A mother who left her car was horrified to find it had been clamped while her children were sitting inside.

Victoria Whitmore, a community care nurse from Berkshire, had gone into a doctors' surgery for “two minutes”, leaving her kids in the car while she collected a prescription.

She'd parked in a pub car park on Headley Road in Woodley, Berkshire, believing at the time that where she'd parked wasn't part of the pub's land.

While she was gone, a clamper from Frontline Parking Servi...

An innovative road safety qualification developed by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) in partnership with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) will today receive a prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award.

The Safe Road User Award is aimed primarily at 14-16 year olds. It aims to influence young people’s attitudes to road safety and give them a solid grounding in safe road use before they learn to drive. Holders who go on to learn to drive can take a sho...

A Porsche driver caught with a laser jammer to scramble speed cameras has become the first person to be banned from driving for using one.

The driver, Jamie Shreeve, 21, from Caister near Great Yarmouth, is only the second motorist in Norfolk to be prosecuted for using such a device and he's the first in the UK to receive a driving ban as a result.

He received a 30-day ban when he was caught red-handed by police.

The action was welcomed by two Norfolk police offices, who have been crac...

Boffins have created a wireless charging mat that can charge-up electric cars without the need for any wires or plugs.

The mat works in a similar way to smaller versions currently on the market for iPods and smart phones, although no contact is required between the car and the mat.

It means that whenever an electric car like the Nissan Leaf (pictured) is parked over the mat - e.g. placed on the floor of a garage - it will begin to charge the battery.

The mat is being developed by Delphi...

A team of Swedish industrial design students have developed an airbag for cyclists. Known as the Hvvding, the device is an airbag collar that activates in the event of an impact and surrounds the head and neck of the cyclist.

Hvvding roughly translates as 'chieftain' in English and was designed over six years.

A small helium gas cylinder makes the collar inflate in 0.1 seconds and it remains in that state for several seconds after the initial impact. Sensors detect a sudden jolt and d...

When Karl Benz built the first Patent-Motorwagen in 1885 (it was patented in 1886) he probably didn't realise quite the extent to which it would transform the world. So without further ado, here are ten things you might not have known about the progenitor of motoring.

It wasn't the first attempt at an automobile

Inventors were trying to put a 'car' on the road as early as the 18th century. However, all were attempts to automate the horse-drawn carriage, and were largely useless; the Pa...

London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced that the western extension of the congestion charge will be scrapped on Christmas Eve.

Mr Johnson said that signs and cameras on the border of Hammersmith and Fulham - where the western extension covers - would be 'blasted from the earth' over Christmas, during the charge's usual annual suspension.

His welcome announcement came just hours after Chancellor George Osborne revealed a series of crippling budget cuts to UK spending.

Mr Johnson said: ...

Petrol prices could hit a record 124p per litre in the coming weeks, the RAC has warned. The record average price in the UK is currently 121.6p per litre, which happened in May 2010.

With the UK average currently at 118p per litre, and up to 121p in London, we're already hovering dangerously close to the record. October's 1p per litre fuel duty rise plus a recent sharp increase in oil prices have been blamed for the current high.

Sadly, the only way is up for prices over the coming w...

Toyota's luxury arm, Lexus, today announced (October 21, 2010) two voluntary recalls for its IS, GS and RX models. This comes after Toyota's international recall earlier this year.

The first Lexus recall is due to a faulty brake master cylinder on IS, GS and RX models built between February 2003 and November 2005.

Should the fault occur, the driver will be notified by a low brake fluid warning light and, according to Lexus, the brakes will continue to work normally for over 200 miles...

The world's first 'dial-a-car' has been invented. Engineers at the Berlin Free University have developed a car that will drive to wherever you are when beckoned using a smartphone or an iPad.

All you need to do is make a call and the car will spring into action, using a combination of satellite navigation, 3D imagery and laser scanners to drive itself to your location. Having calculated the route, the car will also tell you how long you'll have to wait before it arrives.

The car, call...

As car security gets more sophisticated, so do the criminals trying to circumvent it; the days of finding that your car was broken into by an opportunist with a wire coat hanger are gone, almost.

But while it's more difficult to steal a car today than ever - and Home Office statistics show that car crime has fallen markedly over the last decade - it's still big business. A modern car can be broken into in less than ten seconds, says the Metropolitan Police. Here's how to best avoid t...

