This is unusual its an incident where a swarm of bees covered a police car. The policeman was trapped inside as the 50,000 bees covered the car. The policeman had arrived at a truck crash to find it contained 60 boxes of honey bees. He called in a swat team of beekeepers who managed to calm the bees using smoke and collect them.

According to this article the latest model of the Bugatti Veyron has regained the title of the world’s fastest car. The Veyron held the record previously but this was broken in 3007 by the American SSC Ultimate Aero which reached 256mph. The new Veyron Super Sport, however, has recently reached a speed of 268mph to regain the title. The top speed was possible after Bugatti uprated the specifications of the car . It still has an 8.0 litre, 16 cylinder engine but now its four turbochargers have been upgraded and larger intercoolers added and the bodywork has been redesigned with an all carbon shell to reduce the weight.

If you have a spare £17 million burning a hole in your pocket then you might be interested in this yacht. The 122ft state of the art super yacht comes with a free super car. The yacht has a plush Art Deco interior with four large double rooms, a reception area and salon. It has 52 inch LED TVs and state of the art sounds systems in every room. The ship has a top speed of 43 knots and the supercar can reach speeds of 233mph. The yacht has its own garage located at the stern of the ship so you can park the car on board. If you want one you will have to be quick as only six models will be made.

This was the outcome after an incident in Berkshire when a bus driver went under a low bridge. Luckily the driver had just dropped off the bus load of school children he was carrying and was in the bus on his own at the time. It seems the driver who usually drives a smaller bus simply forgot he was driving a double decker. Instead he now has an open top bus.

According to this article a rise in potholes left by the cold winter have led to a windscreen shortage. It seems that the amount of loose gravel around has meant a huge rise in the amount of motorists needing replacement windows. The extra demand has led to repair companies struggling to cope with the need for replacement windows. Autoglass have recently taken on an extra 200 staff to help cope with the situation and there have been reports of delays of up to a month from manufacturers who cannot produce windscreens fast enough. The article highlights one company Auto Windscreens of Chesterfield which has increased production by 40% to supply 600 windscreens a day. It has seen an increase from 8,500 repairs a month to 12,000 in January. It seems there are some winners from the cold winter then.

I have recently purchased a newer car as my 20 year old Ford Fiesta has finally got to the point where it won’t get through the MOT. Prior to purchasing my new car I checked insurance rates on a couple of comparison websites and once I had finished comparing meerkats at  www.comparethemeerkat.com I checked the rate with my then current insurer Budget through their website. Having looked at the car insurance premiums and found that there was not much different between them, I decided I would stick with Budget to save myself the hassle of moving my insurance to another company. All of the insurance companies had quoted in the region of £300 for the year with a similar excess and a second named driver, a cost which seemed fairly reasonable.

At this point I called Budget to let them know I had just purchased a newer car and wished to cancel the insurance on the old one and transfer it to my new vehicle. Budget now quoted me a much higher total premium of nearly £800 for the year. The reason being that as an existing loyal customer of nearly 11 years I was not able to enjoy the rate quoted on their website. This website quote of £300 was only available to new customers only and not existing ones. A good case of brand new customers only. My initial reaction was that I would cancel the existing policy and then return as a new customer to take up the “new customer” rate. Apparently I am not able to do this, as I already have a policy number so would be prevented from taking out a new policy.

At this point I was left with two options, stay with Budget and pay a highly inflated £800 a year premium simply because I am an existing customer or pay a cancellation fee for my old policy and move to another insurer. Even taking into account the cancellation fee for the old insurance I would still be £400 a year better off by moving to another insurer so it seemed the best option was to tell Budget what they could do with their insurance. I can see my custom over the last decade has obviously been highly valued and I certainly won’t be using them again.

Learning to drive is not always easy but this was the scene after one unlucky driver's second driving lesson. In what has been called a freak accident the driver managed to hit a fence post which flipped the instructors car on its roof. Luckily no one was hurt and the driver in question is now looking to book her next lesson.

