Introduced in 1889 the vehicle licence or more commonly known as tax disc is a circular disc that is three inches in diameter and is to be displayed on a vehicle as evidence it has paid its vehicle excise duty. As you can most likely imagaine there are a few people who try to avoid paying for a tax disc, surprisingly it’s not as high as I first assumed with 99% of vehicle owners paying their tax or declaring their vehicle off road.

There is a few who ruin it however but we aren’t going to go into depth about that, we want to look at the lighter side of people who “forget” to pay their tax. The DVLA who are the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are the ones in charge of ensuring that everyone has a tax disc. If you are found by the DVLA without a tax disc then you can face a heavy fine which can further escalate into being clamped, impounded or ultimately crushed. What comes hand in hand with strict rules? Excuses, although a small percentage there are a handful of people who still get caught with a tax disc every now again and with such serious implications who can blame them for having a go at weaselling their way out of it?

The DVLA receive several excuses, explanations and other various attempts to get out of paying the fine for not having a tax disc, some of these are hilarious. The DVLA have comically compiled the top silliest excuses for not having a tax disc for our own personal entertainment. So what are some of the silliest and strangest excuses for flouting the law?

5. I had man flu and couldn’t go to the Post Office.
A the famous man flu strikes again, a very legitimate excuse indeed. I do however think that your not tricking the DVLA with this one.

4. I fell out of a tree picking plums and broke both my arms.
Viable however again it didn’t make it past the DVLA this time. Maybe you should try again next year, if you have a car.

3. I’ve been out of the country for four months and I forgot where I parked my car.
It happens to the best of us, doesn’t it? Fortunately for you I think the DVLA has located it for you.

2. My dog ate the reminder.
A personal childhood favourite, isn’t it everyone’s? Some people just never grow up.

1. I was on my way to the Post Office to tax the car and called into the betting shop – there was a horse running at Doncaster called “Don’t Do It” so I bet on that with my car tax money instead – it lost.
Maybe you should have listened to the name “Don’t Do It”. Ohhh wait I see what you did there, very funny. You’re still getting a fine.

All these excuses didn’t manage to trick the DVLA despite the obvious thought that had gone into some of them. Its easier than ever before to tax your car with digital services also available any time of day or night so the moral of the story is that you should pay your car tax as chances are you won’t get away with it, or be able to trick the DVLA that easily, they’ve heard it all before, judging by these excuses anyway.

I would personally forget my head if it wasnt attached, but fancy leaving some of these things lying around. Heres the top 10 funny things found left in airports around the world.

#10 Suit of Armour

A 19th century armoured suite was found left, The full sized reenactment suite made of metal had managed to be left in airport luggage.

#9 Tibetan dun cheng

This massive 3m long brass instrument was somehow overlooked by its owners and left unseen in an airport, just lying around in the departure lounge.

#8 Violin

A Violin might not sound like an odd thing to leave, right? but your wrong this violin still lays in the unclaimed baggage and it turns out that its a violin from the 1770s a beautiful antique and most likely valuable piece.

#7 Ancient Egyptian Artifacts

Ancient artifacts were left in a gucci suitcase and these included a mummified falcon and shrunken head, dating back to 1500 bc these were then auctioned off in the 80s.

#6 Say Cheese!

A camera was found at an airport, however the odd thing was that this camera was property of NASA and was built for a space shuttle, carelessly left it was returned to NASA its rightful owners.

#5 Guidance System

A hefty £250,000 piece Naval guidance system was found in an airport abandoned by its owners, later it was returned to the Navy.

#4 Barbie Doll

Again, maybe a common item found in airports a little girls doll just left, someone eventually bought the barbie doll when it was unclaimed and went on sale later to find that her child who she gave it to had popped the head off the doll and found £500 rolled up inside.

#3 Shine bright like a Diamond

A 5.8 carat diamond ring was found…. in a sock, a very wealthy one socked person must be running about the streets so if you see him/her let them know.

#2 Ahhhhh SNAKE!

A rattle snake was found and recovered by unclaimed baggage, stuffed right? thats weird! Wrong… The rattle snake was very much alive and slithering, the unclaimed baggage staff eventually found this creature a new home.

#1 Inception

A plane inside a plane, a 1.5 x 2.4m remote air plane was found just left on a bench in an airport.

After thieving his parent’s car and driving it into a ditch a 10 year old Norwegian boy told the police he was a dwarf who had misplaced his driving licence. Some young children are story tellers, but this has to top them all. The boy managed to drive 10km in the car before burying it in a ditch, impressive, although still 50km away from his destinations, grandma’s house. The car was spotted by a snow plough who alerted the police of the stranded vehicle.

Although it with his story is sounds like a light hearted subject, it’s not at all, there is a serious point to this in which he could have got hurt and not to mention in the car with him was his 18 month old sister. There was a happy ending, no police charges, no harm to the children and no damage to the car, and I’m pretty sure in the future their parents will be keeping a more observant eye on the boy.

On an even more serious notes, did he have a booster seat and pedal extensions? Although there is no minimum height to drive a vehicle its advised that you have a cushion or pedal extensions to increase safety/vision if you are below 5ft in height. I don’t know why but I’m envisioning a toy story moment with a struggling child trying to drive a vehicle.

Putting A Car Hire Spin On Things
This isn’t our usual story so we’ve got to put a bit of a car hire message in, the 10 year old child would of likely needed a child seat. As the legal requirements for car seats state that if he is under the age of 12 or 135 cm in height he needs to be wearing one at all times. You can find details about car seats when hiring a car are available but often cost an extra daily fee, therefore we often suggest the alternative of buying one if possible, please click here for more information.

Driving has its ups and downs, it can be stressful at times but majority of people enjoy driving. It’s not a small percentage of us that don’t however, in fact 33% of drivers admit that they no longer enjoy driving, there are many things putting people off which could possibly impact future car sales, a forecast for the potential future if things don’t make an improvement perhaps? (more…)

2013 was an exciting year for the car manufacturing industry with several firsts such as the BMW i3. A new year brings a whole new load of vehicles with high expectations from car lovers, but what new cars will we see on the roads this year. Some of the already anticipated releases include…

Mercedes Benz GLA
A car that is being manufactured with the intention of rivalling the already popular Audi Q3 and the Range Rover Evoque, quite a brave move by Mercedes but will it live up to the task? The estimated price tag is lower than that of its rivals, set to be released in spring the new compact SUV is based on a platform the same as the CLA saloon and A class hatchback.

Ford Mondeo
Identical to the Ford Fusion which is already sold in the US and set to be released in Europe, the difference between this new model and the overseas one is the difference in engines and higher grade carbon trim, but it’s yet to be seen if there will be any significant differences when the vehicle is released in September.

Lamborghini Huracan
Granted not many of us will be able to meet the £155,000 price tag its exciting none the less, the Huracan is set to be the replacement for the Gallardo which is going to be quite the task as the Gallardo is the best selling Lamborghini ever. The new 5.2 litre V10 with an estimated 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds may live up to its predecessor.

Citroen Cactus
Looking like a car from the future with its glitter and glam and high tech outer body it was a concept car released in 2013 but is set to be on sale June this year. The cactus has the goal of being one of the safest cars with its new “Airbump” system designed to reduce low speed impacts and aiming to replace the traditional bumper.

Volkswagen Golf R
Another Volkswagen Golf to break records? The new high performance version of the Mk7 with a 2.0 litre engine and four wheel drive should bring it to match its rivals like the BMW M135i. You can buy this vehicle now however its first deliveries start in March; will the new Golf do as well as the previous years?