Monday, May 28, 2012
Kitten nearly loses one of her nine lives in car tyre mishap
Anyone who owns a cat knows they can get themselves into all sorts of bizarre situations. However, when one Birmingham homeowner heard strange “meows” coming from his shed, he probably wasn’t expecting to come to the aid of a stray kitten.
Unfortunately, this little animal had managed to get her head stuck in a car tyre – and was calling out for help.
Herchran Boal, RSPCA inspector, tried to get the ten-week-old kitten out of her predicament.
She said, “I tried to free [her] at the scene using margarine but it was impossible so I knew I was going to need help. I took her to Birmingham Animal Hospital where after about one hour we finally managed to get her free using KY jelly… it was such a relief when she was successfully freed.”
The kitten, now named Alloy, is receiving treatment and expected to make a full recovery. Eventually, she will be put up for rehoming and should go on to live a long and happy life.
Personally, I think this incident will have given her some paws for thought.
Photo © Kevin Briody via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: Birmingham, car tyre, kitten, RSPCA
Friday, May 25, 2012
Motorists prefer in-car digital radio
These days when buying a new vehicle, drivers can choose a variety of snazzy gadgets; such as satellite navigation systems, in-car phones and touch screen technology.
But, according to a survey from What Car?, out of all the possibilities today’s motorist is most likely to pick digital radio as their first optional extra when getting a new car.
The poll showed 44% of buyers chose a DAB radio as their primary add-on, beating other technologies such as mobile internet and lane-departure systems.Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and CAP Motor Research LTD revealed that, as of March, car manufacturers were fitting in-car digital radios as standard into 23% of new vehicles.
Although this doesn’t sound like much, only 10% of companies fitted them in 2011 – suggesting digital radio is quickly becoming a must-have gadget.
Paul Everitt, CEO of SMMT, said, “New cars are increasingly being fitted with digital radios and we expect this trend to accelerate over the coming years with the majority of new cars being digitally enabled by the end of 2013.”
So, it seems that with an increase in the number of digital-only radio stations and improvements in signal coverage, tuning into DAB could soon become a common pastime when behind the wheel.
Me, I’m glad to have any sort of a music system in my car, as I long as I don’t have to listen to Radio 2.
Photo © Feeling My Age via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: digital radio, lane-departure, mobile internet, satellite navigation, What Car?
Monday, May 21, 2012
Young drivers, here’s your chance
Are you a young driver with a perfect car insurance and accident record? Do you believe that you have what it takes to be the world’s leading driver?
If your answer to either of these questions is “yes” than look no further than Formula One’s upcoming young driver test, which will allow the budding F1 stars of the future to put their claims and their aspirations to the test.The only problem? Well, F1 teams are unable to agree on when the tests should take place.
Although the tests usually take place towards the end of the season. This season there are many lobbying for a July date, immediately after the British Grand Prix.
The event usually takes place in Abu Dhabi, so talk of this seasons tests taking place at Silverstone has upset some of the teams.
Red Bull’s technical director Adrian Newey comments, "I would have thought you are best off evaluating young drivers at the end of a season. They're not in a junior formula they've been competing in, they have finished their championship, you can see how they've gone and they've a bit more experience."
If you’re a Hoot customer and you are planning on taking the F1 young driver test, let us know!
Photo © CraigMoulding via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, young driver
Friday, May 18, 2012
Young passengers a risk for young drivers
This week a U.S study showed that carrying a passenger who is younger than 21 increases the risk of a young drivers dying in a car crash by nearly 50 percent.
Although it has long been known there is a danger of the least mature young drivers becoming reckless or careless when driving with their peers, the figures still make for shocking reading.And, astonishingly, the risk of death actually doubles when the number of young passengers is increased to two, and then quadruples when the number of young passengers is increased to three or more.
Against such a background it becomes easier to understand why some companies struggle to provide cheap car insurance to young drivers.
But not so for those of us at Hoot. That’s because we target responsible young drivers who in turn find us – all with one aim: providing more affordable policies.