A lucky duck has survived a 500 mile journey trapped in the radiator grill of a van. The driver of the van hit a pair of ducks on a country road in Belgium. It was only when he stopped to inspect the damage at a service station on the M1 that he found one of the ducks was still trapped inside. The duck suffered a broken wing but it is thought he will make a full recovery.

Lord Adonis has suggested that the drink drive limit should be lowered in England and Wales. The Government is currently waiting on the results of a report on whether the current limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood should be cut to 50. This could mean that motorists will be over the limit if they drink just one pint of beer and would be the first change to drink drive laws since the introduction of the breathalyser in 1967. It is also thought that there will be lower limit of just 20 milligrams for novice drivers, lorry drivers and bus drivers as well as tightened laws on driving under the influence of narcotics. The changes are likely to come into place only if Labour stay in power as the Conservatives would leave the limit unchanged.

This green Ferrari has recently been unveiled. It is more than just green in colour, however, the vehicle is an electric hybrid. The Ferrari 599 has a top speed of 200mph and aims to cut pollution and fuel consumption. It runs on a zero emission electric motor which backs up a 6.0 litre petrol engine.

From January 2011 drivers will be able to claim up to £5,000 to buy an ultra low carbon car. The grant will be available to both private and business fleet buyers and provides 25% towards the cost of a new car capped at  £5,000. To be eligible for the scheme cars will have to pass performance criteria to ensure safety, range and ultra low tailpipe emissions.

This is unusual, its artwork created on dirty cars. The work is done by artist Scott Wade who creates these impressive pictures simply out of the dirt on car windows. They range from more traditional pieces based on famous works of art like this Mona Lisa he created in the back of a mini to more unusual works like the one below of a family inside a car.

This little guy managed to survive a seven hour long 70mph journey attached to the front of a BMW. Mervyn Draper had swerved to avoid a hedgehog and noticed another creature by the road but had assumed he had missed it. The following morning he found the rather angry stoat wedged through the grille of his car. The stoat was later removed unharmed and is now recovering in a wildlife hospital.

This article which states texting whilst driving increases your risk of crashing by up to 23 times came as no surprise. What did surprise me, however, was that it took a team of experts to figure this out. It goes without saying that if you are looking at your phone to send a text message then you are not looking where you should be whilst driving your car, at the road. Its beyond me why someone would think they are in control of their vehicle when they are texting their friends. On the same subject there is a story here about a truck driver who crashed into a car and ended up in a swimming pool (pictured). The reason? He was texting on his mobile phone whilst talking on another phone. When will people learn?

If you fancy driving something a little unusual, then you might be interested in purchasing this van. It is one of the six yellow Reliants which was used in the filming of Only Fools and Horses. The van is for sale on autotrader for £6,995 and it comes with a sheepskin coat, a flat cap, a market keepers suitcase and a bottle of Peckham spring water.

This is interesting its an idea for laser guided cars that do all the driving for you. The cars would allow the driver to do something else whilst still being behind the wheel meaning you could sleep, read or perhaps catch up on some work. They would work using sensors and wireless technology which would lock the cars together in a convoy with each vehicle following the one ahead. The car at the very front would be manned by a professional driver and all the other cars would simply follow. Drivers would pay a subscription for the service and would need to book ahead in order to secure a place in the convoy. They would then join the end of the convoy at the allotted time via a slip road and when they choose to leave their car would be guided off onto their chosen slip road. I’m not sure I fancy it, it seems to bring back memories off getting stuck behind a tractor for some strange reason.

When the governments scrappage scheme was launched I was sceptical about how successful it would be. Whilst it has not persuaded me to purchase a new car it does appear to have met with some success. The scheme gives motorists £2,000 towards a new car if they trade in a vehicle over ten years old. According to this article more than 35,000 new cars have been ordered through the scheme since it was launched in April. However, only around 7,000 of these vehicles are likely to have been brought in British factories so its hard to gauge whether the scheme has had the intended impact. The rapid take up of the scheme does also mean that more than a tenth of the total £300m subsidy has already been used up, so if you want to trade in your old banger you better be quick, it is estimated all the funds will have been allocated by the end of the year.

