The brief dip in petrol prices appears to have come to an end, new figures from the Automobile Association have revealed.

Petrol prices will continue to rise, say the AA

But with predictions of an increase in prices ahead, the AA also claims drivers have been "ripped off" by petrol stations when the price of oil was lower.

The breakdown rescue group, which reached its predictions on prices along with Experian Catalist, says the potential savings were not passed on to motorists.

Repair firm Autoglass is to axe hundreds of staff as soaring fuel costs led to cautious driving and hit demand for vehicle repair.

Autoglass has blamed mild weather and high fuel costs for the job cuts

The firm's owner Belron is to shed up to 400 of its 3,000 staff in the next month.

Belron told staff that mild conditions over some of the winter and higher fuel prices meant people were driving more slowly and across shorter distances.

Saudi women banned from driving

At just after 10 o'clock on Friday morning Maha al-Qahtani swapped places with her husband, Mohammed, and took the wheel of the family car.

For the next 50 minutes, she drove through the Saudi capital, along the six-lane King Fahd Road, through Cairo Square, down the upmarket Olaya Street with its shopping malls, Starbucks, Apple store and boutiques.

"No one tried to stop us. No one even looked," the 39-year-old civil servant said. "We drove past police cars but had no trouble."

In fact, the biggest problem for Qahtani was her husband sitting next to her in the family Hummer. "He kept telling me to slow down or speed up. He was very fussy," she said.

This is Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world that bans women from driving motor vehicles.

Speed of Traffic Slows

West Midlands and Shropshire drivers crawl through traffic at an average of less than 20mph. Recent figures have shown average car speeds to be less than the old horse and cart travelled at

Men are more likely than women to be involved in crashes because of bad driving habits such as driving too fast and drink-driving, according to the IAM’s latest research report Licensed to skill: Contributory factors in road accidents.

When comparing men and women, men are nearly twice as likely to be involved in a collision due to being careless, reckless or in a hurry.  They are also more likely to crash because of poor behaviour or inexperience.  

The main differences highlighted in the report are:

• Careless, reckless or in a hurry is recorded more frequently for men (ten per cent) than women (six per cent).
• Travelling too fast for the conditions is recorded more frequently for men (seven per cent) than women (four per cent).
• Poor driving behaviour or inexperience is recorded more frequently for men (14 per cent) than women (ten per cent).

However recent research by the IAM shows that women and men aren’t so different when it comes to driving behaviour and attitudes. Most men and women enjoy driving, and rate themselves to be confident, considerate and safe. 

But almost twice as many men as women claim to be “very confident” drivers.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said:  “These results show that we need to look at the psychology of male drivers to reduce risky behaviour and over-confidence, but for both sexes accidents could be easily reduced by improving driver skills and lives could be saved.  The government is moving towards this by introducing driver training for careless driving offences but all drivers should consider training. Driving is a life-long skill that requires life-long learning.”