So surely you all jumped for joy at the news that on the spot fines are to be brought in for reckless drivers? Well, we did a (by no means scientific!) straw poll on Twitter and Facebook and the majority of people think the idea is a bad one. And you only need to have a quick search on Google to find many people berated that those who hog the middle lane and force people to undertake won’t be penalised.

The plans, outlined by transport minister Philip Hammond earlier this week include £80 – £100 fines for those who undertake, tailgate or cut other motorists up. The idea is to crack down on careless drivers, but there are obvious issues. For example, are you still tailgating if someone pulls in front of you? If you are overtaking and the person speeds up as you pull in are you cutting them up?

The issue with these new penalties is that proving them could be very difficult, it’s very easy to prove when someone breaks the speed limit, but less so if you’re tailgating. When the points could affect your livelihood, insurance and dependents it would seem challenging the fine would be an ideal option – but the cost could be astronomical.

Although the Association of British Drivers and other such bodies have welcomed the move, they too have issued concerns:

“Whilst tailgating and reckless overtaking/overtaking on the inside must be tackled and there is no excuse for such behaviour, Mr Hammond should also look at the overall picture of inconsiderate driving and what leads to the frustration behind such behaviour.  Lane discipline or ‘lane hogging’ is a major issue here as are inconsiderate drivers who hold up long streams of traffic refusing to pull into lay-bys to allow traffic to flow freely.”

These plans are part of a wider initiative, with other ideas including confiscating vehicles from dangerous drivers and introducing a test before those who have been banned can get back behind the wheel.

Britain’s road haulage sector has powered its way out of the recession.

That’s the view of a new monthly survey by Commercial Motor magazine, which has been backed by the Road Haulage Association.

The survey looked at over 300 road transport operators across the UK, and found that 28 per cent of those fleets have already recovered from the “credit crunch”.

A further 23 per cent are expecting to come out of their economic slump within six months, while just 16 per cent feel the recession will continue for another 12 months or more.

The survey also found that despite the economic downturn, one in four operators had seen an increase in revenue compared in the last quarter, compared to the same period last year, while 11 per cent had managed to maintain their revenue. And 29 per cent said they had seen an increase in customers since the beginning of 2009.

Three quarters of the operators surveys said they were optimistic about their business prospects over the next 12 months, and 90 per cent were confident that their business would survive the recession.

Commercial Motor magazine will be repeating the survey every month for the next 12 months, in order to properly monitor the road haulage industry’s economic recovery.

Daniel Parry, founder of Delivery Quote Compare, says his customers will benefit greatly from the road haulage sector’s economic recovery. He said: “This survey is great news for Delivery Quote Compare customers. The continued recovery of the road haulage industry means operator prices will get competitive, and as always, we will be able to seek out the best of these prices for our customers.”

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