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Exclusive: Adapted single-deckers with seats removed and oxygen onboard will transfer patientsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNHS staff are preparing to transport patients using two London buses that have been converted into makeshift ambulances, in another sign of the strain Covid is putting on the capital’s health services.Most of the seats on the single-decker buses have been removed so that each can...

Group of GPs and other health experts say planned Thames tunnel will increase pollution in the areaDoctors and health care workers have warned that plans for a new four-lane tunnel under the River Thames in east London represent an “assault on the health” of families in the surrounding area.The group of 25 GPs, nurses and specialists – including experts in child health and respiratory...

Plans to get rid of hard shoulders have heightened motorway safety fears but the government is determined to press ahead For the most part, in the UK, this simply means a motorway without a hard shoulder, allowing traffic to utilise the additional lane. There are two main types: all-lane running, where the hard shoulder has been permanently converted to become the inside lane, and...

A New York City bus was left hanging from an overpass after crashing off the Cross Bronx expressway, New York Emergency Management reported on Thursday night.Seven people, who were said to have been travelling in the bus, reportedly sustained minor injuries in the crashNew York bus dangling from expressway after Bronx crash Continue reading...

Nordic country becomes first in the world where electric car sales outstrip those powered by other meansNorway became the first country in the world where the sale of electric cars has overtaken those powered by petrol, diesel and hybrid engines last year, with the German carmaker Volkswagen replacing Tesla as the top battery-vehicle producer, data shows.Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 54.3% of all...

As Uber parks its plans for robotaxis, experts admit the autonomous vehicle challenge is bigger than anticipatedTesla almost hits 500,000-car delivery target for 2020 despite pandemicUK carmakers have three years to source local electric car batteriesBy 2021, according to various Silicon Valley luminaries, bandwagoning politicians and leading cab firms in recent years, self-driving cars would have long been crossing the US, started filing along...

Teachers and coronavirus | Honours and Spike Milligan | Art quiz | World leaders | Severn BridgeWhat? No teachers interviewed or photographed at the chalkface in praise of their efforts to keep schools running (Heroes of 2020, 22-31 December)? Rising levels of coronavirus among pupils put all teachers at risk. There is limited use of PPE and masks are not used in class. My...

Hauliers stranded in their cabs on UK roads say they are being used as political pawnsSee all our coronavirus coverageJuan Andrés had braced himself for what promised to be an atypical holiday season. But the lorry driver from southern Spain never imagined that Christmas Day would be spent in his cab tucking into a ham and cheese sandwich – among provisions handed out by...

Bright yellow stickers warn drivers burning of gasoline has ‘major consequences on human health and the environment’Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become the first US city to mandate the placing of stickers on fuel pumps to warn drivers of the resulting dangers posed by the climate crisis. Continue reading...

A Kent football team made 200 pizzas and delivered them to stranded lorry drivers on the M20 and Manston airport on Tuesday night.Hot meals were also provided by a Sikh charity and delivered by Gravesend's Gurdwara Sikh community as thousands of lorry drivers waited for information after France closed its border with the UK for fear of a new variant of Covid-19 Continue reading...

About 1,500 lorries are stuck in Kent after France imposed a ban on any accompanied freight or cargo entering the country from Britain because of the new coronavirus variant discovered in the UK. The move triggered government crisis plans at Dover and other major pinch points, with some drivers redirected to a nearby airfield to ease congestion on the roadsCovid: France to reopen UK border for...

Priti Patel says British and French officials discussing options as 1,500 lorries remain stuck in KentCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFrance expects to announce a limited reopening of its borders to UK traffic, as the British government said it was drawing up plans to test all lorry drivers taking goods across the Channel for Covid.“A solution is being worked on and will...

Capital’s mayor asks TfL to begin a feasibility study for plan to raise £500m a yearDrivers could face a £3.50 daily charge to enter Greater London under proposals from the mayor of London to address the capital’s funding crisis.Sadiq Khan has asked Transport for London to start feasibility studies for the plan to raise £500m a year. Continue reading...

Trial to allow rented scooters on roads as part of green transport planE-scooters to rent are expected to be on the streets of London from next spring after the capital gave the go-ahead for trials. Up to three firms will be permitted to operate hire schemes, which are likely to start as small-scale operations in a limited number of boroughs.Transport for London said the...

Exclusive: Gap between actions and beliefs threatens green recovery from pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePeople are planning to drive more in future than they did before the coronavirus pandemic, a survey suggests, even though the overwhelming majority accept human responsibility for the climate crisis.The apparent disconnect between beliefs and actions raises fears that without strong political intervention, these actions could undermine...

Digital system automatically reduces electric bicycles’ power in built-up areasElectric bike motors will be shut down when entering residential or built-up areas of Amsterdam, under a government-funded project to cut road deaths from the increasingly powerful vehicles.The digital technology, which has been successfully trialled on a 4km stretch of bike lanes at Schiphol airport, was funded by the Dutch ministry of infrastructure and water...

International hauliers will need ‘Kent access permit’ to get into county from 1 JanuaryA de-facto Brexit border is to be introduced for lorry drivers entering Kent to travel on to the EU, Michael Gove has confirmed.The minister for the Cabinet Office and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster told the Commons that lorry drivers would need a “Kent access permit” to get into the...

Head of EU exit at the port says money needs to be ‘issued rather than talked about’Dover port is not Brexit ready because it is still waiting for government funds to be released for vital infrastructure for the new border operations, it has been revealed.It comes as it emerged that the government was considering forcing drivers to obtain a special Brexit passport before entering...