Greg Murphy on plan to give full licence without second practical test: ‘That's not economics, that's just stupidity'
A Hawke's Bay-based motorsport legend says a plan by the Ministry of Transport to remove the full-licence practical test is nothing short of 'ludicrous'.
In April, Minister for Transport Chris Bishop announced a range of suggested changes to the licensing system, including removing the full-licence practical test
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NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Female drivers will also be able to request female passengers in a pilot programme being rolled out in three US cities
Uber said women riders and drivers across the US have been saying they 'want the option to be matched with other women on trips'. Ride-hailing platforms including Uber have long faced pressure to improve safety for both drivers and riders. Uber disclosed thousands of reports of sexual assault during US rides between 2017 and 2022. Uber and Lyft began sharing information in 2021 on drivers they had deactivated in an effort to improve rider safety. Uber previously rolled out a feature that enables riders and drivers to record audio on trips. These recordings are encrypted and can be accessed by Uber only when an incident is reported. Where will the rides be available? Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit are the pilot cities for the new feature, where it will be rolled out 'in the next few weeks', the company said. How can I use the new feature? The new feature lets riders request a female driver when hailing a ride, with the option to switch to all drivers if waiting times are too long or if a female driver is unavailable. They can also prebook a ride with a female driver and change their app settings to indicate they would always prefer to be matched with a female driver. Women drivers will be able to switch their app settings to request only female passengers - including during peak evening hours - and can turn off the feature at any time to accept all ride requests, Uber said. Are there other women-only rideshare apps? There are several smaller rideshare companies that are only for women, such as HERide in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, and North Carolina-based Just Her Rideshare, which says it has primarily female riders and drivers. Lyft launched a similar feature called Women+ Connect in 2023. Uber has already rolled out the 'Women Preferences' feature in dozens of countries, starting with Saudi Arabia in 2019. 'Most drivers are men, so we've worked to ensure this feature was truly useable in different places around the world,' Uber said in a news release.
Scoop
09-07-2025
- Scoop
Top US Team HMD Motorsports Confirmed For Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Trophy
Top US racing team HMD Motorsport will join forces with TJ Speed Motorsports to field a three-car line-up in the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy. The team will race under the name HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed and will join the New Zealand Championship's existing four teams for the new-look four-round championship when it begins in January 2026. HMD has campaigned in Indy Lights and INDY NXT since its inception in 2019, and also an alliance in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES from 2022 to 2023, and in the Formula Regional Americas championship in 2020. It's best known, however, for its INDY NXT campaigns, where it has run drivers including current INDYCAR racers Christian Rasmussen, Linus Lundqvist, Kyffin Simpson, Benjamin Pedersen and Nolan Siegel. It has won the team's championship twice and has also been runner-up twice, as well as two drivers' championships since 2021. Rising INDYCAR star David Malukas is the son of team owner Henry Malukas and is another to have raced in INDY NXT with the team. The New Zealand-based single-seater series has served as a critical development platform for many HMD-affiliated drivers, both past and present—including Josh Pierson, Liam Sceats, Tommy Smith, Callum Hedge, Bryce Aron, and Nikita Johnson—all of whom have progressed to race in INDY NXT. The championship has also contributed to the careers of drivers who have advanced to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, including Louis Foster and Jacob Abel. As an FIA-certified category, the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy awards Super License points to its top drivers, creating a strong pathway for drivers' progression within the sport. 'We are looking to strengthen the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy grid in New Zealand by prioritizing a competitive driver line-up that represents HMD and TJ Speed,' explained HMD Motorsports Team President Mike Maurini. 'With two strong and growing programs, joining forces to compete abroad, we will be able to combine our efforts and help get some drivers that could potentially compete with us in 2025, with some additional track time.' Indycar drivers Santino Ferruci, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jacob Abel, Louis Foster, Marcus Armstrong, and Robert Schwartzman are all graduates of New Zealand's premier single-seater championship. 'We have built a strong reputation in the United States as a great feeder series for IndyCar feeder series such as IndyNXT and the USFPro Championships,' explained TOYOTA GAZOO Racing NZ Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol. 'Removing the clashes in the NZ racing calendar and the US testing calendar cleared the way for more teams in key markets to join our championship, and the speed with which HMD Motorsports and TJ Motorsports have committed is reflective of the interest in New Zealand. Their addition will only make that pathway stronger both ways.' 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy
Scoop
08-07-2025
- Scoop
Maasai Demand Volkswagen Pull Out Of Carbon Offset Scheme On Their Lands
Maasai Indigenous people in Tanzania have called on Volkswagen (VW) to withdraw from a controversial carbon credits scheme which violates their rights and threatens to wreck their livelihoods. In a statement, the Maasai International Solidarity Alliance (MISA) denounced the 'loss of control or use' of vital Maasai grazing grounds, and accused VW of making 'false and misleading claims' about Maasai participation in decision making about the project. Many Maasai pastoralists have already been evicted from large parts of their grazing lands for national parks and game reserves, with highly lucrative tourist businesses operating in them. Now a major new carbon-credit generating project by Volkswagen ClimatePartner (VWCP) and US-based carbon offset company Soils for the Future Tanzania is taking control of large parts of their remaining lands, and threatening livelihoods by upending long-standing Maasai grazing practices. The Maasai have not given their free, prior and informed consent for the project. They fear it will restrict their access to crucial refuge areas in times of drought, and threaten their food security. Ngisha Sinyok, a Maasai community member from Eluai village, which is struggling to withdraw from the project, told Survival: 'Our livestock is going to be depleted. We will end up not having a single cow.' Asked about VW's involvement in the project, he replied, 'It is not a solution to climate change. It is just a business for people to make money using our environment. It has nothing to do with climate change.' Another Maasai man, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said: 'They use their money to control us.' A third said: 'Maasailand never had a price tag. In Maasailand, there is no privatization. Our land is communal.' Survival International's Director of Research and Advocacy, Fiona Watson, said today: 'The carbon project that Volkswagen supports violates the Maasai's rights and will be disastrous for their lives, all so the company can carry on polluting and greenwash its image. It takes away the Maasai's control over their own lands and relies on the false and colonial assumption that they are destroying their lands — which is not supported by evidence. 'The Maasai have been grazing cattle on the plains of East Africa since time immemorial. They know the land and how to manage it better than carbon project developers seeking to make millions from their lands.' VW's investment in the project, whose official name is the 'Longido and Monduli Rangelands Carbon Project', is believed to run to several million dollars, and has contributed to corruption and tensions in northern Tanzania, according to MISA's report on the project. An adjacent project in southern Kenya, also run by Soils for the Future, is beset with similar problems, and has already sparked resistance from local communities. Survival International's Blood Carbon report revealed that the whole basis for these 'soil carbon' projects is flawed, and unsupported by evidence. Survival documented similar problems with the highly controversial Northern Kenya Grasslands Carbon Project. That project suffered a blow in a Kenyan court and was suspended and put under review by Verra, the carbon credit verification agency, for an unprecedented second time. Notes: Further undermining VW's 'green' credentials, there are serious concerns that the company might source nickel for their electric vehicle batteries from the territory of uncontacted Indigenous Hongana Manyawa people in Halmahera, Indonesia. VW sources batteries from CATL, a joint venture partner in a new battery factory inaugurated last month just a few miles from the territory of the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa. VW has also signed MOUs with Eramet and Tsingshan, which, together with the Indonesian state mining company, own the biggest nickel mine in the world. That mining operation is currently destroying the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa's territory. Volkswagen ClimatePartner (VWCP) is a joint venture between the auto maker and ClimatePartner, a controversial German company which provides carbon offsetting services to polluting businesses. The 1 million hectare (2.5 million acre) project depends on undermining the Maasai's traditional and long-standing grazing practices, requiring them to change to 'Rapid Rotational Grazing', which removes flexibility and causes hardship – particularly in dry seasons.