This is an interesting idea, its a computer that could make it impossible for drivers to exceed the speed limit. It works by pinpointing the vehicles location by satellite and accessing a database detailing the roads speeds limit to determine how fast the vehicle should be travelling. The device then limits the cars speed to prevent it going any faster than the speed limit. If the vehicle should leave a 40pmh zone and drive into a 30mph zone the device is able to compensate for this and will gradually slow the car down until it is within the speed limit. The device will be trialled in the summer by TFL when a fleet of cars, buses and black cabs will be fitted with it. TFL believe that it could potentially cut accidents by around 10 per cent. It will be interesting to see how the trial goes.

This is interesting its the world’s smallest car. It has been constructed by a Perry Watkins who made it out of a car from a Postman Pat children’s ride. The car measures just 39 inches high by 26 inches wide making it the smallest car ever built. It has a 150cc engine and includes mirrors, windscreen wipers, washers, lights and indicators. Surprisingly the car is taxed and is fully legal to drive on the road.

Since I heard that the government was introducing a scrappage scheme to encourage people to trade in their old cars for a newer model I have watching with interest. My car has now reached the 20 year old mark and its a miracle every year when it gets through the MOT. I would happily trade my car in a for a newer one, the only thing that is really stopping me is that I simply cannot afford to get a new car. I was hoping that the government scheme might give me an extra little bit of help to be able to purchase something a little newer, perhaps a car that is only five years old rather than twenty. It appears, however, that the scheme only allows you purchase a car that is less than a year old. I have been looking around at the prices of new cars and even if I were to purchase one with finance it is simply too expensive. I don’t want a particularly big car perhaps a Ford Fiesta or similar but prices of these start at around £12,295. It looks as though my car will be on the road for some time yet whilst I continue saving for a newer one.

I took my car for its MOT yesterday and was pleasantly surprised when once again it sailed through with no problems. I have had the G registration Ford Fiesta for ten years now and at 20 years old I expect every year to be its last. I was slightly offended by the guy at the MOT testing station who said to me “I recognised your car from last year and realised it probably wasn’t as bad as it looks”  and I must admit the comment made me wonder if perhaps it might be time to buy a new car. Saying that having just paid for a years MOT, perhaps I should get my moneys worth first and look for a newer car this time next year.

I have come across a lot of stories about how peoples blind reliance on their sat nav systems has led them into danger. This latest article highlights the case of a man who drove down a narrow footpath in Todmorden after his sat nav device told him it was a road. He only stopped when his car hit a fence and his BMW ended up perched on the side of a hill. The driver of the car has now been charged with driving without due care and attention. This once again shows that sat nav devices only really work if the person driving the car takes account of their surroundings rather than blindly following the instructions. Personally I hate using our sat nav device because it has taken me around some very scenic routes, I always plot my route on a map before setting out, my husband on the other hand swears by the sat nav.

This is cool its the Terrafugia Transition a car that flies. The car works like a conventional car but has the added bonus of being able to fly with the help of some fold away wings. It runs on unleaded petrol and can fly 400 miles on a single tank of gas. It does look a little odd and at £139,000 its certainly not cheap but I think there are times we have all wished we had a flying car.

This is the world's fastest production electric motorbike. It is produced by a Californian company Mission Motors and is considerably quicker than other models already on the market. It can reach a top speed of 150mph and can run for around 150 miles before it needs charging. It is likely to go on sale for $68,995 (£47,100) with a cheaper model being announced in the summer.

A South Korean grandmother has taken the written driving test a total of 771 times and has failed on each occasion. She has been taking the test since April 2005 and consistently scores between 30 and 50 marks, however, she needs 60 out of 100 in order to pass. She has so far spent more than four million wong (about £2,000) but is not to put off and will be back for another attempt. I admire her persistence, I think I would have given up by now.

This is quite cool its the world's fastest electric car. Created by Shelby Supercars the Ultimate Aero EV can reach speeds of 208mph and can accelerate to 60mph in 2.5 seconds. It is possible to charge the cars batteries in just 10 minutes from the mains, the car then has a range of between 150 and 200 miles before it needs recharging.

