In the latest of a programme of initiatives dubbed ‘Operation Showtime’ by bosses at the North West Regional Control Centre just off the M6 at Newton-le-Willows, the traffic officers will be stopping off at MSAs to deliver a range of safety messages and journey planning tips to all kinds of motorway users.

Road safety and fleet professionals are being urged to start planning now for Road Safety Week 2014 (17-23 November), the UK’s biggest road safety event coordinated by the charity Brake and supported by headline sponsors RSA and Specsavers. The event, now in its 18th year, is a great opportunity for teachers to engage pupils of all ages in life-saving lessons of road safety. 

The theme of Road Safety Week 2014 is ‘look out for each other’, raising awareness of the ways everyone can help protect one another on roads, especially the most vulnerable. 

Brake, the road safety charity, is offering expert guidance to help fleets prevent crashes with pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists by addressing blind spots, reducing risky manoeuvring, and raising awareness among drivers. The guidance, published through Brake's Fleet Safety Forum, produced in conjunction with Aviva, includes expert insights, best practice case studies and sample advice sheets for drivers.

Euro NCAP has released its latest round of crash test results. Click on the images for more information.

East Midlands Ambulance Service and VCS designed a specialised 4x4 Ambulance for various tasks in the UK health service.

The converted vehicle is based on an Amarok chassis which has an approved chassis extension which gives the correct internal longitudinal length needed for medical work to be carried out at the head end of the stretcher.

One of the UK’s largest unitary authorities, Wiltshire Council, has chosen to replace some of their existing Recycling vehicles with quality used and re-manufactured vehicles from leading UK supplier Refuse Vehicle Solutions Ltd (RVS)

Ian Mckinnon, Fleet Transport Officer, Wiltshire Council quoted: “We needed to reduce our capital spend on vehicles and decided to look at the second hand market. We were impressed with the quality of vehicles and workmanship delivered by RVS and since our initial order last year we have purchased additional vehicles.”

Vauxhall’s all-new Vivaro, launched today, secures 1,200 jobs at the UK’s last van manufacturing plant after workers won a 10-year contract and a £185 million investment.

Thanks to the outstanding attitude and work ethic of the workforce, the Luton plant beat world class competition from across Europe to build the new van.

Rival Ford shut its Transit factory in Southampton last year making Vauxhall’s Luton facility the sole flag bearer for UK van manufacturing – on a site where over eight million vehicles have been built since 1905.

Gasrec, Europe’s leading supplier of liquefied natural gas to the transport sector, has welcomed National Grid’s recent confirmation that it has awarded a contract for the construction of a new road tanker loading facility at the Grain LNG Terminal near London on the Isle of Grain, Kent.

The project is scheduled for delivery by the second quarter of 2015 and involves the construction of an initial two-bay road tanker loading facility which will help support the UK’s growing gas road fuels market.

One of the country’s leading providers of operated and self-drive road sweepers is celebrating ongoing growth and investment with the launch of a brand new depot facility in Welwyn Garden City, which has not only created exciting new job opportunities, but has generated various local community benefits too.

Go Plant Limited, which now operates eight UK-wide depots, recently transformed a wasteland site on Bessemer Road into a fully-functioning Service Centre, housing 23 specialist vehicles and employing more than 25 members of staff. 

Crucial feedback on gas HGVs has been provided by the Low Carbon Truck Trial, with the provisional results being detailed in a first report commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT) which was published on 19 June.

Responding to the DfT report outlining the Government’s Low Carbon Truck Trial, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said that it supported the trials stating that they have put more gas powered HGVs on the roads, whilst identifying the operational challenges of running gas vehicles.

Use of closed circuit television spy cars on their own to enforce on-street parking made illegal.

In a victory for drivers and shoppers, the government will make it illegal to use closed circuit television (CCTV) ‘spy cars’ alone to enforce on-street parking ending the plague of parking tickets by post, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced (21 June 2014).

More than 3 million potholes to be filled as part of the biggest investment in roads since the 1970s.

The government today (20 June 2014) outlined plans to help fill more than 3 million potholes as part of a massive investment in the country’s local and major roads.