Saab has finally taken the wraps off its new crossover 4x4, the 9-4X. After a turbulent couple of years, the new model is a sign that Saab is ready to move on under the ownership of Dutch supercar maker Spyker.

The 9-4X will debut in the metal at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, where Saab will boast about its 'car-like' driving dynamics.

It's powered by a 296bhp 2.8-litre turbo engine, which will become the flagship of the range. Saab hasn't mentioned diesels yet, but it's like...

Nissan has finally confirmed that the revised GT-R supercar does indeed have more of everything - including the price.

The revised GT-R is available now and costs £70,000 - that's £10,000 more than the outgoing Premium version. There's only one, high specification trim available, with a choice of either black or grey interiors.

The Japanese company took the unusual step of putting the new GT-R on its stand at the Paris Motor Show, but said nothing about it. Only now has Nissan shed ...

A random act of kindness towards a stranger led to a $50,000 (£32,000) Chevrolet Corvette convertible being washed out to sea.

Witnesses reported seeing a yellow Corvette doing burnouts and doughnuts at Pacific Beach near San Diego, California. Moments later, three people were seen fleeing from the two-seater as waves lashed against it.

Police and the fire department were called to the incident and had to pull the drenched convertible from the sea. A 39-year-old man and his 36-year-o...

A beautifully preserved 1952 Jaguar C-Type racing car will be sold at auction later this month - and it's expected to fetch a whopping £2,400,000.

The rare and highly sought after 58-year-old car was owned and raced by US Formula One driver Masten Gregory, who used it to notch up a number of race victories in America in 1953.

The C-Type was born when chief Jaguar engineer William Haynes went to the 1950 Le Mans 24-Hour race to watch a Jaguar XK120 compete. That XK120 was basically a st...

What Car? has declared the Ford Mondeo its used car of the year 2010.

The car buyers' guide crowned Ford's family saloon ahead of prestige models like the Porsche Boxster and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

It's the value offered by a used Mondeo that tipped the balance in its favour: a three-year-old car should cost around £8,600 - a saving of £10,000 compared to new.

What Car? Editor Steve Fowler said: “it's hard to find fault with the Ford Mondeo, especially at the price. It's a comforta...

New research has shown that UK motorists are losing up to £500 when they sell their cars by failing to prepare them for sale.

The information comes from the world's largest car auction company, Manheim Auctions, which is urging owners to maximise their car's value before they sell on.

According to Manheim, the biggest turn-off for used car buyers is a lack of service history, which could reduce a three-year-old car's value by as much as £500. The second most costly blunder is carpets...

We've all been there: you leave the driveway and everything seems fine, but midway through the journey the engine starts to cough and splutter.

You keep going for as long as you can, desperate to reach work or to get the kids to school, but you eventually realise that your luck is out - the car is about to break down and you have to stop.

A breakdown can be one of the most confusing, stressful and dangerous events to befall any motorist, so it's vital to maintain a level head and make...

This year's Paris Motor Show was one of the busiest ever. Packed with high performance metal, eco specials and concepts galore, it truly was an extravaganza.

And we Brits had a huge presence with some show-stealing cars. People say that the British industry is dead, but our boys proved that it's very much alive and kicking.

Here are our top British-built offerings.

Bentley Continental GT
Price: £135,760
Release date: Now

The luxury car maker has given its successful grand tourer a nip and ...

Motor shows are largely predictable: we know which cars are coming because the car company PR departments have been drip-feeding us for months. Despite that, there's plenty that happens to make every show unique, and memorable for more than just a list of debuts. Here are the best and worst things about Paris 2010.

Good:

Lotus new car insanity

Jaws hit the floor as Lotus unveiled a shock plan so grand that we'd call it 'ambitious' even if Audi did it. Six brand new models (most set to ...

- 300bhp electric motor.
- 180-mile range between charges.
- Four-wheel drive for go-anywhere dynamics.

A proper motor show car is the Venturi America, in that we know a couple of details and it looks great, but there's not much of substance to back it up. The America crosses a beach buggy and a sports coupé, has an electric motor and is built in Monaco, but that's about all we've been told.

What's all the fuss about?

Back at the Geneva Motor Show in 2002, Venturi gave us the Fetish ele...

