If you’re a truck driver, you may already have found out that your life insurance costs a little more than average as yours is a dangerous occupation.

It isn’t the most dangerous there is – we aren’t Arctic trawler men or Canadian lumberjacks or anything – but it’s up there.

But the really frightening thing isn’t the dangerousness of the occupation – but the amount of men who don’t have adequate life insurance cover – or sometimes any life insurance whatsoever despite the fact that they have dependents families who are reliant on their continued income.

If you find yourself in the position of having no life insurance, but of having dependents who would struggle without you – then please do something about it.

Similarly, if you have some kind of life insurance cover, but you haven’t changed it or reviewed it for a while and your circumstances have changed, then ask an expert in to review your situation. The change in circumstance may be another child, or one on the way, or the loss of a job by your partner, which means your earnings are even more important. The updating and renewing of life insurance needs is perhaps the most neglected area of life cover.

A good insurance company should be able to advise you on your individual needs following a thorough review of your situation. Each family’s needs are different when it comes to life cover. Suncorp, for example, has an excellent reputation for providing comprehensive cover with competitive premiums and is a name that you know and which has been around a while.

The Suncorp website should give you a good idea of the kind of cover it may be wise to think about and how to go about getting it.

But whatever company you decide to go with – do make sure you have good life insurance for your family’s sake.

When looking for a new car today, most people have one thing at the top of their wish list: great fuel economy. And it’s unsurprising, given the constant rises in petrol and diesel prices. Manufacturers are undoubtedly making big improvements to fuel economy for new cars across the board. It’s not unusual to find a new car capable of more than 80 miles per gallon today, and even regular family cars can often manage 65 mpg.

As a side benefit, better fuel economy means lower CO2 emissions, so it’s good for the environment too. The number of eco cars UK consumers can choose from is growing all the time, and some of these are diesels as well as hybrids and electric vehicles.

And it’s a win-win-win situation, because better fuel economy and lower emissions both help to lower running costs – firstly in the amount of fuel you need, and secondly in the amount of road tax you’re liable to pay depending on the CO2 emissions for your car.

And any cars that have CO2 emissions below 100g/km also qualify for company tax benefits, as well as being exempt from the London Congestion Charge.

Honda has three hybrids in its UK range – including the CR-Z, the Jazz and the Insight. The Insight achieves 64.2 mpg and has CO2 emissions of 101g/km. The Jazz emits 104g/km and has a fuel economy of 62.8 mpg. The CR-Z is less economic on fuel – with a combined average 56.5 mpg and 117 g/km. Bear in mind though, that this is a sports car, so it’s fun to drive even though it’s fuel consumption is relatively frugal!

Along with the hybrids, there has been an increase in the number of electric vehicles that can equal conventional family cars, so it looks like the range of eco cars will continue to grow.

Many people admired the arrival of the Tesla Roadster – the all-electric sports car with a mega range of 245 miles. Unfortunately, it came with a mega price tag too – around $100,000.

So for those people looking for an electric vehicle that is good on range but also within the bounds of affordability, the latest Tesla car should be of interest. The Tesla Model S saloon car is all-electric and will have the capacity to carry seven people.

Tesla is a Silicon Valley company, owned by the founder of Paypal. In terms of car manufacturers, it’s a start up – and doesn’t have the motoring heritage that other automakers have behind them.

The Tesla Model S should be available during 2012 and will be a rival car to the BMW M5.

As a range maximum, the car will offer 300 miles, although you have to purchase the top of the range battery to achieve this. You could also opt to buy the intermediate battery and get a range of 230 miles, or the base level battery has a range of 160 miles on one charge.

The Tesla electric cars shake up the image of eco cars as slow and steady, with the Model S able to get from 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds.

And if the 300 mile range isn’t enough, you can upgrade to aerodynamic wheels which will add a further 20 miles to the range limit. And you don’t have to take Tesla’s word for it – these figures have been verified by the EPA.

Apparently, because the battery pack is mounted to the floor, the Model S will have a low centre of gravity and feel sporty to drive. It’s also got self-adjusting air suspension. On the inside, it feels ultra-modern with a 17 inch screen on the dashboard, and the sat nav is provided by Google. There’s 4G capability, so handsfree chatting won’t be an issue. There is voice control of different functions within the car too.

The basic level Model S starts at $50,000, and each increase in battery power pushes the price up by $10,000.

