Boris Shuns Vehicle Congestion Charge Increase

London mayor Boris Johnson has stayed true to his pre-mayoral word by not increasing the London congestion charge for polluting large and 4x4 vehicles.

Previous mayor Ken Livingstone proposed the charge be raised from the acceptable figure of £8 for vehicles emitting more than 225g of carbon dioxide per kilometre, and for vehicles registered before March 2001 with engines larger than 3,000cc, to a mind-blowing £25, from October.

However Boris ditched the plans, saying: "I am delighted that we have been able to scrap the £25 charge, which would have hit families and small businesses hardest". He added: "I believe the proposal would actually have made congestion worse by allowing thousands of small cars in for free."

Boris was prompted to avoid the increase on the power of a legal challenge from car manufacturer Porsche, who sought a judicial review of the proposal after unearthing research from King's College in London.

The academic research proposed that the new charge could actually increase CO2 emissions because people would theoretically drive a greater distance to avoid the congestion charge zone.

Porsche Managing director Andy Goff said: "Porsche is proud to have played a decisive role in striking down such a blatantly political tax increase targeting motorists."

Number Plate Aficionados Prone to Road Rage

Research by social psychologist William Szlemko at Colorado University has proven that drivers who sport car accessories such as personalised number plates, furry dice, and bumper stickers are more likely to suffer symptoms of road rage.

Amusingly, the greater the number of "territorial markers" a driver possesses in connection with their vehicle, the more likely it is that they will respond in an inappropriate manner to others' on the road.

Szlemko says: "Just the presence of territory markers predicts the tendency to be an aggressive driver."

Szlemko's co-author, Paul Bell, agrees: "Territoriality is hard-wired into our ancestors from tens of thousands of years ago. Animals are territorial because it had survival value. If you could keep others away from your hunting groups, you had more game to spear ... it becomes part of the biology."

If you're a territorial kind of person, number plates are certainly one of the best ways to personalise your car. Road rage? Your choice!

New Roadside Camera to Tackle Abusive Car-Share Lane Drivers

A new roadside camera that can estimate how many travellers are inside a car by measuring human fluids has received a mixed reception.

The device has been developed in a bid to combat abuse of car-sharing lanes, with sneaky drivers attaching photographs to their windows and positioning mannequins in passenger seats in an attempt to foil conventional detection.

The technology, developed by Loughborough University, is being trialled in car-sharing lanes in Leeds, so its accuracy remains to be seen, however other councils have taken an interest in installing the cameras.

Motoring organisations question the effectiveness of car-sharing lanes, and argue the cameras are a further intrusion on private lives.

But cameras to measure bodily fluids? The Orwellian technology, if not laughable, reeks of privacy invasion, and is surely riddled with inaccuracies. How does the system take into account variations of weight and size, for instance the difference between a twenty-stone lorry driver, and a six-month old child?

I have to digress and speculate as to whether my little Jack Russell terrier, Charley, would count as a passenger under the watchful gaze of the new cameras!

Related Number Plates:

There's a spy in there!

They want blood!

Or are they just prying?

Nissan Skyline GT-R Hailed Car of the Century

The soon to be launched revamped Nissan Skyline GT-R has been dubbed "the most eagerly awaited supercar launch of the century" by webmag readers in the US.

You'd expect other top marques, such as the Ferrari Testarossa, and Porsche 911 to be favoured above the Japanese sports coupe.

But, the supercar costs far less than other cars in the same class. And, these aren't your average drivers. In fact, most of the drivers have only experienced the car through the virtual reality worlds created in computer games like Zero 4 Champ R and Gran Turismo, and the odd appearance in movies, anime, and manga. Add to that the popularity the car has garnered thanks to illegal street races in Japan and its speed of 0-60 mph in less than four seconds, it is no wonder there's excitement.

And who can blame folks for getting sped up over the vehicle? The supercar features "integration with the driver" resulting in new components, and a "human-machine interface". It certainly sounds impressive, and just the kind of feature to appeal to a gamer - the personalisation of the driving experience clearly seduces buyers of the Skyline GT-R - of whom sixty percent are under 50 years old.

Just ask anyone who has screeched around a Gran Turismo track in a virtual Skyline and they'll testify - it's a lot of fun! And who wouldn't want that on their drive?

Turbo-charge your next supercar with a racy personalised number plate from National Numbers:

Nissan Number Plates
Nissan Skyline Number Plates
Nissan GTR Number Plates

UK Roads Driving You Potty? That'll be the Jeep, the Chevrolet, and the Daewoo

Shockingly, UK drivers are paying more than 2.8 billion pounds a year on mechanical car repairs, thanks to the shoddy condition of UK roads, recent news from independent insurer Warranty Direct has revealed.

The research, conducted on nearly 500,000 vehicles – pinpoints decaying British roads as a major cause of up to a third of all mechanical break-downs.

Duncan McClure Fisher of Warranty Direct says: "continuous driving over cracked or uneven road surfaces, or one sudden jolt from a pothole, can cause substantial damage to shock absorbers, springs, upper and lower arms and stabiliser bars".

Not good news, especially when you consider that the UK road tax payer, despite loosely paying twice as much tax as folks in the USA, is still twice as likely to suffer damage to his or her car as a result of bad British roads.

Some cars are affected more than others. Top of the hit list are Jeep, Chevrolet, Daewoo, Jaguar, Kia, Subaru, Volvo, Suzuki, Chrysler, Honda and Nissan.

Still, despite suffering busted shock absorbers, springs, arms and stabiliser bars, you can rest assured a securely-fixed personalised number plate from National Numbers won't fall victim to potholes, and will look the business too. Number plates for all car makes and models are included in our easy-to-use number plate search. Give it a go!