Michael McAleer answers your queries
From MJ Webster:
I recently went about insuring a second car in my own name, and was told that my No-Claims Bonus (NCB) could only apply to one vehicle. I'd have to start from scratch with a zero NCB on a second vehicle.
This is ridiculous as I can only drive one vehicle at a time, and furthermore it's ME who has the full NCB and not my car.
What this means is that the SUV I use three times a month also has to double as my daily runabout in the city? Very environmentally friendly. Can the Insurance Companies actually do this?
Apparently they can. It seems a ridiculous situation but the practice over here applies to the experience of an individual driver in a particular vehicle, according to Michael Horan of the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF).
It would seem to imply that while you may be an expert behind the wheel of one car, you are inexperienced in any other.
This would seem to be contradicted when you change your car and carry the no-claims bonus with you.
The IIF defends the position by suggesting that this system limits the risk if you do have an accident. Then, the no-claims will be affected only on the vehicle involved.
However, the whole idea behind the no-claims bonus is that drivers take care to protect the discount whatever they are driving. Perhaps if one NCB was applied to all vehicles a person drives they would take more care.
From Edward Rafferty, Co Wexford:
Given the rising numbers of roundabouts (large, medium, small and very small) being constructed throughout the country I find numerous drivers failing to use proper driving methods when transversing them.
Probably, the main violation is failure to indicate when turning left or right.
Another potentially and equally dangerous manoeuvre is a car indicating a "right turn" but making a U-turn or complete 360 degree turn especially on a very small roundabout. Is making a U-turn on a roundabout legal?
There seems to be no legal restriction on doing a U-turn on a roundabout. The rules simply state that those on the roundabout have right of way over those approaching. They also state that those entering a roundabout should give way to vehicles coming from the right. The problem you refer to, and to which we have experienced on several occasions ourselves, is that on the mini-roundabouts - no more than a painted circle on the road - there's no room for more than one car on them at a time. That's as much the fault of the planners who think these splodges of paint are adequate roundabouts as the drivers who error when use them.
The problem with these mini-roundabouts is that no sooner have you entered them then you are exiting. In terms of signals, this means at most one second to indicate onto the roundabout followed by at most two seconds signalling when you are leaving. All that flicking of indicators helps no one. However, even if someone is using the roundabout to do a u-turn, they should at the very least use the correct signals.
All Motors readers undoubtedly know about these things already, but for the newcomers it's worth reminding them that the most important thing to do on a roundabout is what's called the 'breakaway' signal. This let's others know when you are leaving. So long as you clearly signal which exit you are getting off then it should save you from expensive repair work. The problem here seems to be that a large number of Irish drivers regard indicators as optional extras that should only be used at the last minute in order to save the bulbs. So many minor accidents could be avoided if people signalled their intentions early enough.
To recap on the rules: if turning left, stay in the left-hand lane, indicate "left" as you approach and continue to indicate until you have passed through the roundabout; when travelling straight ahead, stay in the left-hand lane but do not indicate "left" until you have passed the first exit; and when making a right turn, stay in the right-hand lane, indicate right on your approach and maintain this signal until you have passed the exit before the one you intend to take. Then change to the "left" turn indicator.
One final bit of advice about roundabouts that would save us all some heavy braking is that if the roundabout is clear and free of traffic, the driver should enter without stopping.
From Pat Fitzgibbon:
Any idea as to when the estate diesel models will be available to buy here?
We have been told by VW to expect arrival of the new Passat Estates - both petrol and diesel - in December, We are told we will have the first Passat Estates in December. As ever these dates may change closer to the event but you can be sure that the Irish distributor will be keen to get it to market as close as possible to that time in order to capture the January sales traffic.
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Motors Help Desk, The Irish Times, Fleet Street, Dublin 2