Toyota, reeling from car safety woes that have sullied its global reputation, will this week announce the recall of 300,000 of its flagship Prius hybrid because of brake flaws, newspapers reported Sunday.
The move by the Japanese auto giant will affect the latest model of the Prius, a car beloved of Hollywood stars and environmentalists, following scores of complaints about malfunctioning brake systems.
The Prius problems have dealt a new blow to Toyota, which has already had to recall around eight million cars around the world because of sticky accelerator pedals.
The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said the Prius recall, to repair a software programme for the anti-lock braking system designed to prevent skidding, is expected to affect some 270,000 vehicles in Japan and the United States alone.
“The company has notified its dealers in Japan that it would recall all the (new model Prius) vehicles sold in the country,” the mass-circulation paper said, without giving a source.
“The company will also repair the software free of charge in the United States and other countries in a similar manner,” Yomiuri said, adding that the company would make an official announcement this week.
The Nikkei business daily said Toyota would also repair about 30,000 vehicles sold in Europe, China, Australia, Middle East and other areas.
“We’ve been told the automaker will soon give us an official instruction about Prius,” said a Toyota dealer in Tokyo.
Company representatives were not available to comments.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has sold more than 300,000 of the latest Prius in 60 countries and territories since the new model rolled out in May. Related article: Prius woes may muffle hybrid buzz
Toyota had originally considered a voluntary repair for the problem, which the company said is not a fundamental defect, but decided on a recall to try to regain customer trust, the Yomiuri newspaper and Kyodo News reported.
Problems can be fixed at Toyota dealerships in less than an hour, media reports said, adding that units manufactured in January and after already have the updated software.
Toyota came under fire after it said it had fixed the Prius brake system last month without warning drivers who already own the model about the possibility of brake failure.
Japan’s transport ministry reportedly received about 80 complaints this month about brake malfunctions and called for an investigation, while Toyota has separately received more than 100 complaints since the crisis broke.
Local media have said that five cases reported to the government relate to crashes, according to the drivers.
The Prius — which combines a petrol combustion engine with a battery-powered electric motor — is Toyota’s flagship hybrid car and key to its efforts to stay in pole position in fuel-efficient vehicles. Related article: Toyota woes a boon for rivals
Toyota, which dethroned General Motors in 2008 as the world’s biggest automaker, produced 530,000 hybrids in 2009, spanning 15 models from sport utility vehicles to sedans, mini-vans and the luxury Lexus series.
The company has come under heavy fire for its handling of massive recalls affecting about eight million vehicles worldwide — more than its entire 2009 global sales of 7.8 million vehicles — due to accelerator trouble.
The accelerator problems have been blamed for several accidents, including an incident in California in August in which four family members were killed when their Lexus sedan sped up on a highway and crashed in a ball of flames.
A US class-action lawsuit against Toyota has alleged the Japanese automaker hid problems that have led to the rash of recalls and is seeking compensation for car owners.
Company president Akio Toyoda said Friday he was “deeply sorry” for the string of quality issues and said he would head a new task force to raise standards and investigate the cause of the problems.
“Believe me, Toyota cars are safe,” he said.
But Japanese newspapers have lashed out at Toyota’s slow response to the fiasco and warned it could hurt the country’s hard-won reputation for trustworthy technology.
“Toyota as a global manufacturer has much greater influence than the company management estimates,” the Mainichi newspaper said. “Expectations about the company and its products are also much greater than they may appreciate.”
Toyota is facing a two-billion-dollar bill from the global recall but last week said it was on course to earn 80 billion yen (880 million dollars) this fiscal year to March.
Some pupils are being caught out & are paying a company an additional £10 to book their Theory Test!!
It has come to the attention of one of Txt-Drive’s driving instructors that some pupils are paying an additional fee for a company to book a Theory Test on their behalf.
The current price for a Car Theory Test is £31 (February 2010). Some pupils have been paying £40 to book the Theory Test!! This is about 30% more expensive & is TOTALLY UNECESSARY!!
When you book a Theory Test via the Direct.gov.uk website (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Motoringtransactions/DG_066356) you can select the location, date & time of the Theory Test at the time you book the test on the website. Apparently some of these websites which book a Theory Test on your behalf won’t tell you the location, date & time of the Theory Test straight away.
We have heard of two pupils that have spent £45 between them in unnecessary booking fees.
The pupils had Googled ‘book theory test’ & did not realise that the website they were using were charging £9 just to book the Theory Test for them – something they could have done themselves for FREE.
Ensure you use the correct website to book your Theory Test & Practical Test. Links to the correct (FREE) websites can be found on the Txt-Drive website.
Seems like a ‘legal con’ to mislead learners (mostly teenagers) into paying a £10 booking fee for something they could do themselves. Hopefully many learners & driving schools/driving instructors in Bedford and around the country will take note of this. Although these websites have been around for sometime now, it is always worth bringing it back to the attention of everyone.
