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Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

Do Traffic Lights Hold The Key To Saving Fuel?

SUPERMARKET fuel price cuts may come and go, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to achieve longer lasting savings. German car maker Audi thinks it may have the answer, as it’s developed a system that ‘talks’ to traffic lights. The goal is to save fuel by alerting drivers to when lights change so they can slow down, plus prime a car’s engine stop-start system when a change from red to green is imminent.

VIDEO: Porsche Panamera

Porsche revealed the first images of its new four-door, four-seat super sedan last week, and now we've got two new videos to supplement our updated gallery. The video on the left is stock footage, while the car is put through its paces on a winding road perched high in the mountains in the video on the right. See below for our previous news articles on the Panamera and our 23 image gallery.