That means if you’re one of the 17 percent of drivers who admit to playing Angry Birds or a similar smartphone game while behind the wheel, you’re unlikely to be here looking for a policy in the first place.
If you want to know how to avoid an accident (and we’re guessing that you do), it’s worth knowing that young drivers are less likely to suffer an accident when they have a passenger over the age of 35 in the vehicle. So do yourself a favour: give an older friend or relative a lift!
Photo © SuperMac1961 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: accident, cheap car insurance, passengers, young drivers
Friday, May 11, 2012
Ferrari in hot water after publicity stunt
Car manufacturer Ferrari is facing criticism after one of its vehicles caused damage to a Chinese monument.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the company’s entrance to the Chinese market, the organisation intended to temporarily place a Ferrari 458 Italia on the Zhonghua Gate Tower.Unfortunately, one overenthusiastic dealership employee decided to drive the vehicle; performing ‘doughnuts’ and other manoeuvres on the ramparts – leaving skid marks all over the 600-year-old monument.
Ferrari has apologised and insisted it never intended to perform these stunts. As a show of good faith, they are collaborating with officials to repair any damage.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Zhonghua Gate Tower was used as a large defensive structure. As a testament to its effectiveness, no-one ever tried to breach its fortifications. Today, the building is a popular tourist attraction.
Speaking to Sky News, one angry Chinese visitor said, “I do not think the Zhonghua Gate Tower is the right venue for the car show.
“For tourists like those who travelled thousands [of] miles from Australia, they only came here today, but the site is closed. What a pity."
Allegedly, the driver of the Ferrari is being punished by his employer.
Photo © evercool via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: Australia, China, damage, doughnuts, Ferrari, local authorities, Ming Dynasty, skid marks, Sky News, tourist attraction, Zhonghua Gate Tower
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Canadian stuntwoman sets record for world’s fastest toilet
To qualify for cheap car insurance, a motorist should display a history of safe driving and always stick to the speed limit.
However, one driver was flushed with pride after breaking the land speed record – for motorised toilets.
Jolene Van Vugt drove the appliance around Sydney’s Olympic Park at 75km/h (46mph), beating the previous record by 7km/h.The 31-year-old Canadian thrill-seeker already holds a couple of world records – like being the first woman to back-flip a full-sized dirt bike.
When interviewed by journalists, she said, “I've broken Guinness World Records before but I never thought I'd be the fastest toilet rider in the world.
“I flew into Australia yesterday and came out here to jump straight on the toilet. That was so fun and I'm stoked to get the record.”
The stuntwoman was using this event to raise awareness for her impending Australian tour with Nitro Circus, a group of daredevils who perform various insane stunts on dirt bikes. Here’s hoping they do not leave skid marks all over the place...
Photo © cburow02 via photobucket
Labels: cheap car insurance, dirtbike, Guinness World Records, Jolene Van Vugt, land speed record, motorised toilets, Nitro Circus, Olympic park, speed limit, Sydney
Friday, May 4, 2012
First person shooters improve driving skills
All you gamers out there – it’s time to rejoice.
If your parents are constantly telling you that you’ll get square eyes, or your brain will rot, or your young mind will be influenced into committing violent crimes due to the shooting games you play on the console of your choice – they might stop when you tell them the results of recent research. Scientists at the University of Toronto tested 25 people. None of them had ever played video games – no I don’t know where they found these people – and they were split into two groups.
One group of 16 played 10 hours of first person shoot-m-up games in one to two hour sittings, and a control group of nine played 3D puzzle games.
Previous to being given games to play their brain waves had been measured while they tried their hand at a visual attention task. After the game playing was over, their brain waves were tested again while performing the same type of visual attention task.
The results showed that individuals who had been playing shooting games had significantly different brain waves recorded during the visual attention task, and had improved at the task too.
The 3D puzzle game lot showed no improvement.
In a nut-shell – playing first person shooters could improve your visual awareness on the road and reduce the risk of you suffering a crash!
Photo © Fey llyas via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: awareness, brain waves, crash, puzzle games, road, shooting games, University of Toronto, visual attention