News

A new type of umbrella that you wear over your head claims to protect a cyclist’s head, face and shoulders from rain, wind, snow and extreme cold. The Nubrella costs £40 and uses a patented shoulder strap to allow it to be used hands-free. It bears a passing resemblance to the helmet worn by the character Buzz Lightyear in the animated...

The discrepancy in performance between new buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles, which are limited to 56mph by speed limiters, and older vehicles, which are able to drive at 70mph, has prompted the Department for Transport to call for a change to the law. As well as being able to travel at higher speeds, older , coaches and heavy goods...

A new electric vehicle that is to be sold without bodywork, seats or even a steering wheel promises motorists a choice of design and performance as diverse and easily available as an iPhone application. Trexa says its ‘low-profile enclosed design’ lends itself to unlimited design possibilities – customers will be able to specify their exact...

The 10,000 bicycles reported stolen to the police each month represent only a fraction of the number that go missing, according to the Environmental Transport Association (ETA). The latest quarterly crime figures have revealed that despite an overall decrease in reported crime, cycle theft is up by 7 per cent – a figure that equates to...

A cycle lane that takes a direct route and is never blocked by parked cars or rendered impassable by rubbish or broken glass may be no more than a dream for many British cyclists, but a radical new design by architect, Martin Angelov, is far more ambitious. Kolelinia – a contraction of the Bulgarian words for ‘bike and ‘line’ – is a design...

Average speed cameras may be the single most effective way of encouraging motorists to keep to the speed limit, but a scheme that should be improving conditions for cyclists on a stretch of the A13 in east London appears to be putting them at greater risk. A number of gantries that carry average speed cameras have been placed in the middle...

Prospective cars buyers are struggling to find out how much CO2 new cars produce when they browse manufacturer websites, according to a report published today. The research found that only half of 363 attempts to find the official CO2 value for a particular car were successful. Manufacturers of lower carbon cars appeared to be no more...

The Tajima Motors EV Mini Sport looks like no other bicycle on the road, but the single-seat, mid-engined electric vehicle is classed as a motorised cycle in Japan because its motor is rated at 0.59kW. Good handling, modest speed The EV Mini Sport may look like a racing car but despite impressive handling its top speed is a modest 47mph. A...

Even before the credit crunch became a recession, car buyers had begun to gravitate towards smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient models. This month at the Detroit Motor Show, small cars were the focus of media attention – eclipsing for the first time interest in SUVs and sports cars. Buying habits are already changing. Last year in...

Automated multi-storey bicycle parks of the kind found in Tokyo could prove the key to expanding the forthcoming London cycle hire scheme if it is ever to serve railway commuters. The transport chiefs behind the 6,000-bike, pay-as-you-go hire scheme are not planning make the bikes available outside railway stations because they are...