Ashley Cole, the England footballer, was banned from driving yesterday for doing more than 100mph in a 50mph zone.
The Chelsea star, who launched an immediate appeal, claimed he was being chased by photographers when a speed gun recorded him driving his black Lamborghini Gallardo at 104mph.
Magistrates at Kingston imposed a four-month ban and £1,000 fine and warned the star he could face prison if he flouted the ban.
However, Cole’s legal team immediately launched an appeal putting his sentence on hold until a hearing at a Crown Court.
Cole, 29, who is married to singer and presenter Cheryl Cole, was on the A3 in Kingston, Surrey, when he was clocked speeding.
Though he denied the charge he was convicted at an earlier hearing.
In mitigation, Cole’s lawyer Katherine Hodson said: ”There was no suggestion given by police that there was any cause for concern about Mr Cole’s driving, except for his speed.”
But the magistrates said the sentence should reflect the fact Cole was more than twice the 50mph limit.
Patricia Baskerville, a magistrate, said: ”We have taken into account Mr Cole’s clean licence however this was an incident of excessive speed, over twice the speed limit on the road, and these were exceptional circumstances which we need to mark.
”For the offence of speeding, Mr Cole will be disqualified for a period of four months and will pay a fine of £1,000.”
He was also ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £300 costs to reflect his income and the seriousness of the offence.
Cole, who was not present, was warned if he did drive while disqualified, he could face prison.
His defence barrister asked for 21 days to pay, which magistrates laughed at but granted – Cole reputedly earns around £100,000 a week.
Minutes later Miss Hodson launched an appeal and the sentence was put on hold.
She said her client was ”regrettably” unable to attend the hearing because he was playing a match tomorrow night and would be travelling today.
An attempt by her to get sentencing adjourned was rejected, as was a previous bid to get the case thrown out on a technicality.
However, the court was told Cole had had ample opportunity to attend the four magistrates’ court hearings.
At the earlier trial, Richard Lomax, prosecuting, described the events of November 17 2008.
He said: ”The defendant was stopped and spoken to and the words he said at the time, when it became plain that somebody was pointing a speed camera at him, were ‘Can’t you do anything about those idiots who keep chasing me?’.”
Cole, of Elstead Road, Shackleford, Surrey, told police he thought he was driving at 80mph when he was stopped just after midday.
Mr Lomax said: ”The Crown says there can be no other sensible construction of the words uttered by Mr Cole at the time than that he was conceding he was driving at a speed more than 50mph.
”It is plain that he found the attention of persons with cameras unwelcome and he was trying to get away from them.
”The only sensible inference, therefore, is that he was going too quickly.”
He added: ”It cannot be a defence to the offence of speeding that one is trying to get away in the circumstances of members of the press showing excessive attention.”
John Wills, a transport officer for Surrey Police who was carrying out speed checks on Robin Hood Way that day, said he noticed Cole’s car because ”it seemed to be travelling considerably faster” than any other vehicle.
Pc Wills and a colleague got into a police car after recording his speed and Cole pulled over in a nearby bus stop.
Cole was asked to get out of the car by Pc Wills, who told the court: ”I asked him if he knew what the speed limit was on that stretch of road, and he replied 50.
”Then I asked him what speed he was doing, and he said 80mph. I pointed out he was doing considerably more than that and showed him the laser device.”
The officer said that after being cautioned, Cole complained about photographers.
Pc Wills said: ”He pointed out that there was a man with a camera some distance further down the road.
”I saw him (the photographer) at that time, but I had no idea when he turned up. He was certainly not in evidence when I first saw the Lamborghini.”
No date or venue has yet to be fixed for the Crown Court appeal.
imposed a four-month ban and £1,000 fine and warned the star he could face prison if he flouted the ban.
British Muslim women are hitting the road – taking their independence in both hands and putting their foot on the gas.
An entertaining BBC series, starting next week, tells their stories from home as well as their cars over the weeks and months as they build towards their driving test.
During the six episodes of Muslim Driving School viewers will get an intimate and revelatory insight into the lives of the women and their families from Burnley to Bradford.
The series has exclusive access to numerous driving schools across the North of England – from one-woman operations to schools with over 40 instructors – who specialise in teaching Muslim women.
The narrative is woven around a number of women learning to drive –and the women who are teaching them – and there is a lot at stake.
Driving isn’t just a pleasure pursuit – it confers freedom and status – and opens up job opportunities that would otherwise been unreachable.
The BBC publicity states: ‘For these women, driving has got a real, symbolic value –getting out of the home could be a first stop to becoming a mistress of their own destiny!’
