TOPS NEWS July 2011

According to BBC1 TV, 2.2 million documents were stolen from the DVLA and many have been used to provide identity for ‘clones’.  They also mentioned that l car was stolen every 4 minutes in the UK in 2008.

After a Tennessee police department let its website expire, it was snatched up by Brian McCrary a computer network designer.  He uses it to complain about traffic cameras which issue speeding tickets.  The site now shows a smiling cartoon police badge clutching green currency and posts complaints from other people. 

An article in the Daily Telegraph promoting the Silverstone MG meeting managed to show a picture of an Austin Healey!  And on Drive It Day the FBHVC who look after ‘historic’ motorists’ interests managed to claim that their vice-president was in his Mark II Jaguar which looked remarkably like a Riley! 

Fixed penalty fines raised by speed cameras exceed £65 million a year and speeding and red light offences add a further £22.3 million.

A coroner has called for a ban on vehicle tyres that are more than 10 years old.

Don Wales has broken the British lawnmover world land speed record at 87.833 mph at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire. Dons' grandfather was Sir Malcolm Campbell, who broke the world land speed record - in a car - in 1924 also at Pendine Sands.  

The Volkswagen Group has bought 90% of Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.a. (IDG) of Turin.

A report claims that switching all cars in the UK to electric would drain the National Grid by a fifth and require 6 new nuclear power stations.

A third of cars are failing their MoTs according to the Retail Motor Industry.

Manufacturers have widened their car by inches (BMW 7.2” since 1992) and experts claim broader vehicles are to blame for scrapes on roads.

A truck carrying 2.5 million euros in coins overturned on a highway in southern Italy   shooting all the coins out.  Before police arrived, motorists stopped their cars and made off with about 10,000 euros in coins being transported from the Italian mint to local banks. The papers reported it as "The miracle of the coins."     

Phillip Coates has been prosecuted for driving a Segway motorised scooter on the pavement.  Coates is to challenge the 1835 highways law.  In Britain the Segway cannot be lawfully ridden on pavements or public roads although it is legal in some American states, Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic and German cities. 

Two speed humps which cost Telford & Wrekin council £18,000 to install are to be removed at a cost of £6,500 because they are 1” too high and caused damage to bus suspension.

The Netherlands Government has cancelled its nationwide road pricing scheme to charge per kilometre and scrap road tax and car purchase tax.

3 of the Bugatti Veyron Diamond Ltd are on sale for £2 million each. Weighing 7kg, made with platinum, solid 24ct gold, and a 7.2ct single cut flawless diamond on its front grill, the 10” model has steering and a detailed engine.  Owners will get a certification of authenticity, an aluminium case and photo documentation of the manufacturing process

Vector Capital of San Francisco has bought TrafficMaster.

Li Guiwen, an army driver from Beijing, has made the Guinness world record of driving across 1,798  bottled beers for over 60 metres in Wenzhou in 8 min 28 secs.     

Garages are within their rights to refuse to allow petrol to be placed in old jerry cans if they hold more than 10 litres - the rule has applied for over 10 years.

Abridged version of TOPS NEWS sent to members, edited by Trisha Pilkington