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Insurance interest costs motorists millions

BRITISH drivers are paying £682 million more than they should be for their car insurance by paying monthly. Most insurers charge a high rate of interest for the privilege of spreading payments out over the year, with the average pay-monthly customer hit by an additional £88. Almost a third of people (31%) pay their car insurance by monthly direct debit, market research from Consumer Intelligence has discovered.

Mind-powered ‘Emotiv’ car safety system tested

c Mind-controlled car (c) Getty-Ford ‘Neuroengineering’ company Emotiv has created a ‘mind-powered’ headset that can detect when a driver is distracted and automatically slow down the car, in an effort to improve safety. The Australian firm has already brought its most recent mind-controlled device to market – the Epoc headset. It’s this high-tech brain activity monitor that has now been adapted to determine how hard a driver is concentrating on the road ahead.

Obama calls for shared sacrifice in auto bailout

President-elect Barack Obama says he wants to keep tough conditions on automakers that get federal loans. The companies must develop sustainable business models because it would be unacceptable "to keep them on their lifeline through taxpayer dollars in perpetuity," Obama told The Washington Post. Obama said industry restructuring will require "everybody, from labor to management to creditors to shareholders, giving something up." His comments contradict suggestions that the new administration will relax federal loan agreements reached last month with General Motors and Chrysler LLC, possibly with softer demands on the UAW.