Pt 1 – Tuesday 12th January: 10pm – 10:30pm on BBC Two
Pt 2 – Tuesday 19th January: 10pm – 10:30pm on BBC Two
Pt 3 – Tuesday 26th January: 10pm – 10:30pm on BBC Two
Pt 4 – Tuesday 2nd February: 10pm – 10:30pm on BBC Two
Pt 5 – Tuesday 9th February: 10pm – 10:30pm on BBC Two
Pt 6 – Tuesday 16th February: 10pm – 10:30pm on BBC Two
Road crashes are the single biggest killer of young people in the UK with almost 1,200 killed or seriously injured on the roads every year. Young drivers, especially those under 20, are nearly 12 times more likely than those aged 35-65 to have caused a fatal crash than to have been innocently involved in one.
Meanwhile, with an estimated up to 200 road deaths and serious injuries a week resulting from crashes involving at work drivers, more employees are killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads while driving on behalf of their employer than in any other work-related activity.
Therefore, inexperienced, recently qualified 17-24-year-olds who are driving on business are likely to be at the very highest risk of being involved in a crash.
As a result, the Government is anxious to promote a wide range of measures to help young drivers stay safe when they are on the road.
Among the wide range of measures proposed by the Department for Transport in its ‘far-reaching ‘Learning to Drive’ consultation document was additional pre and post- driving test training.
Meanwhile, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents with help from the Government-backed ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign, which is managed by RoadSafe, will launch a new guide in the spring to help businesses improve the road safety of young drivers.
A new survey by the campaign among its almost 40 ‘business champion’ fleets discovered that not only do 90% of respondents want to see a post-test driving for work qualification for youngsters, but 71% of those questioned don’t believe the current ‘L’ driver training and testing process prepares 17-24-years-old for the challenge of at-work driving.
While the majority (76 per cent) of ‘business champion’ fleets allow young employees to drive on business – 24 per cent don’t – many impose restraints on them as part of their safe driving procedures. Those measures include:
• 48 per cent of ‘business champion’ fleets restrict the size of vehicle young employees are allowed to drive
• 33 per cent restrict the performance of the vehicle
• 19 per cent ban youngsters from taking to the road in adverse weather conditions
• 14 per cent ban them driving at night.
As the Government continues to compile its 2011-2020 road safety strategy of which a greater focus on preparing youngsters for the hazards of driving is expected to play a key part, the new online RoSPA guide will highlight key safety issues for employers to deliver in workshops.
Guide content is based on a series of 12 pilot workshops attended by up to 15 young drivers devised by RoSPA and hosted by a cross-section of employers. The forthcoming guide will contain the workshop structure and materials and a guide to delivery.
The aim of the workshop is to develop young drivers’ knowledge that driving for work has ‘issues above and beyond what they probably assimilated when learning to drive’ and to help them understand how they can develop additional skills required when driving for work.
Following publication of the guide hopes are high that employers will host their own workshops and use the booklet-based guidance to improve their young drivers’ safety thus addressing the skills and training gap.
Caroline Scurr, director of the ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign, said: “I am not surprised that our ‘business champions’ want to see an improvement in the skills of young drivers.
“A range of factors put young drivers at particular risk, including their lack of experience, their weakness in identifying potential hazards and some attitudes, such as over confidence.
“Deadline pressures, unfamiliar routes and making frequent delivery stops can make driving for work very different to driving at other times and issues such as these are not covered during ‘L’ training.”
The young drivers’ workshop delivery guide will be available in March on the RoSPA website – www.rospa.com.
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has published a Highway Code advert on its YouTube channel. Voiced by comedian David Mitchell, the advert encourages people to visit Directgov and keep up to date with the Highway Code.
The Highway Code on Directgov
The aim of the DSA’s new advert is to encourage people to keep up to date with the Highway Code.
The Highway Code isn’t just for learner drivers, it is essential reading for everyone.
Some driving tests are affected by the current severe winter weather.
If you’re due to take your practical test, follow the advice given on your appointment letter and call your test centre if there is snow or ice in your local area on the day of your test.
DSA do not conduct tests in bad light or in adverse weather conditions for the safety of the candidate and the examiner. We will arrange another appointment at no further cost, but compensation is not payable.
Check the DSA website for more information : www.dsa.gov.uk
With all memories of summer now firmly banished, it’s time to start thinking about winter driving safety in a new online video series from Continental Tyres featuring BTCC racing driver Fiona Leggate
11.24.2009 – Driving in the winter can be a challenging experience at the best of times, but if your car tyres aren’t in the best condition, it can become extremely dangerous too. Fortunately, Continental Tyres know this, and have recruited an expert to help with their new winter tyre safety campaign, someone who is no stranger to throwing a car around the tarmac in extreme conditions: British Touring Car Championship racer Fiona Leggate.
