The good oil: When is a Rolls-Royce not a Rolls-Royce?

Geely's Geely GE. Photo / AP

When is a Rolls-Royce not a Rolls-Royce? When it's made in China and called the Geely GE. The Chinese are notorious for their plagiarism of Japanese and European designs - and the recent Shanghai motor show was no exception. The Rolls-Royce/Geely GE was one of many rip-offs on display.

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An AA-sponsored driver safety programme called "Going Solo" is aimed at giving parents - the predominant driving "instructors" in this country - the tools to become better drivers. It will help mums and dads guide their kids from the learner licence stage through to driving on their own. Road users aged 17-25 account for 12 per cent of the New Zealand population - but 25 per cent of crash fatalities. Other facts: Young men on a restricted licence are seven times more likely to crash than men aged 45-49. Young women are six times more likely to stick the car into the trees than women aged 45-49.

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The Going Solo initiative is welcome - but it is just another make-do measure in this country's wishy-washy attitude to driver training. Safety groups have been pleading with governments for years to introduce a stricter learner-driver regime. Britain's driving test, for example, is far more demanding than New Zealand's. Now Britain is looking at making it even tougher, after studies showed 20 per cent of new drivers have a crash within a year of getting their licence. Young New Zealanders are pretty much taught only enough to pass their licence - they aren't taught how to drive properly.

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Up to 40,000 rebadged Holden Commodores could be exported each year to the United States ... as all-American police vehicles. The deal would eclipse GM Holden's current North American export programme, axed by parent General Motors this week along with the Pontiac brand. Australian reports say the Los Angeles Police Department is behind a plan to supply high-tech Australian-made patrol cars to US law enforcement agencies. Ironically, the project could see the Commodore effectively replace Ford's aged Crown Victoria as the vehicle of choice for many US police departments.

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Joseph Milano was a driver for New York Mafia family the Bonannos - or he was until he squealed and entered the witness protection programme. He ended up running a back-street pizza joint in Miami until he allegedly pistol-whipped a customer who complained about his food. Now he's on the move again.

alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz