NHTSA unveils new safety ratings; BMW and Hyundai first to get five stars

The 2011 BMW 5-series and the Hyundai Sonata were the first two cars to achieve five-star ratings under NHTSA's revised safety ratings announced on Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will rate a total of 24 cars, 20 SUVs, nine pickups and two vans for the 2011 model year. The federal agency has significantly modified its rating process and will now grade side-pole testing and crash-prevention technologies such as lane-departure warning and electronic stability control.

Dusting off chavs in a 1963 Jaguar Mark II 3.8

The guy in the baseball cap with the gold sticker still on the peak glanced across and registered nothing. The empty sound of 1.6 litres of Citroen’s finest fell impotently out through an exhaust pipe larger than a drain. Content in the thought that he did not need to worry about the old-fashioned chrome laden crock next to him, the lights turned to amber and he drew his elbow in through the window as the glow of blue LEDs emanating from under the sills launched down the road, followed by the un-silenced sound of French chipped distress.

Bid to cut car insurance premiums

THE COMPETITION WATCHDOG is proposing to impose a cap on replacement vehicle costs following motor accidents as part of a clampdown to help cut premiums for all drivers in the £11 billion private motor insurance market. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the cap on charges passed to the insurer of the driver who is at-fault in an accident for the cost of providing a replacement vehicle to the non-fault driver, would "more closely reflect the costs incurred and remove significant inefficiencies". The watchdog has previously found that the "complex chain" of claim costs following an accident collectively inflates premiums by as much as £200 million a year.