Observers for the firm found when watching roundabouts and junction throughout the country almost 40,000 vehicles where drivers were not wearing seatbelts.

On top of this almost 10% of all traffic was judged to be going too fast when negotiating the junction, AA President Edmund King said: “AA Streetwatch observations show that 5% of drivers are still not wearing a seatbelt despite this contributing to 30% of road deaths.

“Many of those un-belted were taxi and van drivers who should be aware that they are potentially more at risk due to their higher mileage. It is of great concern that 5% of drivers still haven’t got the ‘cluck,click every trip’ message.”

Surveys conducted before the actual investigation found that over 80% of AA members expected there to be 5% of people using mobile phones whilst in control of a vehicle. However the actual results reflected that less than 0.23% of people were using phones without ‘adequate’ hands free provisions.

Across the pond in the US schemes have been implemented in schools to make people aware of the dangers that are faced by distracted driver. Back in the UK vehicle leasing and contract hire firms warned how warranty, insurance and any leasing agreement would be voided should a driver be caught or involved in an accident where they were on a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt.

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Of course if you are a business owner, and many Mercedes drivers are, the increase in VAT will make little difference as you can claim 50% of it back, although the private lease market may be different.  So Mercedes car lease is likely to remain popular and in fact may be the driving force within Mercedes new car sales this year.  If new car sales drop, like they did 2 years ago, then used values will rise, which again will keep those Mercedes car lease monthly payments down. If there is going to be a survivor, Mercedes is likely to be it.

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To add to the uncertainty parties are not talking much about individual industries or markets, just a better Britain a they put it. So will each party see the motor indusrty, something to be invested in, or will we do what we have done since the 60’s, just allow it to be controlled by the economy, hence no real British owned factories anymore.

So the contract hire business like many others we suppose will sit and wait to see how the business owner and consumer will react to what might be a new part and a new chapter in British politics. We can’t remember when political decisions made such a big difference in purchase decisions and the car lease industry  will hope that leasing will be norm and buying second.

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The difference is being able to claim back 50% of VAT of 100%. The simplest way to figure out is your company car for business or both is, where is your lease car parked at night? If you or an employee takes that vehicle home at night, it will be declared as a vehicle used for both personal and business use even if the car is parked and brought back to work. This is because the journey to and from a fixed place for work, is deemed as personal use.

It is important to find out what your VAT liabilities and benefits are before entering any car lease or contract hire deal, as many liabilities are in place to ensure the company car does not become a free perk.

You can find out more from the Governments own pages on company cars and VAT

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Car lease prices are not seperated from the private buyer. In better words is there are plenty used cars to go around, then residual values drop and so monthly car lease premiums go up. If there is a shortage of used cars the opposite occurs. The availability of used cars is directly erlated to the sale of new ones and the amount of trade ins the dealerships get to dispose of.

In simple terms if the increase in VAT slows down new car sales again, it is likely that used prices will remain high or even rise further, pushing down car lease premiums.

For private lease searchers there may be no benefits, as private purchases have to pay full vat and so monthly premiums are set to rise. but business owners may get an even better deal on business lease should new sales slow down again.  Of course the scrappage scheme has been extended so, this will stimulate new car sales, but we are finding it is the cheap korean cars that are benefitting the most form this, not the typical Audi, BMW executive market.

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However when a main dealer wants to deliver a lease deal, they often then can’t be beat. After all they have the ability to reduce the retail price of the car first, then throw in cheaper serviceing etc, however for some makes this rarely happens. There are certain makes though, that have too many cars in storage and the dealers are instructed to give whatever deal they can to assure sales, in this case brokers struggle to be competitive.

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