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Bungling thief caught after stealing hire car's steering wheel

A DIM-WITTED criminal has been convicted of theft after stealing parts of a brand new Audi A3 hire car and replacing them with old bits taken from his much older Audi S3. Alexander Keating, a 23-year-old former bodyshop technician who lost his job following the conviction, stole parts as obvious as the steering wheel and gear knob from the A3 that his mum had hired after damaging her car in an accident. Keating foolishly believed no one would notice the battered old steering wheel on the otherwise shiny, new car, but sure enough the mismatched parts were spotted and the hapless bungler was caught by the car hire firm’s bespoke anti-fraud team Asset Protection Unit (APU).

New speed cameras planned for motorways

NEW SPEED CAMERAS painted grey and placed along large sections of the UK’s motorway could be introduced within two years. The Highways Agency is looking to increase the amount of ‘managed motorway’ on the network – sections where the overall speed of traffic is adjusted up and down to avoid traffic jams and to allow the use of hard-shoulder running. Currently sections of the M25 and M40 operate variable speed limits Under new plans however cameras will be placed on large sections of motorway designed to catch drivers exceeding the overall 70mph limit.

Magna Electronics develops 'Touchskin' concept [w/video]

Electronics firm Magna is working on a new technology it calls 'Touchskin concept' that has the potential to eliminate traditional switches and instruments inside vehicles. As part of its ‘Intelligent Surface Technology', the Touchskin concept is set to be an integral part of a system that allows the user to control the car via intuitive gestures – such as pinching, tapping and swiping – as we've become so familiar with when using smartphones. The potential design implications are easy to see with the large amount of space made available by removing the traditional instrument cluster and its wiring and the removal of wired-in switches and buttons.