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Police in Romania have unveiled dramatic CCTV footage of criminals attempting to steal a load from a moving vehicle. The gang drove up behind a small truck in their car as it drove at high speed along a highway. One of the members of the gang clambered onto the front of the car and opened the rear door of the truck, before climbing inside. He then jumped out of the truck again, seemingly without having stolen anything and perhaps without having found what he was looking for. The gang have been involved in a

A woman in the USA recently gave birth to twin boys while being driven to hospital by her husband. Despite driving fast, the couple could not reach the hospital in time and called for assistance en-route. The first son was born as the car travelled on the Southern State Parkway on Long Island. By the time of the second birth the emergency services had responded and the child was delivered shortly afterwards in an ambulance on the hard shoulder of the Wantagh State Parkway.

Insurance firm Allianz has carried out an extensive survey of listening tastes amongst its customers that provides worrying results for some motorists. According to the survey, listeners of jazz and blues show a high risk of being distracted while at the wheel. Some 25% of jazz and blues listeners have been involved in accidents while driving. The survey also points out that drivers who favour classical music are the most cautious behind the wheels and are least likely to be distracted or involved in an acc

A new superhero has taken to the streets of Perth in Western Australia, striking with vigilance and dealing justice on behalf of the city’s hard-pressed motorists. The green lycra-clad caped crusader carries a cutter, which he uses to deftly dispense with clamps intended to immobilise vehicles parked in contravention of regulations. Angle Grinder Man said that after his own vehicle was clamped, he was so traumatised by the incident that he vowed never to allow another motorist suffer the same awful fate. Th

Moscow authorities are preparing to choose a contractor for the construction of eight viaducts that will join Kutuzovsky prospect and Rublevskoe highway within the city’s borders. The project is estimated at to be worth US$302.94million (RUB 9.60bn). Bids are accepted until 14 December, 2012, with a winner announced four days later.

The total damage caused by road cargo theft in Germany last year hit €4billion (US$5.11bn), according to police. Almost 1,900 trucks were stolen in Germany in 2011, with the damage of road cargo theft EU-wide coming to €9bn (US$11.46bn). Police say that the culprits are often well informed and stolen goods are moved very quickly. White goods, computers and other electronics are the most likely wares to be stolen from trucks.

Regular readers of this page may remember news of plans by Japanese toilet manufacturer TOTO to produce an eco-friendly three wheeled vehicle. This motortrike, with the snappy name Toilet Bike Neo, has now been unveiled to a waiting public. Power comes from a 250cc single cylinder engine that runs on a biofuel originating from waste water or animal effluent. The toilet seat on which the rider sits is however purely for decorative purposes, as is the large roll of toilet paper mounted on top of the dummy cis

Proposed simplifications to the heavy goods vehicle tax in France were unveiled by Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier during the national road transport federation’s (FNTR) conference. A bill will be tabled before the end of 2012, and the system is scheduled to be in place from July 2013. It will take the form of a flat rate tax, which will include the administrative cost of managing the tax, with the amount set by each region (there will be an interregional rate for interregional transport).

In India a cyclist suffered a road rage incident, from an elephant. The incident, which was captured on video, occurred as a cyclist overtook an elephant on a busy urban road. The animal, perhaps upset that its slow speed meant other road users were forced to overtake, sideswiped the cyclist with its trunk as he passed. The cyclist was not seriously hurt in the incident and was later able to resume his journey along the trunk route. The elephant did not stop to apologise for its actions however and nor did