If you drive trucks for a living, you may not have the choice of what engine you drive professionally, unless you drive your own, of course. But of course, you’re not in the truck all the time, and the kind of car you choose for family life depends on personal choice, what your partner and kids think, etc….

More and more people are now choosing to buy family cars that are also low emission cars as well as having great fuel economy. Of course, the cheaper they are to run, the better for your wallet, but the more you can reduce emissions caused by your personal transportation, than all the better for the planet.

Up until recently, the most likely cars to produce lower emissions would be hybrids and electric vehicles. In the UK, the Honda Insight offers a great 64.2mpg with carbon dioxide emissions of only 101g/km. But in the last couple of years, hybrid cars have begun to be equalled by, and even bettered by, conventional cars – and more often than not they’re diesel-fuelled.

Take the Ford Focus as an example. The 1.6 TDCi Econetic Start/Stop can achieve 74.2 mpg and with carbon dioxide emissions of just 94g/km. Similarly the Kia Rio – a supermini rather than a real family car – can offer 88.3mpg.

It depends where your main focus lies when choosing a car, but there are few people that wouldn’t rank good fuel economy statistics highly, especially given the continual rises in the world’s oil prices. Of course, there are other factors that people look for in a car – comfort for the driver and their passengers, the amount of space for cargo, the flexibility of the seating arrangements, not to mention the want or need for decent driving performance.

For anyone looking for a new family car, they need to decide where their priorities lie, and then start their research accordingly.

If you take a look at the new honda civic 2012 model. You’ll be hard pressed to decide whether this is a sensible family saloon car, or an out and out sports car – or the kind of “hot hatch” type of vehicle usually aimed at twenty-somethings.

The truth is that it’s a little bit of all these things, but is still a little toned down from its predecessor eighth generation Civic.

The Honda Civic has been around a long me in the UK. In fact, 2012 is the 40^th anniversary of the little car’s arrival on these shores. At first, the Civic slightly perplexed UK drivers used to Ford Cortinas and the like, but soon started selling like hotcakes and is now part of the very fabric of British society.

In fact, the Civic has sold more than 650,000 models over the last four decades and sows no signs of slowing down just yet; quite the opposite in fact.

The latest version of the Civic is built in Swindon and looks superb. Its looks are slightly toned down from its predecessor eighth generation – but this is what we really want according to Honda’s extensive research into Civic drivers.

Perhaps disappointingly for the environmentalists among us, there is no hybrid version as yet – and Honda has confirmed that it has no plans, as yet, to introduce one, as there are a number of hybrid options from the existing line-up including the Honda Insight, Jazz and CR-Z.

Perhaps it isn’t needed, though. The fact is that the emission levels from the 2.2 diesel version of the Civic 2012 re so impressive (along with the better than 63mpg figures) that the car still qualifies for the road tax discount. This will cost owners just £20 after the first free year.

It looks like Honda has the new Civic’s balance just right. Time – and sales – will tell.

OK, time for a bit of fun. There are many myths about trucks and truck drivers and it’s time we debunked a few – if only to help get the insurance premiums down a little!

The first is the biggie; the belief that truckers cause a lot of accidents. Of course this isn’t true. In fact, in the States, commercial trucks manage to somehow be involved in a mere 2.4% of all road traffic accidents, whilst trucks are about four times as likely as passenger cars and passenger trucks to pass safety inspections. This says it all.

The next myth is that truck drivers are often shady types, who may well take illegal drugs from time to time etc. The truth is that around 50% of all truck drivers face drug tests and if they’ve been convicted of any serious crimes, they aren’t allowed to become truck drivers in the first place. Meanwhile, if they’re convicted of drug or alcohol offences whilst driving, their employers face prosecution.

The third myth is that truck drivers are always men who are fat, bigoted and slow to embrace the modern age. This myth is perpetuated by all sorts of media. It’s true that the majority of truck drivers are men, but this is changing rapidly.

Meanwhile truckers have to be quite fit, both physically and mentally, for the long drives they do and the mental alertness and concentration it takes.

Truckers are also known to embrace new technologies – particularly in their chosen field, and many truckers choose eco cars for their personal vehicles (the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight being the most popular, reportedly) as they’re perhaps more aware than most other people of the pollution vehicles cause.

So there we are – don’t believe the media’s trucker myths.

