News in brief - Wheels Within Wales

Prospective car buyers value regional newspapers and local websites more than national websites when it comes to choosing an outlet to buy a vehicle from, according to a study by Continental Research on behalf of the Newspaper Society.
Twenty-eight per cent of respondents who used a source of information to help decide where to buy a car turned to local media, according to the survey. The survey claimed only 13 per cent used the Auto Trader website while twenty-three per cent relied upon word of mouth.

European motorists are being shown how to drive more economically in a unique project designed to help reduce fuel bills and lower CO₂ emissions.
The Nissan Intelligent Driver Project (NIDP), an eight-month study of drivers in the United Kingdom (UK) that begins this month, uses satellite navigation systems, mobile phone technology and advanced vehicle telematics to analyse driving habits and suggest ways of improving fuel economy. Reduction in fuel consumption and CO₂ are the two main targets behind the project. In a similar trial in Japan, drivers reduced fuel usage by an average of 18 percent, with comparable reductions in CO₂ emissions. It led to savings at the pump of an estimated €350 per year.

The government will definitely not go ahead with plans national road charging - a system of ‘pay-as-you-go' driving which had once been a flagship policy.
The transport minister, Lord Adonis, said: "It will not be in the manifesto for the next election. This is not the time to be putting this before the British people. I don't believe as Britain is coming out of recession and motorists are feeling under pressure, that this is the time to put road charging on the agenda."

BMW Mini employees are heading back to work in Oxford to start a new shift pattern at the plant in response to a recent increase in demand.
About 250 agency staff will begin working the new 11-shift system which came into effect on Monday. The plant will work Monday to Saturday with a maximum of two Saturdays per month for individual associates, and a new voluntary crew will cover occasional Sunday working. In February 850 agency jobs were axed as orders slid.

US carmaker General Motors has agreed to accept liability for future product claims, paving the way for the firm's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Eight state attorneys general and consumer groups had opposed part of GM's bankruptcy plan to free it from future liability for vehicle defects. The firm now says it will "assume all products liability claims" regardless of when the product was purchased.

The short-term rental sector was hit by a recession-induced crime wave last year, with the annual BVRLA Theft and Fraud Survey reporting a12pc rise in vehicle thefts.
BVRLA members faced a range of threats, including opportunistic thieves, fraudsters and gangs of organised criminals. A 22pc jump in the number of stolen cars during 2008 overshadowed a drop in HGV and van thefts, which fell by 29pc and 2pc respectively.

Lorries continue to break the national speed limit, with as many as 85pc going over the 50mph set on some roads and three quarters exceeding 40mph limits, figures show.
Cars are not much better, with almost half (49pc) going faster than the 70mph limit on motorways and 15pc reaching speeds beyond 80mph. However, the 2008 statistics from the Department for Transport also showed that while 69pc of cars broke 30mph limits in 1998, fewer than 50pc did so in 2008.