a sensible gap to the car in front.
“Stopping distances double in the rain
and are as high as 10 times more in icy and
snowy conditions***,” explains Scott Hamil-
ton-Cooper, director of sales and operations
at AX. “This goes some way to also ex-
plaining why 31% of incidents we manage
involve a moving car hitting a parked one
as the driver loses control.”
And yet, despite increasingly common-
place technology like reversing sensors and
cameras, nearly one in 12 winter crashes
involves a driver reversing into a stationary
car.
The second-most popular time for road
accidents was the school-run period be-
tween 14:00 and 16:00. Within the two-hour
period, most crashes took place in the 10
minutes between 15:00 and 15:10 - around
the time most parents are rushing to pick
their children up from school.
*Source: www.statista.com/statistics/584914/monthly-rainfall-in-uk/ ** Between 17:00 and 17:10, 14.46% of accidents within the rush-hour period took place. Between
17:10 and 17:20, 7.07%. of all accidents within the rush-hour period took place. ***Source: www.westssom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Stopping-Distances.pdf
MADE IN BRITAIN: VAUXHALL
ANNOUNCES PRICING AND
SPECIFCATION FOR ALL-
NEW VIVARO
The hoax works like this: 1) The Arriving in Vauxhall showrooms in
tempter – a car will be advertised at a very
attractive price, ‘a steal’ you could say; 2)
The approach – the contact number will
go straight to voicemail prompting you
to “email the seller”; 3) The build-up –
you’ll be told the car is abroad but will be
“shipped to you” as soon as payment hits an
escrow holding account.
In January , with a prize draw to win an
Amazon Fire TV stick, mycarcheck asked
800 customers about their last used car
search. 48.7% said they saw vehicles being
offered for substantially less than other sim-
ilar models. 13.2% got a voicemail to “email
the seller” and 6.4% were offered a vehicle
to be shipped from abroad.
With information from the police, DVLA,
insurers and finance houses, mycarcheck.
com holds comprehensive data on every
vehicle on UK roads – things that buyers
should be aware of before making an offer. late summer, the all-new Vivaro van is
available to order now priced from £21,240
excluding VAT.
The third-generation Vivaro medium van
is a based on a state-of-the-art platform and
available in two lengths (L1H1 4.95m and
L2H1 5.30m). Body styles include panel
van, doublecab for up to six occupants and
a platform chassis.
The all-new Vivaro is available in three
trim levels: Edition, Sportive and Elite. Dual
side sliding door, driver/passenger airbags
and cruise control with speed-limiter are all
available as standard on Vivaro for the first
time.
Reflecting the demands of an evolv-
ing market, Sportive models (priced from
£24,140 excluding VAT) are higher specifica-
tion than the outgoing model with standard
equipment including body-coloured mirrors,
handles and body side moulds, alarm, auto
lights and wipers, acoustic
windscreen and thickened side glazing.
The top-of-the-range Elite model (priced
from £25,540 excluding VAT) features the
latest safety technology as standard including
lane departure warning, speed limit infor-
mation, intelligent speed adaptation, driver
attention alert and blind spot detection.
The Edition Doublecab (priced from
£26,860 excluding VAT) features an innova-
tive hinged steel-mesh bulkhead that articu-
lates forward when the second row seats are
folded and not in use. This flexible solution
enables maximum utilisation also as a “panel
van”, with load volume increasing from 4m3
to 5.5m3. Sportive and Elite Doublecabs fea-
ture an integrated bulkhead with a three-pas-
senger rear bench. There is also under-seat
storage, and allocation under the seat for
longer loads (from cargo side).
The Vivaro will celebrate its world pre-
miere at the CV Show in Birmingham on
30th April 2019.