Tag: government

Report: Circuit of Wales gets key go-ahead vote by local government

Filed under: Motorsports, Europe, Government/Legal, UK

Circuit of Wales proposal

A development company called Heads of the Valleys, led by Michael Carrick, is working through the steps to build a 250-million-pound ($378M US) motorsports facility in Blaenau Gwent, Wales, about 33 miles due north of Cardiff. After more than a year of work so far, the latest success is that the Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has given approval to the outline plan of the circuit.

Called the Circuit of Wales, the 830-acre site will be a “low carbon automotive center of excellence” that will comprise a 3.5-mile car track, motocross, karting and off-roading tracks, hotel and commercial and retail complexes. To fulfill the low-carbon bit, the facilities will also include an R&D park for entities exploring “the boundaries in environmental technology and energy solutions.”

The plan is ultimately to host World Touring Car, MotoGP, World Superbikes and World Motocross. All of the facilities will be available to locals, a motorsports academy will assist new talent, and Welsh universities are expected to be able to tie their expertise in with the stakeholders in the technology park. The next step is for Heads of the Valleys to draw up and get approval for the detailed plan of the circuit.

Circuit of Wales gets key go-ahead vote by local government originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 13 Jul 2013 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Circuit of Wales gets key go-ahead vote by local government”

Report: Lotus unable to secure local government money

Filed under: Coupe, Government/Legal, Lincoln

lotus esprit concept

Lotus Esprit Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

When Lotus ushered out a plethora of new concept vehicles at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, we were more than a bit surprised. Sure, many of the designs had no chance of making it to production, but even a new Elan or Esprit would cost the boutique automaker millions to build – money Lotus simply doesn’t have.

Auto Express reports that the English Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has turned down the automaker’s application for a £27.5 million loan ($50 million U.S.). The money was reportedly sought in order to build a new plant in Hethel, Norfolk, that would have produced some of new models while also employing another 1,200 Brits. The BIS turned down Lotus in spite of the fact that the government body had already approved £450 million in loans to automakers like Jaguar and General Motors.

The automaker is no doubt disappointed with the decision not to allow the loan, but Team Lotus isn’t going down without a fight. Lotus released a statement saying that the automaker was exploring all options, adding that a next step could be “submitting an updated bid for round two of the RGF (government loan), which is set to close on July 1.”

What does this latest setback mean to Lotus? We’re not privy to the automaker’s financial statements, but we’re guessing Lotus really needs this money to build any and all of its new products. If it doesn’t get the proper financing, we’re thinking that there may not be any new Lotus models anytime soon.

Gallery: Paris 2010: Lotus Esprit Concept

[Source: Auto Express]

Report: Lotus unable to secure local government money originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Lotus unable to secure local government money”

How government safety standards for car seats fail large children

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

Every parent does his or her best to keep their children safe. Car seats are a big part of that equation, and snapping our little cherubs into a five-point harness makes us feel like we’ve done our very best to care for our precious offspring. But are we really?

If you assume there’s strict federal federal standards for child safety and booster seats to conform to, you might be surprised at just how little oversight there actually is. In fact, kids weighing more than 65 pounds – which means younger and younger kids as childhood obesity rates ratchet up – sit on boosters with no government safety standards. Seats for younger young’uns are only held to a front-end collision standard. The physics of a car crash act in different ways on the bodies of children than they do on their full-grown counterparts – kids are not simply scaled-down adults.

According to The Washington Post, part of the problem is that a crash-test dummy that mimics a child’s physiology is far behind schedule. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was supposed to have a dummy ready by 2004 to simulate a 10-year-old, as part of Anton’s Law, a bit of legislation that went into effect in 2002. That dummy is still not right, and that leaves child seat manufacturers to self-regulate their products and to recall reactively when problems crop up, instead of conforming to guidelines that protect all children in front, side, rear-end and rollover accidents.

[Source: The Washington Post | Image: U.S. Department of Transportation via CC 2.0]

How government safety standards for car seats fail large children originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “How government safety standards for car seats fail large children”

Government seen backing graduated drivers licenses

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

McLovinGetting your driver’s license can be a tremendous event. It signifies a new-found level of freedom and a chance to go out and explore more of the surrounding world. The privilege of being licensed to drive a car is a wonderful thing, yet not everyone thinks of it that way. A teenager with a learner’s permit is eager to make the jump to a full license – even if they might not be totally ready to carry that piece of plastic in their wallet or purse. A bill introduced in the spring of 2009 would make the learning process a bit longer by mandating graduated license programs.

Backed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a graduated license program would require a driver to go through three stages of licensing: learner’s permit, intermediate license and full driver’s license. The bill also proposes that the legal age to obtain a learner’s permit be set at 16, as well as no unsupervised night driving until the driver is 18 years old. All states currently have some form of a graduated program in place, with the exception of North Dakota. This bill would help create harmony amongst the states with regards to age and term limits as some states are more lax than others.

For example, the state of Michigan allows drivers to begin the learner’s permit process at just 14 years and eight months of age. Michigan drivers can then graduate to a full license by the age of 17. Is that too young? Perhaps, but it’s hard to lump every 17 year old driver into one “you’re-too-young-to-know-anything” driving group. Statistics do show that teenage drivers have higher crash rates compared to their older peers.

Perhaps a few more years in a better-thought-out licensing program can help bring that number down?

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: eBaum’s World]

Continue reading Government seen backing graduated drivers licenses

Government seen backing graduated drivers licenses originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Government seen backing graduated drivers licenses”