- Petrol-electric hybrid with zero-emissions mode.
- Based on Proton city car concept.
- Due in 2014.

Even though Lotus has unveiled an astonishing six brand new cars in Paris, this one sticks out like a sore thumb - it's a city car. We expect sleek sports cars from the British maker, but the Concept City Car is new ground.

What's all the fuss about?

There's a huge buzz surrounding Lotus at the Paris Show - its stand was an absolute circus during its scheduled press conference as it rolled...

Aston Martin has finally confirmed it will put the controversial Cygnet city car into production. The car, based on the Toyota iQ, will hit Aston Martin dealerships some time in 2011.

However, it seems that interested buyers may have to be existing Aston Martin customers to qualify - at least to start with. In a press release confirming the car's production, the company said:

"Our customers need a small car for urban and city use, and they want the right tools for the right job, to d...

Jeremy Clarkson and James May have officially launched the Top Gear 'Prototype Tour' from the inside of a Boeing 747 jet.

The Prototype Tour promises to be 'the most exciting, ambitious and complex automotive stage show ever' according to the show's organisers.

The tour is part of the Top Gear Live show, which opens at Earls Court in London on November 4. The tour then heads to Birmingham before going global.

It will hit Dublin, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Johannesburg, finishing in Oslo...

Audi's Quattro Concept was undoubtedly one of the hottest Paris Motor Show launches, but with it came a firm 'no' to possible production.

However, Audi already seems to have reneged on that denial, now signalling it will build a limited number.

The car will become the true spiritual successor to the original Audi Ur Quattro, the first Audi road car with four-wheel drive. But it will not be cheap: only a few hundred hand-built cars will be produced, and Audi is already comparing it to a ...

A new system by BMW could shortly make the self-driving car a reality. It's part of a raft of driver safety innovations just unveiled by the company.

BMW gave Yahoo! Cars a hands-on (or rather hands-off) demonstration of its next generation Active Cruise Control technology. Amazingly, it allows the car to follow the curve of the motorway without any driver input.

However, sensors in the steering wheel sound a warning if the driver removes his hands for more than a few seconds. But a B...

The VAT increase in January 2011 is hot news at the moment and car buyers in particular are hoping to pre-empt the change by buying early. SEAT's latest offer makes that process even easier, as it essentially pays the VAT for the customer.

There don't appear to be any catches - or much fine print. Simply put, on selected models (more of which in a minute), SEAT is offering a significant discount of 17.5 percent off the list price. That discount will also apply to any factory fitted op...

Jaguar stole the Paris Motor Show with its gas-turbine powered supercar concept, the C-X75. Now the company has admitted that it is seriously evaluating the prospect of putting the car into production in limited numbers.

To refresh your memory, the C-X75 is powered by four 195bhp electric motors (one in each wheel), giving a total output of 780bhp. The benchmark 0-62mph sprint takes just 3.4 seconds and, incredibly, the concept will theoretically hit 100mph just 2.1 seconds later. Its...

Maserati has plans to launch a new, four-door saloon car to take on the Jaguar XFR and the BMW M5.

Details are still sketchy, but the new model will be smaller than the existing Maserati Quattroporte (pictured) and it's expected to be powered by downsized V6 and V8 engines to save weight and fuel. An eight-speed automatic gearbox is also on the cards.

The design process is already underway and Lorenzo Ramaciotti is the man behind the project. He was formerly design chief at Italian coac...

The new Focus was Ford's star of the show at the Paris Motor Show, but there's still life in the current version yet.

Ford has revealed a last-of-the-line Sport edition of the current Focus, which includes £1,500 worth of optional extras, but costs only £7,00 more than the Zetec model.

ST-style 16-inch alloy wheels mark it out from the standard model, while interior additions include satellite navigation, voice control and automatic headlamps.

The seats are finished in what Ford calls ...

The results of a scheme in Portsmouth that lowered urban speed limits to 20mph have shown that accidents actually increased.

Speeds in 30mph zones across Portsmouth were lowered to 20mph in 2007. However, statistics given to the Department for Transport by a private analysis company show that while average speeds in Portsmouth decreased from 19.8mph to 18.5mph, the number of serious injuries and fatalities actually rose from 18.7 per year before 2007, to 19.9.

