Showing posts with label driving instructors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label driving instructors. Show all posts

Wednesday, 4 September 2024

 Fire chiefs warn of growing risk of e-bike ‘explosions’

www.afzal-driving-lessons.co.uk
 

A total of 149 fires caused by exploding e-bike batteries were recorded by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in 2023, an increase of 71pc from 2022.

Three people died as a result of the incidents while around 60 people were injured.

And at least a further 40 e-bike fires have been recorded so far this year.

The fires are typically triggered when the lithium battery of an e-bike becomes damaged or is charged using the wrong equipment, said Charlie Pugsley, the London Fire Brigade’s deputy commissioner.

He said: “Growing e-bike ownership is a good thing if they help people get around and it supports our climate objectives.

“But what really worries us is the speed and severity of these battery fires when they break out.

In December last year, the LFB revealed how a mother and son were forced to jump from the first-floor windows of their home in Ilford, east London, after an e-bike that had been left charging overnight burst into flames indoor. Both survived but had to be treated in hospital, while large sections of the house’s first floor and roof were destroyed.

The amount of energy packed into lithium batteries makes them particularly dangerous when they explode, leading to fierce flames and billowing smoke that fills the area within seconds, Mr Pugsley said.

The LFB is now advising households not to charge e-bikes when they are sleeping, to avoid placing them next to exits or stairways that could block escape routes and to always use the correct charger, among other things. Households have been advised to store them outside or in outbuildings, where possible.

Mr Pugsley raised concerns about growing spread of illegal e-bikes with more powerful motors and batteries, as well as DIY conversion kits that can lead people to charge batteries with the wrong charger.

Despite the legal limit for e-bikes being 250 watts of power, a string of models with capacities of up to 2,000 watts are openly sold online, described as “road legal”. In UK speed limit for electric bikes is 15.5mph, this means that the motor's assistance must stop when bike reaches this speed.

“In the vast majority of cases, it is not the fault of the consumer because they have bought the bikes in good faith.

“But obviously for those who buy the motorbike-style ones that is a deliberate choice.”

He added that proposals recently set out by the Government to increase the legal limit of e-bike power to 500 watts should not go ahead until more research had been done around the safety implications of such a move.

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Cost of driving lessons and insurance blamed for drop in young learners

The percentage of 17-20-year-olds with a provisional driving licence has fallen from 43% to 36% in recent years
Getting behind the wheel is no longer such an attraction for young people  in Britain. Applying for a provisional driving licence was once a rite of passage, but since the 1990s boom there has been a big dip in the number of young learners.
While many younger drivers share their parents' car, the costs of learning, and insuring a car for a teenage driver, are blamed for the decline. The percentage of 17-20-year-olds with a provisional licence has fallen from 43% to 36% in recent years – with little more than 30% of girls in the age group now learning to drive. In the 1995-97 peak years more than half of males aged 17-20 were on the road.
According to the most recent National Travel Survey, young people are mainly put off by the prohibitive cost of lessons, followed by soaring insurance premiums and the cost of purchasing a car and keeping it on the road.
Beyond costs, some speculate that the use of mobile phones has made young people more content to travel as passengers on public transport, where they can stay online through the journey.

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Smoking in cars carrying children is set to be banned



Smoking in cars  by driver or paggengers, carrying children is set to be banned after MPs overwhelmingly backed the plan in a free vote.
Shadow public health minister hails great victory for child health after vote which divided Conservative backbenchers
The House of Commons supported the plan, first put forward by Labour despite the misgivings of some cabinet members, including Nick Clegg over whether it will be too difficult to police.
Under the proposal the government will now have powers to introduce a new offence of exposing children to smoke in vehicles, with breaches of the law likely to incur a small fine.
David Cameron, who missed the vote, gave his personal backing to the idea, despite the government saying last week there was no need for the legislation.