In a new series of online videos focusing on four important topics of winter driving and tyre safety, Continental and Fiona provide simple and straightforward advice on the following subjects:
Tread Depth – The tread depth of your car tyres can affect driving in adverse weather conditions. In this video, easy ways to check tread depth are demonstrated, even using something as simple as a 20p piece
Tyre Pressures – Having the right pressures in your car tyres and knowing how to check these is vital. With handy tips and sound advice, this video has everything drivers need to know about tyre pressures this winter
Tyre Damage – Damaged car tyres can be extremely dangerous. By following the advice in this video, drivers can check their own tyres for damage easily and quickly
Tyre Sealant Kits – Car tyre sealant kits are an easy and fast way to quickly get back on the road in the event of a puncture, as the final video in this series demonstrates
“I’m in the unusual position of not only being a racing car driver, but also a mother” says Fiona, “Being a mother means that – now more than ever – I’m equally concerned about the performance of tyres off-track, as I am on it. That’s why I’m making these videos for Continental”.
Which? Car asked five drivers to re-sit their driving test – three of them failed. How would you fare? Take our tests to see if you’ve still got what it takes
With the UK driving test in the process of being overhauled and improved, Which? Car asked five drivers to re-sit the test. Three of them failed.
This snapshot research examined five people aged from 21 to 64 to get an impression of current driving standards. To pass the test, drivers must accrue no more than 15 standard faults and no serious faults. The poor scores – and examiners’ criticisms – show how driving can deteriorate.
Emily Wells, 21, had held a driving licence for just two years and nine months. She failed with 17 standard driving faults.
Tim Pitt, 30, gained only 11 faults, but one was serious – when turning right at a roundabout, he didn’t signal as he approached the exit – so he failed.
Claire Evans, 44, (Which? Car deputy editor) fared the best of the bunch, passing with only nine driving faults.
Mr X, 54, (an anonymous participant) notched up 14 driving fault points, but failed as two were serious – not once checking any blind spots; and using every one of the car’s gears, rather than skipping unnecessary ones, when slowing down.
Retired 64-year-old Jim Hart clocked up only 11 faults and passed the test.
The most common errors were not checking blind spots when moving off and not using mirrors consistently enough.
Claire Evans, deputy editor,Which? Car, says: “As the driving test is getting tougher, it’s a good time to reassess your skills – or lack of them. We recommend that even experienced drivers take refresher or advanced driving courses over the years, which not only improve driving, but may also lower insurance premiums.”
New driving test
The first change to the car driving test, which came into effect in September, was to add a case study question to the theory test.
One key innovation, currently scheduled for 4 October 2010, will be the introduction of a 10-minute section of independent driving.
The aim is not to make the driving test harder but to update it and strengthen the way people learn and are tested.
Jenson Button talked endlessly about becoming F1 champion – even before he passed his driving test.
The Grand Prix king’s old driving instructor says he spoke of nothing else, despite the fact he ended up failing his first test for driving too close to a parked car.
Roger Brunt, 63 – who is an old motor racing colleague of Button’s dad John – revealed: “I remember thinking at the time it was a long shot, but Jenson did it. I am so very pleased for him.
“All he talked about was being the world champion, his dreams have come true. He has achieved the ultimate driver’s award.”
Roger, who still runs his own driving school, taught Jenson near the 29-year-old’s home in Frome, Somerset, and recalls him having “efficient and slick driving for someone so young”.
He added: “Jenson had been driving go-karts and motorbikes since he was very young and I knew about his ambition from his father.
“I’d seen him pick up trophies down the years. To be honest, his dedication slowed his progress (for a driving test) as he was flying all over the world racing and it was hard to fit in lessons.
“He had a natural feeling for a car, honed by years of practice, but was just unlucky on his first test.
“I am so proud to have had him as one of my pupils and am thinking of having it painted down the side of my Vauxhall Corsa that I was the driver who taught him.”
And Roger wasn’t the only one who Jenson shared his dreams with.
Pe teacher Elaine Kinnie, who taught the “well behaved, popular and hard-working student” 20 years ago, revealed: “My favourite memory was a school assembly we had on the pupils’ hopes and dreams. I remember Jenson at 10 years old stood on the stage with his go-kart and in his racing gear. He proudly said, ‘One day I’ll be F1 champion.’ He knew exactly what he wanted.”
Jenson was already on the road to success by then, having joined Clay Pigeon Kart Club, in Evershot, Dorset, when he was eight.
Chairman Mike Wellington said: “He won in his first year as a cadet and quickly went on to win British and European championships.
“I’m sure when he first sat in a kart he never thought he’d achieve world champion, it was a dream and good on him for doing it.
“We are very proud of our association with him from his earliest days of racing. He still recognises that he started his career here.”
In Jenson’s hometown locals have already named a pub after the star – the Frome Flyer. And local mayor Damon Hooton added: “We can give him honorary freedom of the town.
“As the Frome Flyer, he has put the town on the map. We just hope he will come back to Frome to celebrate.”