If you like me have an ancient car then you might find this idea interesting. Under plans suggested by the EU Industry Commissioner car owners could be paid £1000 in order to scrap their old car in favour of a greener model. The scheme would be targeted at people who have a car that is at least ten years old. My beast certainly qualifies, it will 20 years this year. It still goes quite well for an old car, although I dread the MOT every April thinking it might be its last. £1000 would go someway towards me getting something a bit newer, so it will be worth watching to see if this idea comes to anything.

I think its quite easy to perform a three point turn but as this article shows some people can get it very wrong. One lady managed to put her car on top of her neighbours car when instead of hitting the break she hit the accelerator. It requires no further explanation you can see the results in the picture.

This article suggests that older drivers are more likely to be caught by speed cameras. In fact figures show that older drivers are six times more likely to be fined for a speeding offence than they were ten tears ago and that the number of older drivers fined outnumbers young offenders by almost three times. A study which was commissioned by the Department of Transport looked at the age of offenders in two periods between 1997 and 1999 and 2003 and 2005. It found that younger motorists appear to have adapted better to speed cameras whilst the number of men aged over 60 receiving penalty points soared by 540%. In contrast, the number of drivers under 25 being caught for speeding grew by just 18 per cent in the past 10 years.

A man who built a home made Lamborghini in his basement had to perform substantial work on his house to get it out of the basement. He had built the car over a total of seven years but it appears that it not occurred to him how he was going to get it out of the basement which did not have a door. He ended up hiring an excavator to gouge out a slope in his garden and then dig into the foundations of his house. The car was then hooked up to the excavator and pulled out. The basement was later rebuilt and Mr Imhoff has no regrets about the drastic measures needed to get the car out into the open.

This is interesting, it suggests that ants are far better at managing traffic congestion than humans. They are able to move around their colony very efficiently and never get caught up in queues. In a study an "ant motorway" was set up with two routes of different widths. The ants used the routes to get from the nest to some sugar syrup. After a while the narrow route started to get congested. Researchers found that if an ant returning along a congested route collided with another ant just starting out it would push the new ant onto another less congested path. However, if the ant had experienced a trouble free journey it would not redirect the new ant and would carry on as normal. The result was that before the shortest route to the syrup became clogged the ants were diverted to a new rout meaning traffic jams never formed. Interesting, now how to do this with cars.

If you have a bit of spare cash and want a new car, then you might want to check out this special offer. Some car dealers are offering buy one get one free in order to try and make a sale. This article highlights on example where you can purchase a Dodge Avenger for £20,000 and get a second car free. I do need a new car but unfortunately don't have £20,000 to spend on it.

This is an interesting idea, its a parental control system for cars called MyKey. The idea is that parents will able to set limits such as adding a top speed that should not be exceeded and setting how the loud the stereo can go. Ford will introduce the controls on some US makes of car that will be go on sale in 2010. The Ford Focus will be the first car to include the MyKey system but it is likely to become a standard feature. The main feature of the system is that you can set the top speed of the car to 80mph. It also has other options such as setting a volume limit of the car stereo, making the car sound an alert if the passengers do not wear a seatbelt and setting warning tones if the car goes faster than 45, 55 or 65mph. The system is aimed at new drivers but I do wonder how many new drivers can afford a brand new car. The cars I had when I started driving struggled to go more than 80mph downhill with a following wind. In fact my current car would probably need a push.

This mobile phone built by Japanese firm Sharp Corp will allow people to unlock the door of their car and start their engine without using an ignition key. Cars equipped with the system will be able to sense when the correct key is nearby and will allow the engine to be unlocked. They will also allow the engine to be started once the device is inside the car. Nissan has shipped a million cars with the technology in Japan since 2002.

This is the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car that can reach speeds of 125mph. The car is powered by an 185kw electric motor and batteries in its boot. Despite being virtually silent it is meant to provide the performance you would expect from a sports car. The car takes 3 hours to charge and can manage 220 miles on each charge. It costs £92,000 and I think its quite sexy for an electric car.

