Motoring

The Ford Mondeo has been voted Continental Irish Car of the Year 2016 by the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association. The announcement of the 39th Irish Car of the Year Award was made at an awards ceremony in Dublin today. The winning car was revealed by Rosemary Smith, to mark the 50th anniversary of her victory in the Tulip Rally in April 1965. She is the only woman to have won the rally. The overall results, with weighted scores, were as follows: 1. Ford Mondeo 148 points 2. Volvo XC90 147 points 3. Mercedes Benz GLE 144 points 4. Kia Sorento 144 points 5. Skoda Superb 140 points The Irish Motoring Writers’ Association judges awarded points on the basis of criteria ranging from design, comfort, safety, economy, handling and performance as well as driver satisfaction, value for money and technical innovation, with a maximum of 20 points under each heading. John Galvin, Chairman of the Irish Motoring Writers’ Association, commented: “The …

Clare County Council has sufficient supplies of rock salt to treat the county’s regional and national roads over the winter months. The local authority’s depot/maintenance facility at Beechpark, has 1,600 tonnes of rock salt, which the council notes is sufficient to facilitate up to 30 applications on the county’s strategic road network. Salt stocks will also be drawn down by the council during the winter from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (formerly the NRA) and the Department of Transport. Further stocks will be available if required in an emergency situation from TII’s strategic salt reserve.

To coincide with the October Bank Holiday, gardaí and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) are making a special appeal to drivers and passengers to ensure they use a safety belt at all times. A review of fixed charge notices issued for this offence so far in 2015 reveals that the 20-39 age groups are the ones that are failing most to use the most basic form of road safety – the safety belt. More than half (56%) of all fixed charge notices were issued to people aged 20-39. In addition, concern is also being expressed over the number of fatal incidents where it has been found that the driver or passenger had not been wearing a safety belt at the time of the collision. No safety belt was worn at the time of collision for one in three of the driver or passenger road deaths so far in 2015, significantly higher than in previous years. Nearly half of these (48%) …

More than 240 Fixed Charge Notices (FCN) have been issued to cyclists in the first two months of the introduction of the new regulations. Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe said the new regulations are helping to promote better cycling behaviour and keeping our cyclists and other road users safer on the roads. ” An Garda Síochána has indicated that between July 31 and the end of September a total of 244 fines have been issued to cyclists who have broken the law and committed one of the seven road traffic offences identified under the regulations. “Unsurprisingly, most fines have been issued for the offence of breaking a red light (144), with failure to have appropriate lighting on a bike accounting for the next highest number of fines at 44. “This measure was introduced with a view to promoting safe cycling practices and changing poor cycling behaviour and preventing needless collisions and injury on our roads. Last year, 13 cyclists were killed …

It’s unusual to see a motoring story dominating the headlines, and when it happens, it’s usually bad news. The Volkwsagen emissions debacle is without question one of the biggest stories of the year and already it has caused a lot of grief, with the company’s stock price having taken an enormous hit. That’s not the end of the story though – this one will run and run and may become even bigger as we understand more about it. But what did happen exactly? To get some background, members of the Irish Motoring Writers Association went to DIT in Bolton Street earlier this week to learn about the technologies behind emissions systems and get a feel for what had happened in America. It may come as a surprise to most, but the initial tests marking the start of this saga took place in 2014. An independent lab wanted to demonstrate the cleanliness of modern diesel engines so they carried out real …

Our special 24 page Champion Motoring supplement is online now. All the news from Frankfurt Motor Show. Sneak preview of the all-new Mazda MX-5. New Mercedes GLC. And much more… Read it here.

The Automobile Association is calling for the Government to scrap windscreen discs for the enforcement of insurance, tax and NCT, and to replace them with an automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) system. According to the motoring organisation, the paper discs are “obsolete, wasteful and an invitation to fraud”. “In years gone by, the discs may have been a reasonable way to prove your car was compliant but ever since the introduction of colour printers they are a fraudster’s charter,” said director of consumer affairs, Conor Faughnan. “They are of no value in preventing a crime. We need a modern system, as has been introduced in the UK, that will scan registration plates and use databases that already exist,” he added. There are 2.6 million registered vehicles in the State displaying some 6.5 million discs. The AA estimates that this costs €10 million per year in postage and administration, which is ultimately paid for by motorists. Tax discs have been removed from …

An Garda Síochána will conduct an intensive national speed enforcement operation for a 24 hour period, starting at 7am on Friday. This national “Slow Down” day, is supported by the Road Safety Authority and other stakeholders. The objective of operation “Slow Down” is to reduce the number of speed related collisions, save lives and reduce injuries on our roads. The aim is to get drivers to slow down by reminding them of the dangers of speeding, increasing compliance with speed limits and acting as a deterrent to driving at excessive and inappropriate speed. Last year saw another increase in road deaths, resulting in 195 fatalities. Excessive or inappropriate speed is a major contributory factor to road traffic collisions. The higher the speed, the greater the likelihood is of a collision happening and the more severe the outcome of that collision. As a general rule, a 1% reduction in average speed will bring about a 2% reduction in minor injury collisions, …