Leasedrive Velo Blog

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

Recently I came across a great pioneering initiative in the States, which I hope will be introduced over here. Ford Motor Company launched last year MyKey to encourage safer and more environmentally-friendly driving among teenagers. I’m sure the technology has even wider applications, which could have a positive impact on fleet management.

What worries most parents when lending their car to a teenage offspring is that they will drive too fast, corner too quickly and probably play the in-car entertainment too loudly. All of these, and more, can to a degree be controlled via MyKey.

Parents simply programme their spare car key via an online message centre so that they have greater peace of mind when lending their car to their teenage son or daughter. Settings that they can make include limiting top speed to 80mph, programming speed alert chimes at 45, 55 or 65mph, ensuring traction control is always on, setting maximum in-car entertainment volumes to 44 per cent of maximum and earlier low-fuel warning, raised from 50 to 75 miles. And to ensure that they always wear their seat belts, the warning chime can be set to ring constantly and the in-car entertainment set to mute default until the seat belt is worn. There’s even a warning display – “Buckle Up to Unmute Radio”!

According to Ford, 75 per cent of parents like the speed-limiting feature, 72 per cent the persistent seat belt reminder and 63 per cent the audio volume limit feature. About half of parents would actually let their teenage offspring use their car more as a result of the MyKey features.

In the same survey conducted for Ford by a Harris Interactive Survey, 67 per cent of teenagers were initially against the features but when advised it would lead to more time behind the wheel only 36 per cent were against the technology.

Any system that promotes safer driving, encourages the wearing of seat belts and reduces in-car distractions has to be worthwhile in my book. And just consider the wider applications for fleet management. Such technology, sensibly applied as part of a company car fleet policy, could help meet duty of care responsibilities and enhance an organisation’s corporate social responsibility standing.

I would love to hear from anyone at Ford what their plans are for MyKey in the UK and European market.

See more on MyKey and other new technologies in the next issue of BusinessCar, published on 1 June.

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

So we got a hung Parliament after all, as predicted, and the first coalition Government since the Second World War. Who would have thought that we would have ended up with a Conservative/Liberal Democrat pact? The events of the past five days have been quite unprecedented with Nick Clegg very much the kingmaker. And what a kingmaker! After five days of talks, political U turns, he ends up with five LibDems in Cabinet and himself appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Definitely someone with political nous! So the parties that finished first and third will govern for the next five years while the runner-up Labour Party goes away to lick its wounds and appoint a new leader.

What can we make of all of this? Well, on first impressions, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats seem to be making all the right noises. New Prime Minister, the youngest at 43 since 1812, David Cameron has talked of collective responsibility and difficult decisions ahead. No illusions there then!

The country has watched in mild bemusement at the comings and goings in Whitehall wondering first whether a Conservative/LibDem pact was possible, then working out all the consequences to the nation of a rainbow Government only to go back to square one and assimilate a Liberal Democrat coup in gaining a stronger foothold in Government.

As all parties agree, difficult times are ahead. A fixed term Government of five years is a sensible move, avoiding the potential short-term opportunism so favoured by the City. Government, of whatever hue, is in for a fixed long-term period, subject to Constitutional change.

Major appointments have been confirmed – George Osborne as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Teresa May as Home Secretary and William Hague as Foreign Secretary.

The first is most likely to impact our sector. The youngest Chancellor for 125 years has the toughest of all jobs on his hands. The City would have preferred more experienced hands at the wheel than an unproven 38-year-old. Ken Clarke’s name had been bandied around but he is Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. The nation’s financial favourite, who warned of the crash and produced a best-selling book on the financial crisis, Vince Cable, will have the remit of Business Secretary. At least he will be pushing hard for the banks to lend more, stimulating business in general. How the young Turk and wise owl will get on is anyone’s guess but subtle guidance behind the scenes can be no bad thing if only to keep things in check and on the right course.

What we do know from the formal coalition is that the new Government will proceed with the Conservatives planned public expenditure cuts of £6bn this tax year. Counter to the Liberal Democrats stance, and the Labour Party’s even stronger position on the matter, this move could risk jeopardizing the fragile recovery but the financial institutions are looking for tough moves now.

Chris Huhne is the new Climate Change and Environment Secretary, a welcome appointment as the Liberal Democrats demonstrated themselves greener than the Tories in their election manifesto. Climate change is a key issue for this country, this Government and our own sector. A continuation of the CO2 -based taxation regime is expected and worthy. And both parties are backing the high speed rail network link and an electric and plug-in hybrid national recharging network.

New Transport Secretary Philip Hammond needs to grasp the problem once and for all. We need Government to have a vision for the future. A fully integrated transport policy is the minimum we should expect.

For the moment, we have a ‘Politicians’ Parliament’ not a ‘People’s Parliament’. It’s something we are going to have to get used to, at least for the next four years. The referendum on the alternative vote will dictate whether we like the new style of coalition Government. Liberal Democrats take heed. How you behave over the coming five years will determine your long-term political future. And let’s hope the right wing Tories toe the line too. A lot is at stake and, as Cameron states, we have a collective responsibility.

Roddy Graham, Commercial Director

By the time you read this you will have cast your vote. So will I although, before you come to any conclusions as to my political persuasion, I have voted for different colours in the past and I always vote with due diligence. I download and read the manifestos and take my voting right extremely seriously. It seems more of the country is doing so too, perhaps stimulated by the new TV debates. However, my disgust of most MPs remains. As far as I’m concerned they are as bad as each other. A hung Parliament? That would suit me fine but there are probably not enough lamp-posts in Parliament Square!

My cynicism for most MPs should come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog. After all, I long ago jumped on the anti-sleaze bandwagon and exposed the expensesgate scandal for what it was, a scandal.

Interestingly, in the run up to this election, we have seen a few changes – live television debates, a swing to the LibDems. We’ve also witnessed a few howlers – Gordon Brown ‘off-camera’ but ‘on mike’ labelling Rochdale lifetime Labour voter, Gillian Duffy, “a bigot” and David Cameron throwing away what seemed an insurmountable lead just a few months ago. It was the Tories to lose and, if you read this late, it might turn out to be the case. For the moment, as I write this, all bets are off. There are apparently, according to polls, 38 per cent of voters still undecided. Does that mean they are thinking of voting with their brain or their heart?

What I can tell you, whether you are red, blue, orange, green or a hue in between, is that we haven’t seen much debate on the environment, even as some distant volcano continues to spew its volcanic ash into our air space, threatening our economic revival. Eighty per cent of the travel industry was affected by the airport shutdown last time around. Bets must be on on a few air carriers going under if that is repeated on a regular basis. You would have thought dark clouds on the northern horizon would have prompted debate on pollution closer to home!

More importantly, from a fleet management perspective, we haven’t seen much debate on an integrated transport system. Indeed if, of all miracles, a Labour Party should cling on to power, you can be sure that with all the harsh public spending cutbacks that will inevitably be introduced by whatever party that gets elected into government, the proposed high speed rail link will at best be postponed, if not canned. While Labour has been good in basing its vehicle taxation policy on a CO2 based tax regime, its overall carbon offset record has not been so good and its ability to pull together a truly integrated transport policy abysmal. John ‘Two Jags’ Prescott came closest with a pronouncement and that was as close as it got, a pronouncement.

Indeed, pronouncement could almost be a by-word for the current Government (the Labour one in power as I write this!). All pronouncements and no substance! You couldn’t argue with half of what Gordon Brown said in the last television debate, the problem was that the Labour Party had been saying much the same thing for the past 13 years.

So, whoever gets/got in, I hope for one thing. Action not words. And for one day a Government in power with an integrated transport vision!