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Parking ticket issued every four seconds

UK traffic wardens issued a parking ticket every four seconds last year, dishing out a total of 7.8 million in fines and raking in a whopping £255 million from motorists. The figures, obtained through a series of freedom of information requests by Churchill Insurance, found that Westminster City Council issued the equivalent of more than four Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) per resident in 2013, generating an income of £24 million for 455,000 fines. Parking wardens given ‘illegal’ bonus targets How to appeal a parking ticket Outside London, Cardiff issued the most fines at 57,000 – while North Somerset Council generated the most revenue at £2.25 million.

EU new car CO2 targets pushed back

The European Union’s plans to cap new cars to 95g/km CO2 by 2020 has been delayed, after months of lobbying led by Germany. Instead, the 95g/km target will be introduced a year later in 2021, but with an additional amount of flexibility intended to make the transition easier – especially for luxury carmakers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which generally build bigger, heavier vehicles. Stricter CO2 rules will save drivers cash Top 10 most economical cars The new compromise, agreed on Tuesday (26 November 2013) and set to be presented to EU diplomats on Friday (29 November 2013), changes the rules on ‘supercredits’ – which allow manufacturers claim extra credit for especially low emissions cars, such as all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

2013 Aston Martin DB9 doubles down with vaunted V12

The 2013 Aston Martin DB9 is getting a power boost thanks to parts and pieces from under the hood of the upcoming Vanquish. The updated DB9 borrows some of the engine architecture and hardware from the Vanquish, enabling output from the 5.9-liter V12 to reach 510 hp and 457 lb-ft of torque. Those are considerable increases compared with today's car, which is rated at 470 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque.