The 'king of engines': one last hurrah in the 8.0-litre, 1,578bhp Bugatti Bolide
The quad turbo W16 gets a final, intense flourish in the lightweight, track only, multimillion pound Bolide. TG hangs on tight
This is not a new noise. It's the sound Bugatti's W16 has always made and there's nothing else like it because no one else has ever had a W16. The king of engines doesn't need to be rowdy. It communicates in another way. It's the only engine I've come across that uses the ground underneath it as a resonating surface, sending vibrations far and wide, like how a croc ripples its back in the water. You'd probably read it as a warning not to mess, and that wouldn't be a bad interpretation. Even now it's unsilenced and decatalysed, it's not so much noise that it emits as presence.
The king of engines whoomphs into life. Definitely whoomphs. It doesn't snarl or scream, it doesn't pepper the air with fake pops, there's just a sense of a lot of air being drawn in, and then suddenly combusted deep inside. Whoomph.
The bodywork? That makes a tad more fuss. From the sinewy snout along the raked profile to the X-wing rear end, it exudes menace. A wheeled knuckle duster, the king of engines dressed as a street fighter.
You'd imagine quite a lot has had to be done to the quad turbo 8.0-litre for this track only version, what with all the forces it's got to deal with. Nah. It's not the engine that's had to be changed. It's the car. Because Bugatti has done something remarkable here. It's built a car that can cope.
The Bolide is the most extreme Bugatti there's ever been. It's more powerful than any racing car, has to shed more energy in the course of a lap, delivers 2,900kg of downforce, 2.5g of cornering force, explosive acceleration force – in short it's one of the most forceful cars there's ever been. And it is the last place a W16 engine will ever call home. Now 20 years old, we'll miss it when it's gone. Other hypercar engines rev higher, shriek louder. One or two produce more power, several are more power dense, all are smaller, lighter. But just as you don't doubt the lion's claim to be king, nor do you question the W16's. All others live in its shadow.
Well, you don't start with a Chiron. Dallara built Bugatti a bespoke carbon tub to Le Mans Hypercar regulations, and from there Bugatti set about creating a car that would showcase the engine in its purest form. Because that's what's going on here. This is not a track car that happens to be powered by a W16, it's a W16 given a new dimension on track. That's a small but important distinction.
The engine itself is pretty much as it came out of a Chiron Super Sport. Same internals, same valvetrain, pistons and conrods, even the same oil and water pumps. But how do you take a 1,578bhp, 1,179lb ft powerplant, that together with its (only lightly modified) twin clutch transmission is a leviathan weighing some 700kg, and build a track car around it?
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I'm at Paul Ricard in the south of France. Tomorrow four owners are turning up to drive their new cars. Today is the training day for the instructors who will sit alongside them (no thanks) and Bugatti has found a small gap for me to drive it as well. It's a busy day. Some 40 people mill around. Big boss and CEO Mate Rimac is here, so too most of Bugatti's board of directors. I spend the morning in track briefings, filling out terrifying paperwork and watching the Bolide thunder around.
Bugatti has laid on a pair of GT3 RSes as track learning cars. I'm watching them howl down the main straight when I sense another movement. The Bolide is storming out of the final corner. It devours the distance to the hard charging Porsches in great chunks, rips past them under the gantry. The speed differential is colossal, but more than that there's just this sense of immense pent up aggression being released.
I think about this an hour or so later as I'm strapped into the Bolide. It's tight in here, the wheel butting up close to the A-pillar, the view out blinkered by high front arches. The 3D printed steering yoke is reassuringly solid in my hands – just as well given how hard I'm clenching it. Raindrops have just started to pepper the windscreen. I'm on slicks. Andy Wallace has the good grace not to look remotely concerned as he straps in alongside me.
'Once you've got the pit speed on, just put the throttle wide open and hold it there.'
'In first gear?' I reply bemusedly.
'Yep, in first. And then at the end of the pitlane, knock the limiter off and hold on tight.'
I point blank refuse. 'No way. It'll spin all four wheels and I'll be straight into the barriers.'
'Honestly. As long as it's got good tyre temperature, it'll hook up without a trace of wheel slip.'
Whoomph. The king of engines fires. I immediately resolve not to do as I'm told, given the engine appears to be clawing its way through the bulkhead. The Bolide throbs and pulses with barely contained energy. I wincingly click the paddle for first gear, gingerly touch the throttle and the Bolide crawls away, docile as anything. I pull second. Barely sense the shift. Chiron vibes.
And so, once clear of the pitlane, I nail it. My world erupts. Noise. Force. Power. All of it huge. It's all consuming, a furious, unrelenting onslaught. I brake for the first corner. There's little heat in the brakes so they surf on. Ooh gawd. Then I turn in and the Bolide starts to slide. Gulp. Don't forget it's damp, Marriage. It slides through turn three. And four. And five. Bloody hell.
But by the end of the lap I don't want to park up, I just want more. Because the Bolide moves so well. Yes it slid, but a) that was entirely my fault for getting carried away on cold tyres and a damp track, b) it was caught masterfully by the life – and reputation – saving stability control, and c) the reason I was happy pushing immediately was that the Bolide felt calm in my hands, not snatchy, but progressive.
20 minutes 57 seconds
The handling takes its lead from the motor, which delivers its power with creamy smoothness across the whole rev range. There's no top end crescendo, just this outrageous thrust everywhere, accompanied by monstrous bass roar. It's not sharp and zingy, the king of engines likes the power to be poured on and kept on, not fiddled with mid corner.
And the dynamics are the same. When I speak to Mate Rimac afterwards he'll tell me, 'Ultimately it's not about lap times in this car, it needs to be engaging for our customers to drive. And many of them are not racers.' He goes on to admit that some of them aren't even likely to drive the car at all. I understand the 'wheeled artwork' argument sometimes, but not here, not with this.
So despite the way it looks, it's friendly, benign, approachable. There's nothing tricksy about it. The steering rack is fast but not Ferrari twitchy. There's not much actual steering feedback but it's positive and incisive into corners and there's loads of feel through the seat. The chassis is a great communicator. Hadn't expected that.
But the best bit happens after the apex. And it's not just because you get to shovel air and 102 octane fuel into the power station. It's how all four wheels deal with the resulting torque onslaught. Because the diffs are sensational at putting the power exactly where it's needed to maximise traction without spoiling trajectory. It's just wonderfully flattering, makes me feel like a hero as it exits slow corners with a whiff of four wheel drift.
The twin clutch box has new ratios and final drive, better suited to sprinting up to the 236mph max. Downforce at that speed hits 2,900kg. Once into sixth at, what, 170-odd mph, I notice the acceleration let up a fraction as drag takes effect. And then there are the brakes. Early suggestions of a 1,250kg kerbweight came to naught – the Bolide is probably around 1,625kg with fluids and me on board.
Yet the power means it arrives into braking zones at outrageous speeds, a kinetic energy conundrum that Brembo has solved with 390mm carbon carbon brakes that apparently feature F1 materials. And ABS. A rare, perhaps unique, combo. They're foolproof and the stopping power hangs me in the belts every time. Ever skydived? That breath crushing feeling when the parachute is yanked? It's that. Every corner. Mega pedal feel – I see operating temperatures up over 800°C and those outside get glowing discs.
I'm swatted down the track like a suddenly flattened fly. I hoot with laughter
If there's an issue here it's the load all of this places on the tyres. Due to high speed aero load, Michelin insists on high pressures – around 35–38psi. They're fine there, but Wallace says grip drops away significantly when they go above that.
The long and the short of all this is that the Bolide is very harmonious. The king of engines has been matched in braking power, lateral grip, and yes, traction. On my last lap I slow down on the back straight and engage the pit limiter. It sits smoothly at 40mph in first gear and I hold it there for five seconds to let the four turbos pressurise. And then I thumb the little black button on the steering wheel to cut loose the king of engines and I'm swatted down the track like a suddenly flattened fly. I hoot with laughter, while blown away that the slicks can cope with every single one of the 1,600-odd horses without so much as a chirrup. Andy reckons it's even more vivid than launch control from a standstill. I can believe him.
Like I said, the Bolide feels very together, each component balanced against the others. I remember thinking the same after I drove another track only hypercar – McLaren's P1 GTR. The whole car is calm under pressure – and more than that it feels like a Bugatti. When I track down Mate afterwards he tells me 'the hardest thing for this project was to make it a Bugatti in terms of detail and quality. Racecars are fascinating things, but they're not Bugattis". I'd expected to find the Bolide a racecar with a W16 shoved in. With only 40 being built I thought it would be heavily compromised, a bit of a Frankenstein's monster.
But as Mate said, if that were the case, it wouldn't be a Bugatti. Instead the Bolide seems to have been as rigorously developed as a Chiron by people with a very clear idea of who it's for and what it needs to do. Ballistically fast, yes, but also polished and flattering, which gives the driver the mental capacity to enjoy and appreciate the Bolide's centrepiece, the 16 pulsating pistons and conrods, four turbos and 64 valves that make up the world's one and only W16 engine. The king of engines.
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Auto Car
an hour ago
- Auto Car
1990s hot hatch showdown
Open gallery Peugeot's and Citroën's pared-back takes on the hot hatch theme still hit the spot today PSA's 1.6-litre four is common to both, although claimed 0-60s differ mysteriously Peugeot sparkles, with communicative steering; Saxo's agility borders on the flighty Close The 1990s wasn't the friendliest environment for hot hatchbacks. The previous decade had bred some of the genre's biggest icons, but an epidemic of thefts and spiralling insurance costs began to stifle car makers' swagger. The Golf GTI, a pioneer of the formula, was softened in its third generation, while the Escort Cosworth's irresistibility to more than its paying customers meant Ford's follow-ups lost their lustre too. Thankfully, towards the decade's close, rescue came from a reliable source of inexpensive fun: the French. The cars you see here were not only dinky in size and affordable, but their running costs were also attainable by everyday folk. The Citroën Saxo VTS was flung to the top of the hot hatch sales charts by its now ludicrous-sounding free insurance deals, which, allied to its slim list price, lured in a younger demographic than that of the new car norm. The Peugeot 106 GTi was a bit less bargain-bucket in its approach, but it is rumoured to have lowered its premiums another way. While the pair share the same genes, right down to identical four-cylinder engines, there was a minor gulf in their performance figures – chiefly the 106 taking half a second longer to hit 60mph than its non-identical twin. The internet is awash with speculation about why that was the case, but the pair claim identical gear ratios, quelling any suggestions the Saxo could hit the accelerative benchmark with just one gearchange. That only throws more weight behind the old wives' theory that Peugeot started the stopwatch with more ballast on board in order to sandbag its car into a lower insurance group. Either way, these are both joyously simple devices at their core. Each deploys a 120bhp 1.6-litre 16-valve naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine that is allied to a short-stacked five-speed manual gearbox and powering the front wheels bereft of complicated electronics or intelligent differential set-ups to interrupt the process. Their suspension set-ups are a mix of off-the-shelf struts, trailing arms and a torsion bar. Their exterior designs don't feel too far from the regular parts locker, either: there are no wider tracks or requisite swelled arches, no muscular bonnet humps or indeed much you would describe as 'bodykit'. Their 14in alloys look delightfully restrained now but surely acted as placeholders for 1990s buyers itching to redeem their Demon Tweeks gift card. It's small wonder cars such as these were quickly modified to the hilt, no doubt tearing those noble insurability claims into tatters. That does, however, make it ever trickier to hunt down examples that haven't been tuned, crashed or eaten by corrosion. The pair we have here must be among Britain's very best remaining examples of each, and they both represent the apples of their respective owner's eye. The 1999 106 GTi has joined us from South Wales, where Carl Lampard has kept it for seven years, fully repainting it in its dazzling Sundance Yellow during a restoration to borderline brand- new condition. Everything, down to its official 106 GTi mats, looks as standard as the day it was born. The 1997 Saxo VTS driven up from the south coast by Zac Jiggins is more demure still, a very early Quartz Silver car lacking even a rear spoiler to hint at any aggression beneath. He has owned his Citroën for five years, and it arrives in front of photographer Jack's camera fresh from an engine rebuild to ensure it feels as factory-fit as it looks. Both Carl and Zac appear too young to have lusted after these cars new but, crucially, they're pouring their time and money into faithfully maintaining their original condition now. A true antithesis to the clientele who could have got their modifying mitts on these cars new. Two special cars, then, ensuring today isn't about cutting the same outlandish shapes as Tiff Needell on Autocar's £15,000 performance mega-test around Rockingham in 2003, when these cars laid waste to some huge names to finish fourth and fifth out of 25 cars. Yep, 25 sub-£15k cars. You can barely get a base-spec Dacia for £15k now. While the Saxo nipped ahead of the 106 on that occasion, the pair exchanged places in our affections across their six years on sale to hammer home with conviction just how closely related they are beneath their skin. Yet flick through any period magazine and you will discover they offered quite different driving experiences: the Citroën is more agile, exciting and occasionally wayward, while the Peugeot operates with a mite more professionalism to serve up even greater thrills (at least on the road) with its greater breadth of ability in all conditions. What united them both were lap times that outgunned more muscular competition: their flyweight physiques, keenly revving engines and hyperactive handling propelled them around racetracks with the startled energy of a fly stuck in a hot room. Once again, the truth behind their handing differences is argued at length online, but the debate appears to focus on the 106 getting grippier tyres from the factory – and there are plenty of forum anecdotes of both cars exhibiting frenzied (or downright frightening) lift-off oversteer during ownership. Today, we have a grubby British morning to ride their waves of excitement and see how they each stack up almost 30 years after their respective launches. What they both share is an upright driving position and a cramped, offset pedal box. That you can still heel and toe with such a tiny throttle is a credit to the sharpness and accuracy of the controls beneath your feet. They possess similar steering wheels too, each perfectly proportioned and sited ahead of an attractive set of Jaeger dials with alternative colour schemes. Cute immobiliser keypad aside, the Saxo cuts a more modern dashboard aesthetic, while the 106 visibly shares vents and controls with Peugeots from a decade before to betray the fact that GTi trim arrived with the 106's mid-life facelift, while the Saxo was fresh on the market. I begin in the Peugeot, its hardened four-cylinder soundtrack and vibrant paint ensuring it buzzes down the road like an angry little hornet. Its steering is quick, alert and full of feel, while its modest 107lb ft of torque vastly over-delivers with less than a tonne to propel. The gearshift is a little notchy and a far cry from the slicker shifts we've enjoyed in more modern and sophisticated hatches since, but the GTi is already a delightful palate cleanser that still feels quick enough to be relevant. True to form, the Saxo is immediately more agile. It points so incisively into corners that you're almost caught off guard, while the rear wheels lighten with just a hint of a relaxed throttle. With more aggression, you can sense its bum poised to pivot round at the point the 106 is still working its grip more evenly across all four wheels. This is in mostly dry conditions, but were there more rain, I sense a perkier, perhaps meaner streak, is lurking within the VTS. Yet it's probably more addictive as a result, a live wire in which it is hard to resist upping your game while at the wheel. It charges hard even with a polite 5000rpm cap to avoid punishing Zac's refreshed engine, and it eagerly matches the Peugeot's enthusiasm. The Citroën has the smoother, neater gearshift of the pair and feels the more refined and finessed car to operate, despite the potential mischief barely concealed beneath. Both of them proudly demonstrate the endless benefits of making a car small, light and agile, and while they probably wouldn't impress the Euro NCAP testers now, each has airbags, ABS and luxuries such as electric windows and power steering to prove they were always value propositions rather than outright cheap. Each rides well on its 185/55 tyres and is narrow and nimble enough to snick around potholes anyway, negotiating the worst of broken British B-roads in its own inimitable way. On quicker asphalt they will both buzz away above 3000rpm during a 70mph cruise, and you'd need a strong resolve to daily one now – not least because you'd be exposing an appreciating asset to the grit and grime of a British winter. The Saxo VTS is the flamboyant extrovert, a car that's truly got under my skin on these tight Somerset lanes, while the 106 GTi is the more precise and accurate device, though still emboldened with a sense of humour. It feels like it would make a superior circuit toy, allowing you to bombilate around your local track evening without spending a fortune on fuel and tyres – not to mention doing so while embarrassing quicker and pricier cars in the process, just like this pair of French fancies did in those turn-of-the-century track tests. Ultimately these saviours of the affordable hot hatch remain enticing for more than simply their valour. I'll take one of each. 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Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
How Europe could go ‘Mega' by 2027
Poland's new president is a Trump-inspired nationalist. The government in the Netherlands has just been felled by an anti-migrant firebrand. Right-wing parties are already in government in Hungary and Italy, and in Berlin, the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the main opposition after it was endorsed by JD Vance and Elon Musk in the February elections. As Europe begins a cycle of crucial elections over the next two and a half years, the radical insurgent Right has the momentum. By 2027, there could be eight nationalist prime ministers in the 27-member-strong European Union, which has already swung to the Right. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's White House is determined to 'Make Europe Great Again'. Allies in the right places could prove very useful to Mr Trump, who accuses the EU of trying to 'screw' the US on trade and through the regulation of American technology firms. If 2027 is the year Europe does indeed go 'Mega', there will be serious ramifications for EU policies on migration, Ukraine and net zero, as well as a push to assert national leadership over Brussels. Experts believe this week's win in Poland and ructions in the Netherlands will bolster the 'Mega' wing in Europe with proof of concept. 'I don't believe in domino effects, but I do believe in a demonstration effect,' said Pawel Zerka, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank. In other words, people in other countries are aware of and influenced by politics elsewhere. 'The biggest demonstration effect is coming not from other European countries, but from the US,' he said. 'The election of Donald Trump gives a legitimacy boost and a confidence boost to plenty of the far-Right parties across Europe and their electorates.' Many of the parties had 'ever tighter links to the Maga movement' and 'practical support' to get better results, he said. The Netherlands Geert Wilders led his Party for Freedom (PVV) to the hard-Right's first-ever general election win in November 2023. But the 'Dutch Trump' was forced to sacrifice his dream of being prime minister in coalition talks after his shock victory on a platform of 'zero asylum'. This time, he would become prime minister, he told reporters in The Hague, as he vowed to once again defeat the establishment conservative and Left-wing parties in October. The shock-headed populist may struggle to repeat the trick, or to find willing coalition partners, after toppling the government for not backing his hardline migration plans. Current polls have him with a narrow lead of one percentage point over the Left-wing GroenLinks-PvdA. But Mr Wilders was enjoying highs of 50 per cent before forming a coalition government that struggled to implement its strictest ever asylum policy. He is banking on those numbers recovering, and White House officials have already made clear he has Mr Trump's backing. With enough vote share, he could form a new conservative coalition with the pro-business VVD, provided it also posts strong results. Tellingly, its leader has not yet ruled out a second alliance with Mr Wilders. Poland Mr Trump hosted Karol Nawrocki at the White House before the Law and Justice-backed former historian won a knife-edge victory on June 1. The role of president is largely ceremonial in Poland, but it comes armed with the power of veto over new legislation. Law and Justice (PiS) won the popular vote (35.4 per cent), but fell short of a majority at the last general election in Poland. Donald Tusk, who won 30.7 per cent of the vote, cobbled together a large and unwieldy centrist coalition to take power. Since then, prime minister Tusk has sought to steer Poland back to the European mainstream. His reforms, including the liberalisation of some of Europe's strictest abortion laws, are set to be frustrated by Mr Nawrocki's vetoes. Mr Tusk has called for a vote of confidence on June 11 to shore up his restive coalition, which is trailing PiS in the polls. Even if that passes, it looks very unlikely his government will survive to the end of its term in 2027, and while it is unclear who the PiS's candidate could be in the next general election, a hard-Right prime minister is not unlikely. Czech Republic Businessman turned politician Andrej Babis is leading in the surveys – consistently polling about 30 per cent – ahead of October's general election in the Czech Republic. The last election saw him lose to a Conservative-Liberal coalition by just a handful of votes. Babis's party, ANO, obtained 27.13 per cent of the vote, while Spolu, which leads the coalition of the current government, won 27.79 per cent of the vote. 