There's still plenty of ...

Lower car insurance premiums for women discriminate against men and should be banned, according to a high-ranking EU official.

Juliane KoKott, Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice (EUCoJ), argues that under EU law, the practice of using gender as a factor in assessing risk is illegal. The EUCoJ will later this year decide whether Ms. Kokett's assertion is correct.

Women enjoy lower premiums because statistically they are shown to have fewer accidents then men. Therefore, sex is ...

A Volkswagen Passat Bluemotion has set the Guinness World Record for the longest distance travelled on a single tank of fuel by an un-modified production car.

It covered an astonishing 1,526.63 miles on a single tank of forecourt diesel, averaging 89.82mpg along the way. The Passat's official combined mpg figure is 64.2mpg.

It took driver Gavin Conway of The Sunday Times three days to drain the tank, driving mostly on French motorways, with the occasional town detour. His average spee...

Vauxhall's next city car will be a premium rival to the MINI, Fiat 500, Citroen DS3 and Audi A1.

It's well known that Vauxhall has been working on a city car, but it was thought that the company would make low price and good fuel economy its priorities.

However, in an interview with Autocar, GM head of design Mark Adams said: "Certain quarters of the media are expecting this to be a budget offering, but it'll be anything but."

Adams oversaw Vauxhall/Opel's change of styling direction w...

- Electric city car concept with gullwing-style doors
- Styling is based on the Kia Ray, a previous concept car
- Panoramic glass roof with purple trim inside

The Kia Pop is the small car of the future - apparently. The Korean firm has pulled the wraps off its space-aged looking city car concept, with an electric drivetrain, gullwing-style, upward opening doors and a purple cabin.

What's all the fuss about?

The Pop is powered by electricity, which means that it has zero tailpipe emissions....

- Fabia, Octavia, Yeti, Roomster and Superb will all get super clean engines
- The 1.2- and 1.6-litre TDI engines will be seriously low emitters
- With 109g/km, the Roomster will be the cleanest car in its class

Skoda has shown off its latest generation of eco-friendly Greenline engines for its range. There are two reworked engines - a 1.2-litre TDI with 74bhp and a 1.6-litre TDI with 103bhp.

Exact emissions will vary depending on what size of car they're in, but it's safe to say that each ...

DSA's corporate website address - dsa.gov.uk - has changed to dft.gov.uk/dsa.

From now on, if you try to visit the old address you'll be taken directly to the new one.

The content on the website hasn't changed, but it looks slightly different as it's now using the Department for Transport's green colour scheme.

If your website mentions the dsa.gov.uk address, please update it to dft.gov.uk/dsa.

Reducing government websites

The change is part of the programme to reduce the n...

A dramatic global recall involving almost 350,000 BMW and Rolls-Royce cars has been announced due to a defective braking system. More than 27,000 cars in the UK are affected.

The issue involves a potential leak in the braking system, which can cause a loss of brake assistance. The affected cars are the BMW 5 Series, 6 Series and 7 Series built between July 2001 and November 2009.

Rolls-Royce has been affected too - between 900 and 1,200 cars are believed to be involved.

BMW said in a s...

It's not something that most drivers give much thought to, but if you own a car over three years old then you'll need one every year.

We're talking about the MoT test, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this month (September 2010). For the majority of motorists, it's just another annual payout, but there's actually a wealth of history behind it. Read on to find out the origins of the MoT.

In the beginning

In the years after the Second World War, cash was even tighter than it is toda...

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) recently revealed that poor service from independent garages ranks fifth on the list of things most complained about to Consumer Direct, the Government-funded consumer watchdog.

Anecdotally, local garages have always had a bad rap, with many drivers willing to pay over the odds for franchised dealer servicing rather than risk being ripped off by a dodgy local repair centre.

The stats back that up too. Research by Motor Codes, a self-regulatory body fo...

These incredible images show the moment a white Opel van had to be airlifted from a mountain - after a satellite navigation system had directed the driver to travel up it.

The driver, 37-year-old Robert Ziegler, was making a delivery to Bergun, Switzerland, using his GPS unit for directions.

Unfortunately, the unit directed Mr Ziegler up a narrow mountain pathway, which he continued to follow until he became well and truly stuck.

"I was lost and I kept hoping that each little turn would...

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