Monday, July 30, 2012
Nostalgically filling up on petrol
I’ve always thought it would be fun to go back in time to the 1970’s. Oh, the colourful flared trousers, the flower power; the classic bands!
You could go and see Jaws at the cinema with people who had never seen it and found the special effects realistic and terrifying. How about Star Wars? Grease?Somehow we can all get nostalgic over a time period we might not have even experienced first-hand.
Well, now you can experience a small part of it. Dress up in some 70s gear, drive down to a Shell service station, and get your fuel tank filled up by a petrol pump attendant.
After four decades of absence from the forecourt, attendants can now be found at 300 of Shell’s UK service stations.
Reportedly elderly drivers are really enjoying the extra help, as are some disabled motorists who can now get assistance to cross the concrete to pay for their fuel at the shop.
One attendant in Westcliff, Essex, states, “Obviously not everyone wants us to help but we have had really good feedback.”
Well, I have my tie-dye top on and I’m heading out to fill up right now!
Photo © zigazou76 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 1970s, drive, flared trousers, flower power, forecourt, fuel tank, Grease, Jaws, motorist, petrol pump attendant, service station, Shell, Star Wars
Friday, July 27, 2012
My brother’s practical test success
My brother just passed his practical driving test.
Yes, yes, well done him – is it wrong to be annoyed?
I am very proud that he’s managed to pass, but there are a few things getting in the way of my happiness for him.
One – he’s younger than me. Two – he’s younger than I was when I passed. Three – he passed first time, when it took me four goes!Well excuse me but I just don’t think that’s fair! I was definitely ready to pass second time round – I’ll admit my nerves the first time would never have permitted me to pass straight away.
I still believe that the examiners had something against me. Maybe they were having a bad day and were just feeling mean?
I’m a safe driver – I really am. Since getting my full licence, I’ve never had a crash. I’ve not even scratched paint from the side of my car while parking, or dented the bumper on a hidden bollard.
I suppose I should just try and let go of the grudge I have against three examiners. It all happened quite a while ago now – and the only harm it really did was use up a lot of my hard-earned money…
Well done, brother. Don’t let your head get too big. I’m still better than you at loads of things!
Photo © PhotoOptik via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: bumper, examiner, first time, full licence, nerves, parking, pass, practical driving test
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sardine-related traffic
Have you ever been driving along, heard a rattling noise and thought – which door isn’t closed properly?
Well I know I have, and luckily every time it’s happened I’ve found a safe place to pull over, get out of the car, and close the door firmly before continuing my journey. One delivery truck driver in Poland wasn’t so lucky though, since he failed to close the rear doors correctly, and didn’t notice in time.
This resulted in 24 tonnes of sardines spilling out onto the road, reportedly covering several hundred meters of the highway and bringing other road users to a standstill for hours while the fish were cleared up.
The truck driver was fined £50, and also had to pay £5,000 for the clearing of the road.
One motorist caught in the traffic stated, “At first we thought it was some sort of divine judgement – like a plague of locusts or frogs.”
I may very well have thought the same thing had I encountered thousands of tiny fish on the road – it can’t have smelt particularly divine through…
Hopefully the driver will be more careful next time. What a waste of fish!
Photo © rockyeda via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, closed, door, driver, driving, fish, highway, journey, Poland, rattling, sardines, traffic, truck
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Cooling off in the car
The modifications some people subject their poor cars to are pretty unnecessary and very likely to increase the price of their car insurance – or make their vehicle completely uninsurable.
One man from the Zhejiang province in China has taken car modifications to a new extreme – by converting the rear of his people-carrier into a paddling pool for his six-year-old son. The temperatures over there have apparently been approaching 40 degrees Centigrade – sort of makes you envious with the summer we’ve been having.
Anyway, so that his son could cool off and have fun, the man removed the seats from the rear of the family car and lined the back of his vehicle with plastic sheeting; filling it up with water until it was only about 30cm from the bottom of the windows.
I’ve found that since reading this news story, I’m looking at my car in a different light.
Now we just need some hot and sunny weather and I’ll probably be off to buy some plastic sheets and a small wave machine.
Photo © Dave Haygarth via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, cars, China, family car, modifications, paddling pool, people-carrier, son, temperatures, uninsurable, van, vehicle, water
Monday, July 16, 2012
Reverse Zoolander syndrome
One great way to reduce the cost of your car insurance is to take an advanced driving course, but it seems that for many of the nation’s young drivers, such a course would be a good idea for many other important practical reasons.
According to a piece of research by one motor insurer, ten percent of young drivers have never parked their own car.
Now, this piece of news sounds a bit odd to me. What, exactly, are these young drivers doing then? Are they just driving round the streets – forever – or at least until they run out of petrol.
No, closer inspection, reveals that they apparently get someone else (Mu-uu-uum! Da-aa-ad!) to do it for them.
It would seem that a sizable minority also have Zoolander syndrome in reverse and can’t turn right at a junction.
"Although young drivers have the reputation for being reckless and too confident, we can see that many young people actually lack the confidence they need on the road,” said a spokesperson with the insurer.
"Of course, the road can be a scary place when you first start driving, but it's surprising that basic things such as parking or negotiating roundabouts are still a worry for motorists long after they've passed their driving test."
Jokes aside, this survey would seem to raise some serious issues, not least about the effectiveness of the driving test.
Image © Tripiale via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: advanced driving course, car insurance, reduce the cost, young drivers
Friday, July 13, 2012
A party trick that doesn’t bear repeating
One young passenger in the West Midlands had a seriously lucky escape this week when his young driver girlfriend crashed her car into a garden wall.
Security cameras in a private residence caught the moment when the car, which was clearly moving at some speed, collided with the brick wall; became airborne and, amazingly, ejected the front seat passenger through the sunroof. Astonishingly, the young man appeared to not even touch the sides."We were called to reports of a silver Peugeot 406 in collision with a wall,” said a West Midlands police spokesperson. "
A woman was arrested on suspicion of drink driving but was later released without charge,” he added.
I don’t want to be one to bandy about accusations, but judging by the way the young man rocketed out of the sunroof, I’d hazard a guess that he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
Thankfully, some would say miraculously, the passenger was completely unharmed – he certainly seems to have a good quota of “bouncebackability”.
As for the pensioner who had his garden destroyed in a moment, he seemed philosophical. "It was like something out of a police action film. Somebody could have easily been killed if they had been walking by," he said.
Perhaps the police ought to check the car over. Maybe it has a James Bond-style ejector seat.
Photo © JoelnSouthernCA via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: girlfriend, passenger, West Midlands, young driver
Monday, July 9, 2012
Former racer against speed increase
A race driver bemoaning a possible increase in the speed limit for the UK’s highways? That’s odd.
Well, Damon Hill, a former world champion race driver who has won the Grand Prix 22 times, has said that he thinks an increase from 70mph to 80mph on motorways would be a disaster. The ex-racer, who retired in 1999, explains, "Most people aren't safe to drive over 55. The speed limit going up to 80mph makes me shudder.
"People mostly drive too fast on the motorway and too close to the car in front. They think they know what they're doing and they don't."
This might sound like a big insult to a large number of this country’s motorists, but in comparison to him we must all be pretty unskilled behind the wheel.
Unfortunately, whereas Mr Hill states that he doesn’t like driving over 70mph because he finds it stressful, it’s usually the most unskilled and inconsiderate road users among us who decide to ignore the speed limit regulations.
Talking about his ‘boy racer’ days, Hill says, “I escaped by the skin of my teeth when I was younger because I was a good driver, but that didn't make it OK."
It’s a shame we can’t give reckless road users some hindsight, so that they could see how dangerously they are behaving. Sadly some of these motorists might not learn how important being safe behind the wheel is until it’s too late.
Photo © Supermac1961 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, Damon Hill, drive, driving, Grand Prix, highway, motorway, race driver, road users, speed limit
Friday, July 6, 2012
Musical motion sickness
Do you get car sick when you have to play passenger to another driver? Perhaps you get sea sick and hate having to drive your car onto a ferry?
Well, award-winning British designer Sarah Davenport may well have created a new type of sickness – piano sickness.
The designer made a rocking piano called Chi Chi several years ago, which wobbles back and forth like a boat when a pianist is sat at the keys and is getting into the swing of things.
It’s a baby grand, inside a specially cut wooden sleigh-shaped frame, and it’s apparently expected to be sold for £1500 at a John Pye and Sons auction in Nottingham which starts at the end of this week.
One of the employees at John Pye and Sons stated, “I was very excited when I found out we had the piano up for auction.
“I’m a self-taught pianist but I can play well so I got straight on and had a go – and nearly fell off because I wasn’t ready for it to rock!”
I have a feeling that playing on a rocking piano might be quite distracting. People watching a performance might even start getting a bit motion sick…
Photo © kyphilosopher via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: baby grand, car sick, driver, motion sick, passenger, piano
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Tyre labelling
This week tyre firms began labelling their stock.
Thirty-five million tyres are sold in the UK annually, and now this new labelling system should help drivers make the right decisions safety-wise and price-wise when it comes to purchasing new ones.
From now on, tyres will show potential buyers their fuel efficiency, safety and external noise level ratings in an easy-to-read diagram similar to white-good efficiency rating stickers. The chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) states, “There are more than 150 million tyres currently on UK roads, so any information to help motorists understand crucial safety and performance characteristics is valuable, particularly given the safety improvements and fuel efficiency savings that can be gained from choosing the right tyre.
"Before this tyre label, customers only had price and brand to distinguish between more than 300 different types of tyres; now motorists have a set of comparable factors to make buying decisions easier."
Putting more knowledge into motorists’ hands might be a step forwards towards safer roads, and lower carbon footprint.
It might also mean that some well-known companies which were perhaps riding off their brand name, will have to go back to the drawing board with their tyres and try harder to make them quieter, safer, and more efficient.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but in this case knowledge is power.
Photo © Dominic’s pics via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: fuel efficiency, labelling, motorist, noise level, safety, SMMT, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, tyre
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Hot Wheels loop-the-loop
Remember Hot Wheels? It was a brilliant game that you or your brother or a friend of yours is likely to have owned at some point during their childhood. It might even still have a place in your heart and under your bed, secretly.
Well, two drivers in America have recently got into the Guinness Book of World Records for performing a double Hot Wheels loop-the-loop.
What’s so impressive about that you might ask? Me and Dave had our little cars going round those loops all the time!
Well, the thing is that in this case the loops were more than 60 feet high and the drivers went round them in real vehicles.
One of the men who performed the stunt said that he experienced extreme G-force on his way round the giant section of Hot Wheels track, and struggled to avoid blacking out.
The other driver involved is reported as having said, “I tell you what, I'm at a loss for words. That was absolutely the coolest thing I've ever done.”
The previous holder of this record was a Chinese driver who drove round a 42ft loop in September 2011.
The Hot Wheels set that I have in the attic doesn’t seem so exciting anymore…
Photo © dougww via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cars, drivers, Guinness Book of World Records, Hot Wheels, loop, stunt, vehicles