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As part of a statewide rollout, all Victoria Police highway patrol units in the eastern suburbs are now mobile drug testing units, a capability previously exclusive to state highway patrol units or booze and drug buses.A 39-year-old Rowville man was pulled over on Stud Rd, Scoresby, for unlicensed driving on March 24.A preliminary drug test on the driver was positive for ice.Drugs could be detected in the system up to 28 days after useHe will be charged on summons.The oral fluid test can detect drivers under the influence of cannabis or amphetamines.Maroondah Police highway patrol acting Sergeant Andrew Sands said drugs could be detected in the system up to 28 days after use. Motorists who fail the test for the first time will be fined $443 and have their licence suspended for three months.

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended by the BBC following a "fracas" with a show producer.

Male motorists accounted for 70 per cent of all speeding, mobile phone, seatbelt and drink-driving offences in the past three financial years, the figures reveal.Men account for four out of five drink-drive fines, seven of every 10 speeding fines.Some of the detail is jaw-dropping.Of 20 idiots booked drinking booze while instructing a learner driver, 19 were men. What hope is there for those L-platers, after soaking up that kind of instruction?While many men pride themselves on excellent skills behind the wheel, their ability to pull off the perfect parallel park is more than eroded by other poor behaviour.Men, in particular, need to pull their socks upSadly, the driving habits gender gap is much more than fodder for battle-of-the-sexes debates at barbecues or the pub.In the 12 months to Thursday, 64 women died on Victorian roads compared with 187 men.Men, in particular, need to pull their socks up. The reality is risky drivers are a danger to themselves and all others on the roads.No doubt some men will try to justify the figures by arguing men do more driving than women.But previous studies have shown that, even taking into account that men take more trips and cover more kilometres than women, male drivers are over-represented in fines.Some men also try to argue that police pick on blokes and let women get away with more behind the wheel.But police ferociously deny this, saying they don't differentiate when enforcing the road rules. Law-breakers are law-breakers, regardless of gender.Perhaps our road safety authorities need to consider gender-specific campaigns such as those adopted in other states.Some years ago in NSW, for example, ads ran with the slogan "no one thinks big of you", with women waggling their pinky fingers at men.Male or female, please drive safelyWhile it is important to remind young men of safety messages, specific campaigns should also be aimed at women.There is a danger some young women don't relate to campaigns featuring men, and ignore vital safety messages that really should be absorbed by all drivers.Reducing deaths and injuries on Victorian roads hinges on a significant change in behaviour of both sexes. Male or female, please drive safely.

Hackers could seize control of cars or steal personal information because of flaws in new technology, according to information manufacturers provided to a US senator.Senator Edward Markey asked carmakers about the technologies and any safeguards against hackers.He also asked about how the information vehicle computers gathered - and often transmitted wirelessly - was protected.Automakers haven't done their part to protect us from cyber-attacksSenator Markey posed his questions after researchers showed how hackers could get into the controls of some popular cars, causing them to accelerate, turn, sound the horn, turn headlights off or on and modify speedometer and fuel-gauge readings.The responses from 16 manufacturers "reveal there is a clear lack of appropriate security measures to protect drivers against hackers," a report by his staff concluded.Today's cars typically contain more than 50 electronic control units - effectively small computers. And nearly all include some wireless entry points to these computers."Drivers have come to rely on these new technologies, but unfortunately the automakers haven't done their part to protect us from cyber-attacks or privacy invasions," Senator Markey said.Manufacturers who replied to questions included BMW, Ford, Holden parent General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda and Toyota.

Adelaide's average price for unleaded petrol was 99.9c a litre yesterday.

For the first time in NSW fines for littering from vehicles can be issued based on reports from the public, NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes has announced.