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His policies, such as laws insisting Hungary only legally recognises two genders, have drawn praise and emulation from Maga supporters. But he has angered Western EU member states by opposing sanctions on the Kremlin and banning gay pride marches. Mr Orban is currently the most vocal nationalist leader in calling for pan-European alliances of hard-Right parties to radically reform the EU. His party is in a European Parliament alliance with the parties led by Mr Wilders, Marine Le Pen, Ms Meloni's coalition partner Matteo Salvini, and Spain's Vox. Sweden (2026) Prime minister Ulf Kristersson's coalition is propped up by the hard-Right Sweden Democrats, which remains formally outside of government despite coming second in a 2022 election dominated by fears over immigration and crime. The far-Right nearly doubled their vote share between 2014 and 2022, from 12.86 per cent to 20.54 per cent, which is largely down to the Sweden Democrats. The Sweden Democrats have exerted considerable influence over the government and its agenda. The question is whether voters will give Jimmie Akesson enough of a mandate to finally bust the taboo that has so far kept a party partially founded by Nazi sympathisers from being formally in government. Italy (2027) Giorgia Meloni has emerged as a genuine stateswoman since she took power in 2022, and experts believe her example of government has made the hard-Right in Europe more credible. She has kept her Right-wing coalition together, which is no easy task in Italy. She positioned herself as a mediator between the EU and Mr Trump while successfully spearheading a drive to get Brussels' tacit backing for offshore migrant detention camps. Thanks to her, the Italian hard-Right's vote share has risen from just 1.97 per cent in 2013 to 27.2 per cent in 2022, and she will be optimistic of another victory in 2027's general election. She has much in common politically with Mr Orban, but they are divided over Ukraine, which has split the European hard-Right. She shares a European political party with Poland's Law and Justice, which is hawkish on Russia and will be contesting the general election in 2027 if Mr Tusk's vote of confidence passes next week. Spain (2027) Spain's conservatives won the popular vote – 33.1 per cent – in the last general election, but fell short of a majority. Their potential coalition allies, Vox, the far-Right and Trump allied nationalists, underperformed, obtaining just 12.4 per cent of the vote. That opened the door for socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez to assemble an extremely broad coalition of the centre-Left, communists and Catalan and Basque separatists. Polarised Spain's culture wars have only got worse in the years since the 2023 election and the start of the divisive Mr Sanchez's second term. The pardoning of Catalan separatists and political discussions with former terrorists, as well as corruption allegations about his wife and allies, could cost him in 2027. France (2027) Emmanuel Macron called snap parliamentary elections, effectively daring the French to hand over power to the hard-Right, after Marine Le Pen's National Rally defeated him in the European Parliament elections last summer. National Rally did not get a majority, after a group of different parties united to keep out the hard-Right. But Mr Macron's party lost its majority in the National Assembly and has been a lame duck domestically ever since. Head of the largest single party in France, Ms Le Pen is well positioned for presidential elections in 2027, in which Mr Macron cannot stand. But Ms Le Pen was banned from running for the presidency in March after being found guilty of embezzlement. It drew immediate comparisons to the 'lawfare' waged on Mr Trump, who offered his support. She is appealing, but her protege Jordan Bardella will run in her stead if necessary. Polls are showing that either could win against Gabriel Attal, a contender to succeed Mr Macron as candidate – if they were to run. Ms Le Pen would beat him 53 per cent to 47 per cent, Bardella by 52 per cent to 48 per cent. The question is whether the 'front republican' will once again emerge in the second round of the presidential elections to keep the National Rally from power. Or, as it did this week in Poland, fall just short. The election of a Eurosceptic leader to the presidency of France, the EU's most influential member state alongside Germany, would be a political earthquake that would shake Brussels to its core. Why now? Andre Krouwel, who teaches political science at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said the populist parties in Europe were comparing notes as they plotted their routes to power. He said: 'They use the success and failure of other parties to learn from and use in campaigns. You see a lot of copying of strategies, such as victim playing or attacking so-called elites.' In general, traditional parties had an advantage in their experience and ability to govern, he added. Mr Wilders' decision to pull the plug on his coalition was an example that proved populists were 'good at saying things, not doing them.' The parties were also 'super-unstable' and given to infighting. For Prof Krouwel, the rise of the populist Right across Europe has its roots in economic anxiety as well as fears over immigration. 