This article suggests that the Government will soon trial a pay as as you go road tax system. In several pilot projects cars will be fitted with dashboard mounted black boxes which can be tracked by satellite. Motorists will be invited to take part in the scheme and they will receive a weekly or monthly bill based on where and when they drove. Its an interesting idea and whilst I can see it is likely to be unpopular with people that use their car a lot, for me I think it would save me money. I tend to use my car once or twice a month and pay my road tax every year to have my car sitting in the driveway 90% of the time. That said, a car is still necessary for trips to the vet and to the recycling centre, so giving up the car is not option, it would be nice if I only paid tax based on how often I actually drive it.

Sat Nav devices can be useful but only if they are used in conjunction with road signs and a little common sense. Without this they can also be a disaster. One driver who was meant to be delivering cars from Turkey to Gibraltar ended up in a lane in Skegness after his sat nav device directed him towards a nature reserve called Gibraltar point. Of course the blame cannot be put solely on the sat nav device, presumably the driver is at fault for programming completely the wrong destination into it in the first place. And just for fun, here is a map showing the distance between the two destinations.

The transport secretary Ruth Kelly has set out plans for pay as you go lanes on motorways. Under the scheme motorists would pay around £5 a time to use the lanes which would allow them to bypass motorway jams. On some motorways widening schemes would be put in place to create an extra lane but others would make use of the existing hard shoulder. Whilst the idea is interesting I'm not entirely sure using the hard shoulder is a good idea. Personally I thought that it was kept clear to allow breakdown and rescue services to quickly reach an accident, and to give motorists somewhere to stop if in trouble. A few years back I had a problem with my car when driving in the fast lane of the motorway. My car suddenly lost all power and I had to pull across all three lanes of traffic onto the hard shoulder where the car ground to a halt. Needless to say I was shaken but very relieved that the motorway was not busy and that there was somewhere for me to stop. I wonder what would have happened if that option was not available.

It still amazes me how many people continue to use their mobile phone whilst driving and I wonder whether they are aware that if they get caught they could end up with points on their driving license. Under new rules drivers could also face two years in jail if they kill someone whilst using their mobile phone at the wheel. Those who read or send text messages whilst driving are also likely to get between four and seven years in jail. I wonder whether this will have an effect on people who routinely do this, I'm guessing for most the message won't get through until they actually kill someone.

A koala survived after being hit by a car and dragged several miles before getting stuck in the cars front grill. He was late found with his head stuck in the grill and was taken to a wildlife hospital in Queensland. He was not found to have any serious injuries and has been named Lucky.

A lady has passed her driving test after 27 years of tuition. Teresa Clarke started learning to drive in 1981. Since then she has spent £15,000 on 450 hours of tuition with 20 different driving instructors and has failed 12 tests. She eventually passed after taking a two week intensive course. I thought my husband had been learning to drive for a long time, so far he has been learning for 10 years. Perhaps this article will make him try a little harder.

According to this article the demand for used fuel efficient cars is up as people in the US try to cut their fuel costs. Apparently prices of used hybrids and fuel efficient small cars have risen considerably within the last six months with cars that were cheaper last year no selling at a premium. The most fuel efficient vehicle currently on the market is the 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid and because Toyota have capped production of the 2008 model you would expect to pay 9% more or an extra for one of these. I wonder whether we will see something similar happening in the UK. I have been considering upgrading my very old G Reg (1990) Fiesta but when I realised just how many miles it does on one tank of fuel I thought I would hang onto it for a bit longer. 

This is BMW's latest concept car and surprisingly it is made of cloth. The cars skin is made of an expansion resistant textile which stretches across movable metal wires controlled by hydraulics. The car is more flexible than a car with a metal skin and it is able to change shape at a touch of a button to suit the owners mood.

A government alcohol abuse expert has been banned from driving after being caught drink driving not once but twice. He was fined £1,500 for the two offences he committed in August and December 2006. It makes me wonder what hope there is for the rest of the population if the very experts put in place to make a difference break the laws themselves.

This is what happened when a learner bus driver went under a low bridge. The top deck of the bus was ripped off and left in the road making it an open top bus. No one was injured in the accident but the road was sealed off for an hour whilst a recovery firm took the bus away.