It's a Two-Way Street was launched this month in Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai and is based on the notion of cyclists and drivers showing mutual respect.The council introduced the campaign to counter a worrying trend in road rage incidents involving cyclists and is also aimed at people who may be inexperienced in cycling on main roads or in traffic.It's time for all road users to try to work together to improve casualty statisticsIt is being coordinated by The Amy Gillett Foundation, which was set up to reduce the incidence of cyclists being killed or injured after the death of national cyclist Amy Gillett from a collision with a driver.Both Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai councils are promoting the campaign through posters, ads and on social media.Hornsby Mayor Steve Russell hopes this initiative will save lives. "There has been plenty of heated discussion between cyclists and drivers about road safety over the last few years and now it's time for all road users to try to work together to improve casualty statistics," he said.Cool heads must prevail"Safety is everyone's responsibility and there are behaviours that both types of road users could change to make the road more pleasant and less dangerous." Ku-ring-gai Mayor Jennifer Anderson said drivers needed to slow down and think. "Cyclists have the same right to be on the road as drivers and cool heads must prevail," she said.The campaign is particularly relevant to this area, with a recent spike in local cyclist casualties leading Roads and Maritime Services to identify cyclists as the number one road safety issue that needs to be addressed in the Hornsby local government area.There were 52 cyclist deaths in the 12 months leading up to March last year, with the 40-49 age group represented heavily.

Petrol prices in some Sydney areas have fallen to under $1 a litre but motorists outside capital cities are paying an average 131.4c.With petrol in metro areas at a five-year-low, the federal government is concerned rural motorists are not benefiting from plunging global oil prices.Small Business Minister Bruce Billson yesterday said the disparity had led to concern from rural and regional residents about the "mysteries" of fuel pricing."It seems curious to me many Australians in rural areas are not yet reaping the benefits of these low prices," he said.Mr Billson said he wanted motorists to raise their concerns with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.The ACCC will monitor the prices, costs and profits of the petroleum industry for three years.Reports will be produced quarterly rather than annually and the commission will be able to look at specific regions and perceived irregularities in the fuel market.

Petrol prices hit a historic high as a consequence of the weaker Australian dollar before oil prices fell in recent months, the competition watchdog has confirmed.Capital city motorists paid an average of 150.6c a litre for regular unleaded petrol in the year to June, up 9.3c on the previous year, the regulator says.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission published the figures yesterday, saying that if the price was adjusted to account for inflation, it was the third highest average on record."This was primarily driven by the international oil price and the Australian-US dollar exchange rate," chairman Rod Sims said.In early 2014, the Australian dollar fell below US87c for the first time since mid-2010, which the commission said "drove the price higher for motorists at the bowser".Fuel prices, however, have since declined, sinking to about $1.40 a litre in November as crude oil prices fell.Mr Sims noted that international refined petrol prices had dropped by 20c a litre since July."As the international price is such a large component of the retail price, this should be a welcome relief for motorists," he said.Despite the recent pain for motorists, the commission said Australians paid among the lowest prices for fuel in the developed world because of relatively low taxes.During the June quarter, Australian petrol prices were the fourth lowest among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nations.

The Federal Government's plan to cut $900 million in car industry assistance looks set to stall in the Senate as a new inquiry is launched into the industry's future.Labor, the Greens, the Palmer United Party and crossbenchers Nick Xenophon, Bob Day, Ricky Muir and John Madigan have rejected the plan to cut funding for car makers and suppliers by ending the Automotive Transformation Scheme.The Government says it is appropriate to cut funding back to $700 million between now and 2018, as Holden and Toyota will stop building cars in Australia by the end of 2017.A Bill to enable the cuts passed the Lower House in October and is due to be debated in the Senate.Labor industry spokesman Kim Carr, who will today seek the Senate's approval of a new broad-ranging inquiry into the car sector, said every country with an automotive sector had some government support."Australian people expect us to be able to be more than just a farm or a quarry," he said. "The automotive industry is one of those key sectors that's able to provide us with the skills and the capabilities we need to secure future investment in manufacturing more broadly."