Under a new technology initiative supported by the Irish government, thousands of cars in Ireland are soon to be fitted with 'black boxes', to answer Ireland's call for a comprehensive, telematics-based, automobile-crash information network. The network will improve road safety, speed emergency response, fight fraud and reduce the cost of automobile insurance through the use of customized, in-vehicle data recorders commonly known as "black boxes" in the aerospace industry.

The data recorders will do two things. Firstly they will flash both the location and severity of the crash to emergency service providers allowing emergency services depending on the type of crash to dispatch the most appropriate expertise and help to the scene of the accident. Secondly, the boxes will provide accurate and objective information about the crashes themselves data that will effectively fill a knowledge void unaddressed in Europe until now by traditional crash investigation techniques. Public agencies, investigators, policy makers and ultimately the travelling public will benefit from access to this more timely and accurate crash data. Read more

My car has polycarbonate headlamp "glass" and I was wondering if anyone had had one damaged by flying road debris - I don't fancy shelling out for a complet headlamp assembly in the event of damage.

I wouldn't expect so as headlamp protectors for traditional lenses are made of polycarb. Any comments? Read more

my j plate MK2 diesel golf GTD rev counter needle has started to bounce from the rev reading down to zero and back up again, regardless of what speed or gear the car is in, and regardless of what I do with the accelerator pedal. Even does it when on motorway at a constant speed. No loss of power that I can feel when the rev counter goes down, any ideas ??? I cannot stop watching for it to happen... Great site by the way Read more

I remember some years ago reading about a slip road that joins a motorway, possibly the M5, on the right hand side, ie the fast lane.

Did I read this correctly?

If so, are there photos of this junction on the web somewhere?

Thanks,

clariman Read more

Just read an article on the first page of the Sun. It says that a new European directive comes in this month. The directive states that an owner of a car can have his/her car serviced at any garage with a qualified mechanic, and still keep the manufacturers warranty.

I take this to mean that if you buy a new car you can have it serviced by the independent garage down the road, at the regular service intervals, at a greatly reduced price etc. If anything mechanical goes wrong or trim falls off etc then you can still take it back to the dealer and have it repaired under warranty.

The new law will mean that if the car has been serviced, according to the rules, then the warranty remains valid.

Therefore, if you buy as VW, you can have it serviced outside the VW network and still keep the warranty.

This could save motorists £'s.. and is surely good for the industry.

However, I guess owners will have to take a few garages to court to get any joy.

Any thoughts on this and future impacts of the legislation. Or has anyone encountered any problems ?

Cheers,

automaticallyuk Read more