Winter Driving

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has offered some tips for any drivers setting off on a long road journey this Christmas. They have also placed a winter driving factsheet on their website covering a range of issues affecting drivers including snow, ice, fog and winter sun.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said,”As well as smooth driving techniques, safer winter driving is about good preparation-making sure you’re in a fit state to drive, that your vehicle is in good condition and that you’ve planned your journey”.

RoSPA advice;

• Check that all your lights are clean and working properly.
• Make sure your windscreen and windows are clear and the washer bottle is filled up with the correct concentration of water and screenwash. You may need more screenwash concentrate when the weather is colder.
• Carry a de-icing kit, a first aid kit and a working torch.
• In case you get stuck in the snow, make sure you have a blanket, a pair of boots, a shovel, a high-visibility jacket and a fully-charged mobile phone.

You can also check your journey via a number of websites as follows;

• Trafficmaster – provides live updates on any hold-ups on the UK’s major roads.
• Highways Agency
• RAC website
• BBC website

A final tip is if you are using a satnav system, select routes via the motorways, rather than letting the satnav take you the quickest route as you may find yourself travelling down some “A” or even “B” roads where road conditions may be dangerous.

With the price of fuel rising (up 25% in 12 months) motorists can save money by following some simple tips provided by mytyres.co.uk, one of the UK’s tyre retailers.

1. Always check for the cheapest petrol retailer locally with websites like www.petrolprices.com
2. Make sure your tyre pressures are correct as mytyres estimates this could save you up to 3% off your fuel bill.
3. Reduce the weight in your car and de-clutter the boot and interior possibly saving up to 2%.
4. Remove the roof rack if not in use, again an estimated saving of 2%.
5. Switch of the air-conditioning if you don’t need it on and you could save up to 8%.
6. Finally, drive more smoothly, anticipate traffic flows and not only will you save more fuel but the drive will be more comfortable for you and your passengers.

These are all excellent suggestions however it is also worthwile checking on possible delays on the roads before setting off as well. The link to the Trafficmaster congestion road map is available off the Home Page of comparecontracthire.com or via this link below. 

  www.trafficmaster.net/mapping/comparehire/index.htm

Trafficmaster, the UK’s intelligent driving solutions provider, has now launched a new “Pay As You Go” (PAYG) satellite navigation application for your smartphone allowing customers to only pay for satnav directions and traffic information when they need it.

The Trafficmaster PAYG is currently available on Apple’s iPhone and offers you a download for an initial five routes at a cost of £1.79. Thereafter you can purchase 10, 20 or 30 top-up routes making this a cost effective service for any driver who is not sure how often they will use the facility.

TomTom

TomTom has reported that 2456 miles of traffic jams were showing on its TomTom HD Traffic system at 8.00 AM on the 6th January 2010. As we know we are experiencing the worst traffic conditions in the UK for years with traffic chaos right across the country.

With more snow expected to fall today, drivers are being advised not to take to the roads unless it is absolutely necessary. If you are driving then you can check the TomTom route planner for up to date traffic information.

Alternatively on Comparecontracthire.com there is a link to the Trafficmaster live UK mapping service which will show delays on all major UK roads.

With the December wet weather expected to stay this week, Trafficmaster the route planning and intelligent satellite navigations solution provider, has warned drivers that this Friday, the 18th looks set to be slow and very busy.

Schools are breaking up, people will be heading out on last minute shopping and many drivers will be heading off for a long Xmas break which will all contribute to the heavy traffic. The heaviest day will be the 18th but Trafficmaster is also predicting that Wednesday the 23rd December will also be busy as well.

Here are the top ten hotspots courtesy of Trafficmaster.

If you also want up to date traffic information on UK roads visit the link to the Trafficmaster live traffic mapping service  

http://www.trafficmaster.net/mapping/comparehire/index.htm

Smartnav on smartphones

Smartnav Mobile is now available on the most smartmobiles including the iPhone, Nokia and Blackberry, as well as Windows-based GPS mobiles.

Smartnav is easy to download and simple to use and offers real-time traffic data and road speeds to keep motorists on the best available route at any given time. If there is a blockage or slow moving traffic an immediate alternative is downloaded to the phone.

Just enter a postcode into the phone and within a minute a route will be loaded. Or just call the Trafficmaster Personal Assistants, who will find your destination and download the route to your phone.

John Lawrence, Sales & Marketing Director of Trafficmaster plc said,”Putting it on the leading smartphones makes Smartnav Mobile readily available as both a business and lifestyle application and will help motorists save time, fuel and mileage by keeping them on the best route at all times, avoiding congestion and unnecessary delays”.

Combining this with the expected increase in traffic levels, as many families head off for the last break before Christmas,Trafficmaster expects traffic to build from around 10.00am onwards on Friday the 23rd October, with the busiest traffic at around 3.00pm.

Trafficmaster

Before you set off on your journey on Friday you can always try the link to the Trafficmaster live traffic information map from the Comparecontracthire.com website. This link shows all the hotspots throughout the UK (courtesy of Trafficmaster) and you can quickly zoom in and out to any part of the UK to see where the problems are.

Trafficmaster’s top ten congestion hotspots for Black Friday are:

Trafficmaster

Trafficmaster is the UK’s leading provider of intelligent driving solutions and they have just updated their Fleet Director fleet management system.

The new updgrade includes the following enhancements;

- Actual closest vehicle to a job based on live traffic solutions.

- Live traffic information and virtual mapping monitoring 8,000 miles of UK roads.

- Instant dashboards for straightforward reporting.

- Two-way messaging on a new Colour Touchscreen allowing the driver and fleet manager to communicate.

John Lawrence, Sales and Marketing Director Trafficmaster said, “We have worked with our customers to develop these practical features that not only meet but anticipate future business needs of the fleet manager”.

Road safety is important to any light commercial van operator and Citroen already offers Trafficmaster’s Smartnav satellite system in the Berlingo, Dispatch and Relay panel vans.

Under a new initiative with Trafficmaster, Citroen is now offering the Trafficmaster Fleet Director system at a subsidised rate of £19.99+ VAT per month. Fleet Director is a real-time fleet management programme that utilises Smartnav telematics to provide direct communication with drivers and to show their exact whereabouts. This is particularly of interest if a driver is working in a remote place allowing instant two-way communication.

The reporting available from Fleet Director also allows a van operator to improve road safety and help maintain their Duty of Care requirements.

Trafficmaster live road map

Trafficmaster, the UK’s leading traffic solutions and satellite navigation company, has been awarded first place for the Best Handheld Satnav category from Business Car magazine. Using Trafficmaster Mobile, users can get live traffic information coupled with the best satellite navigation technology.

The Smartnav Mobile system offers Trafficmaster’s route planning with accurate traffic information, business mileage reporting system, speed camera alerts and personal tracking – all available with the application. John Lawrence, Sales and Marketing Director,Trafficmaster plc, said “Trafficmaster Mobile is quite simply one of the most significant developments in portable satnav technology for many years”. The application will  be available on Blackberry and then Nokia and iPhone later in the year.

Trafficmaster also works with Comparecontracthire.com, to offer drivers access to their real live UK traffic information map. Zoom in and out, throughout the whole of the UK , to see where the delays are on all the main motorways. A useful tool if you are setting off this weekend for the Bank Holiday break.  

Further information on Trafficmaster Mobile can be found at www.trafficmaster.co.uk/mobile