Councils across England have been allocated £168 million of funding from a dedicated Pothole Repair Fund. As a condition of receiving the money local authorities are required to publish monthly progress updates on how many potholes have been repaired.

The trial of longer semi-trailers second annual report has been published.

The second annual report on the trial of longer semi-trailers which is helping to reduce traffic and cut carbon emissions has been published (19 June 2014), Transport Minister Stephen Hammond has announced.

The longer semi-trailer trial was launched in 2012 allowing companies to apply for a share of 1,800 allocations to operate longer vehicles until the trial ends in 2022.

The LP Gas industry trade association, UKLPG, has welcomed the inclusion of LP Gas in a report by The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP), a public-private sustainable transport organisation, which outlines a roadmap to decarbonise road transport fuel in the period to 2030 and beyond.

The Fuels Roadmap, launched by The LowCVP yesterday (18th June 2014), sets out a variety of transport options to deliver on the UK and Europe’s low carbon transport targets, highlighting a role for LPG and bio-LPG.

Partnership welcomes greater clarity in EU biofuels policy

The LowCVP, which has been at the forefront of policy formation for fuels in the UK, has today published twin reports which set out how the UK could meet the targets for 2020, defined in the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, and proceed on a pathway to decarbonise road transport fuel in the period to 2030 and beyond.

The publication of the reports follows closely on the move to provide greater clarity in policy direction for biofuels, a move which the LowCVP welcomes. This is the result of a decision by EU Energy Ministers on Friday 13 June, to re-structure the nature of the targets in the EU Renewable Energy Directive following the European Commission’s proposals on indirect land use change. This decision should end many years of debilitating uncertainty for the UK biofuels industry and enable the fuels sector to re-engage in the vital effort to decarbonise road transport.

Road safety professionals in Scotland can take advantage of a unique industry standard qualification - the first of its kind in the UK - being launched by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Aimed at individuals with a professional interest or direct involvement in road casualty reduction in Scotland, the SQA Road Safety Course will equip current and new road safety professionals with the specialist knowledge, delivery skills and analytical capabilities needed to reduce road deaths.

RoSPA, which has been at the heart of accident prevention in the UK and around the world for nearly 100 years, has tailored the course and qualification for Scotland’s road safety professionals, on behalf of Transport Scotland.

Research from Emissions Analytics has found that the economy ratings on tyre labels don’t reveal the full story on fuel efficiency.

Preliminary tests have shown that, at certain speeds, tyres with a lower efficiency rating can perform as well as higher-rated tyres. This means consumers opting for tyres with a higher efficiency rating may fail to notice any fuel savings, depending on the nature and type of route they typically drive.

Small but perfectly formed, the all-new PEUGEOT 108 takes city car versatility to a new level. With a raft of enhancements over its predecessor – the hugely popular 107 – the newcomer is an urban runabout that’s exceptionally user-friendly for day-to-day motoring.

Some of the improvements have taken place in the boot, a vital and often under-appreciated area of consideration for today’s small car buyer. Now boasting 196 litres of carrying capacity – up from 139 litres on the Peugeot 107 – it’s large enough for the ‘weekly shop’ from the supermarket. The boot sill is also 20mm lower for easier loading.

Alex Smith is to take over as Director of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand from 1 July 2014, replacing Robert Hazelwood who is leaving the company.

Smith (39) is currently Director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, a position he has held for the past two and a half years. Prior to that, and since joining the Volkswagen Group in 2007, he has fulfilled a number of roles, including Head of Retail Operations for Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Head of Group Parts Operations where he was responsible for the Trade Parts Specialists network.  Having started his motor industry career in 1995, Smith has also worked for Ford and Kia with responsibility for operations, fleet, aftersales, planning and marketing.

As it embarks on an unprecedented programme of improvement to cycling infrastructure, Transport for London (TfL) has outlined a range of innovative trials and initiatives, which will begin later this year as part of the continuing work to make the capital’s roads safer for everyone. 

The work, which will include making bicycles more easily visible and vehicle braking systems more responsive, forms part of TfL's revised Cycle Safety Action Plan which was published for public comment this week.