Apparently, up to 30 per cent of commercial truck accidents aren’t reported by their drivers. Generally these are accidents where they haven’t been at fault and the truck driver assumes that the other driver will make a claim on their insurance policy if they need to.

This is bizarre as it’s very unlikely that the same drivers would do this in their own private vehicle, whether they drive a Honda or a Ferrari, an old rust bucket or one of the eco cars UK consumers now own in bigger numbers. With their own cars, there is perhaps more of a sense of responsibility. Sometimes, not reporting an accident in a work truck may be down to embarrassment or a hope that no one will find out. But quite often the non-reporting is because the driver doesn’t know how to go about it.

The person responsible for managing a commercial fleet of trucks and drivers should brief drivers on how to go about reporting accidents. All insurance companies provide accident report forms and a copy should be kept in each truck, ready to use if and when needed. Train the drivers on how to complete these forms.

The most important thing is that the drivers think on their feet at the time of a collision. Take down as much information as possible. Gather facts – don’t accuse anyone of anything.

First off, make sure no one has been hurt.  Assuming not, then make sure everyone is out of danger and then go ahead and get the other driver’s details. Note the date, time and place the accident happened.  Take a note of other vehicles’ registrations and drivers’ names, whether they had passengers.

Blame shouldn’t be discussed until the police arrive.  If anyone has a camera, take pictures of damage and position of the vehicles. Drivers should also note down a description of how the accident happened, and draw a diagram to illustrate it. They should contact their fleet manager and then the insurance company.

Claims that go in with full and clear details are handled much more quickly than those with sketchy information.

Truck makers Toyota and Ford have plans to develop a hybrid powertrain for light trucks and SUVs. It looks like other manufacturers may have to follow suit as pressure grows on businesses to buy greener transport options.

Although hybrid trucks are nothing new, they still lag behind cars. Volvo launched the first HGV to run on a combination of diesel and electric power in 2008.

Honda, though, is one of the acknowledged leaders in hybrid technology so it looks like it won’t be too long before there are Honda hybrid truck options. The first ever mass produced parallel hybrid (whereby the single electric motor and the internal combustion engine can both individually – or together – power the vehicle) was the Honda Insight.

Toyota and Ford will work together in order to share development costs and generally quicken the whole process.

The hybrid powertrain in development will be for rear-wheel vehicles only – and will be phased in over the next decade.

With a hybrid vehicle, the electric motor works in tandem with a petrol engine.

Apart from the obvious savings in fuel consumption with hybrids, and lower emissions, one of the main benefits for trucks and lorries is the reduction in noise.

The commercial vehicle manufacturer, Mitsubishi Fuso, has recently given a preview of its new heavy-duty hybrid truck. The so-called Super Great HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) includes a conventional diesel engine, an electric motor-generator, a lithium-ion battery and control software. The company claims an increase in fuel-efficiency of up to 10% when compared to a diesel only equivalent – to say nothing of the environmental improvements.

The company intends to preview the Super Great HEV at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show between November 30 and December 11.

As winter approaches, it’s really important to dig out the relevant files and check that any trucks your business owns are covered for insurance.  The number of road incidents soars during the winter months, mainly due to weather based driving difficulties.

Common causes of problems are ice on the road and drivers not slowing down sufficiently to take account of the change in road conditions. Trucks and lorries are liable to jackknife in icy conditions; causing at the least huge traffic jams, sometimes injuries and perhaps even fatalities.  Even being caught in a jam behind a jackknifed lorry can cause misery in the cold winter months if you’re stuck there until the stricken truck is moved.

If one of your trucks does happen to be in an accident, it’s vital to be properly covered by your insurance policy.  It’s best to have comprehensive insurance as that will cover damages to your truck, you and any other vehicle or property involved in the collision.

Search around for the best insurance deal. Just as owners of hybrid cars can sometimes get a better deal with a specialist insurer, so can truck drivers. If an insurance company specialises in a particular group of vehicles, they are more likely to be able to offer better prices than a generalist insurer.

Certain vehicles like low emission cars will be able to get good insurance deals. While trucks rarely qualify as low emission cars, it’s still worth making sure you know all the details about the kind of vehicle you have, and what you want covered by your insurance policy before you start ringing round or searching online for quotes.

During winter, the most important thing is to take your time on the roads. Allow for extra journey time, so that you don’t try to shave minutes off a trip and put yourself and others at risk in the process.