Drivers "must be taught to be greener"

Call for state-sponsored lessons in eco-motoring

16 September 2007 16:27 GMT / By Jonathan Goddard

New driving techniques must be taught to motorists to combat carbon emissions from their vehicles, a report suggests.

A report by the Commission for Integrated Transport also suggests new rules to ensure drivers can only buy the most fuel-efficient cars, according to the BBC. It also wants new cars to be as environmentally friendly by 2020 as the greenest cars currently available on the market.

The CfIT is the body that advises the government on transport. Among other recommendations, it says that keeping to 70mph rather than 80mph on the motorway will cut emissions by almost a third.

It suggests having state-sponsored lessons in eco-motoring for the nation's drivers and wants all cars to produce no more than 100g of CO2 per km in the next 13 years.

Turning off air conditioning, driving without a roof rack and generally driving with a "lighter touch" were other techniques the CfIT recommended.