'There was always an expectation that your children will do better than you. You can't say that now,' he said, adding that Dutch children were staying home far longer because they can't afford to move out. 'We are all becoming southern Europe and that is an explanation for the populist surge,' he said. Maria Skora, visiting researcher at the European Policy Centre think tank in Brussels, said there were certain broad trends common to many EU countries where the hard Right was on the rise. There have been 15 years of difficulties, including the eurozone and migrant crises. The pandemic was followed by the war in Ukraine and the resulting cost of living crisis. That all contributed to the sense that traditional parties were not delivering. Meanwhile, parties like the AfD were extremely effective at using social media and digital campaigning. 'It's a digital revolution, as big a revolution as you know, radio back in the day,' Ms Skora said. 'I think this feeds into this tribalism and polarisation, which we see in more countries.'
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Britain backs routine, mandatory eye tests for drivers - as one in four road users have not checked their vision in the past two years
The public has backed mandatory eye tests for drivers amid alarm over crashes caused by poor sight. Nearly one in four drivers (24 per cent) have not had an eye test in the past two years, a new survey suggests. The poll, commissioned by insurer Churchill, comes amid growing concern over the lack of checks on drivers once they pass their test. Drivers in the UK must read a number plate 20 metres away as part of their driving test, but that is the only time they are required to prove their sight is good enough to drive. The NHS recommends people have their eyes tested every two years. Motorists are required to self-declare if they have a medical condition that could affect their ability to drive. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander received a prevention of future deaths report from HM Senior Coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley in April, which related to the deaths of four people killed by drivers with failing eyesight. The motorists had ignored the advice of opticians that their sight had deteriorated to a level where they should no longer drive. The Churchill survey suggested that 83 per cent of UK adults would support compulsory eye tests for drivers every decade. The figure rises to 88 per cent for those who would be in favour of sight exams every three years once drivers reach 70 years old. Some 12 per cent of drivers surveyed admitted they either thought their sight was not road legal, or were not sure it was. Department of Transport (DfT) figures show 240 people were injured and seven were killed in crashes on Britain's roads in 2023 in which defective eyesight was a factor. That was the most casualties since 2017, when the total was 262. Nicholas Mantel, head of motor insurance at Churchill, said: 'It seems surprising that UK drivers never need to prove that their eyesight is safe enough for driving once they have passed their driving test. 'What is even more remarkable is that some people continue to drive despite suspecting that their eyesight isn't good enough - or are doing so without wearing their prescription lenses or glasses. 'Our research suggests that there's overwhelming public support to make our roads safer by introducing compulsory eyesight tests for drivers.' Ms Alexander recently told the Commons Transport Select Committee she is 'open to considering' requiring older motorists to pass eye tests to keep their driving licence. This could be part of the Government's upcoming road safety strategy. A DfT spokesman said: 'Every death on our roads is a tragedy, and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way. 'The NHS recommends adults should have their eyes tested every two years and drivers are legally required to inform the DVLA if they have a condition which affects their eyesight. 'We are committed to improving road safety and continue to explore ways to achieve this.' The survey was conducted by research company Opinium between May 20-23 among 2,000 UK adults, of whom 1,312 were drivers.
