News

With corporations, cultural institutions and sporting bodies now joining political voices in condemnation of Russia, is there anything individuals can do to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine? For those of us who own cars, there is. In 2020, the UK bought 3.9 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia - a figure that represents 11...

Prices are going up so quickly it can feel hard to keep up, but why is the cost of insurance in particular increasing by so much? If your home insurance renewed in January, you'll have noticed that prices have rocketed by up to 9 per cent, while motor insurance premiums have increased by almost 5 per cent. Price hikes appear to be across...

Britain now has the dubious title of highest death rate for lung conditions in western Europe, according to research carried out by the charity Asthma and Lung UK. Over 100,000 people every year in Britain now die from asthma attacks, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia - across Europe only Turkey has a higher...

Engineering researchers at the University of Toronto recently studied the eye movements of drivers at busy junctions and found more than half failed to look for pedestrians or cyclists. "The results were quite surprising," said Professor Birsen Donmez, Canada Research Chair in Human Factors and Transportation. "We didn't expect this level...

A new class of cycle lock has entered the bike security market. Sold Secure, the independent organisation that tests and grades locks, has added Diamond to its existing Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings. Locks are graded based on their ability to resist attack by a thief. Guy McCafferey the Sold Secure Lab manager told bikelockwiki.com: “Sold...

What single piece of road design does most to put people off cycling? For us, it might be the traffic island pinch point. The problem with the traffic island (also known as a pedestrian refuge or 'Death Island'!) for cyclists is that faced with a bicycle ahead of them, many drivers will race ahead to squeeze through the small gap creating a...

Over half of bike share scheme users would have otherwise travelled by car or taxi, according to research by Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK). As cities continue to deal with the pollution created by motorised traffic, the report also found on average, per user, an estimated reduction of 3.7 car miles and 1kg of CO2e every week. Analysis...

If you're plagued by the sound of loud traffic, you'll welcome the noise camera initiative launched this week in Paris - the same technology is expected to be deployed on British roads before long. The French capital plans to use the camera-equipped noise radar to automatically fine loud cars and motorcycles. The 'sound camera' has been...

The footage below records the moment a Tesla in FSD (full self-driving) mode swerves towards a cyclist before the steering wheel is grabbed by the motorist. It's a sobering reminder that autonomous vehicles are fallible systems that put other road users at risk. Driverless car evangelists rarely acknowledge the transport Elysium they...

Whatever your level of spannering skill, it pays to have a multi tool close to hand. The Crank Brothers 19-function multi tool features a durable and lightweight steel and aluminium construction. And with an overall length of less than 9 cm and tipping the scales at 175g, it makes a useful companion whatever the ride. 7 Allen Keys (2, 2.5,...