Monday, September 3, 2012
The safest car
There are a lot of things to consider when buying a new car, such as its engine size, boot capacity, fuel type, and a whole host of other factors which might affect drivability and car insurance cost.
However, one thing some people might forget about when purchasing a new vehicle – whether it’s second-hand or fresh off the forecourt – is its safety score.Well, for people worried about the safety of their car, there’s one vehicle they can rely on to keep them very, very safe indeed.
That, according to the Euro NCAP tests, is the Volvo V40.
Reportedly, this vehicle achieved the highest ever recorded score. It was tested on adult and child occupant protection, safety assist, and pedestrian protection, and excelled in all!
The car is available at a starting price of £19,745. I’m going to start saving up!
Photo © NRMA New Cars via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: boot capacity, car, car insurance, cost, drivability, engine, Euro NCAP, forecourt, fuel, new, protection, safety, safety assist, second-hand, test, vehicle, Volvo V40
Friday, August 17, 2012
Don’t get distracted by pedestrians
Do you find that in the summer you can’t stop looking at pedestrians?You’re not alone – but you should really try and avoid getting distracted by scantily-clad people and focus your attentions on the road.
Apparently, according to a car insurance company survey, 60% of men and 12% of women have taken their eyes off the road in order to…admire the view.
Amazingly, 21% of motorists even admitted that billboard models cause them to become distracted from the road too!
A large number of traffic accidents are caused every year by road users who were not giving the road their full attention – so it’s important that we drivers learn some self-control.
It would seem that’s not as easy for some as it is for others though. Reportedly, 17% of male motorists knew that this behaviour was dangerous but couldn’t help looking anyway.
Come on drivers – let’s try harder! There’s plenty of time to people watch when you’re not behind the wheel.
Photo © Crystian Cruz via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, dangerous, distracted, driver, motorist, pedestrians, road, summer, traffic accident, wheel
Monday, August 13, 2012
A purposeless road trip
“Are we there yet?”
Apparently, in many cases the answer will be “No” for the duration of the trip.
According to a study by a provider of car insurance and Populus, out of more than 20,000 motorists, 55% have gone for a drive – just to have a drive.
Getting behind the wheel solely to commune with the road is not uncommon – 10% of the people surveyed did it every week.
I’ll have to admit, I’ve never got into my car when I didn’t have a destination in mind. For one thing, I wouldn’t know where to go, and for another thing, fuel is too expensive to be driving without a goal.
Yet, ignoring the expense of filling up the tank, I think having a lack of scenic routes has a big part to play in my lack of aimless motoring.
I believe my point is proven by the statistics. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and North East England, more than 60% of people have just gone for a drive – whereas only 47% of Londoners have bothered taking such a purposeless trip.
I know that driving past impressive natural scenery would be much more likely to get me into my car than pavements and office blocks. Still, I suppose not having a green and pleasant land on my doorstep is saving me money.
Photo © Nature Pictured by ForestWander via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, destination, drive, driving, fuel, motorist, Populus, route, trip, wheel
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
Monday, June 25, 2012
Ignorance of the law can be rather crushing
How any person can grow up in Britain today unaware that car insurance is a must for any driver is beyond me.
Yet, according to Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) data, as many as one in ten young drivers is apparently ignorant of the legal requirement for motor insurance.How this can happen when car insurers are among the most prolific television advertisers makes the situation particularly baffling. Hardly an ad break goes by these days without some insurer or comparison website loudly trumping its claims. Who knows, perhaps those young drivers who are out of the loop are all watching the BBC. Perhaps they don’t even have televisions!
Well, here at Hoot we don’t advertise, but that’s only because we trust you to find us and don’t want to waste money on ‘bigging ourselves up’ only to have to reduce the quality of our service in order to fund our posturing.
As for uninsured drivers, they’re in for a torrid time in South Yorkshire, where police are now engaged in a serious crackdown which involves shaming drivers by displaying their vehicles and then, if they subsequently fail to take heed and buy insurance, crushing them within 14 days.
Photo © dave_7 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, MIB, Motor Insurers Bureau, uninsured drivers, young drivers
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
Monday, April 30, 2012
Pensioner finally passes her driving test
Some motorists may take months to pass their driving test, others dedicate years to the task. However, one 74-year-old woman has finally acquired her licence – 58 years after her first driving lesson.
Valerie Christie originally started taking driving lessons from her mechanic boyfriend back in 1954. After their relationship ended, the driving lessons stopped too. However, when one of her friends fell ill, she decided to restart lessons in order to help him get to hospital.
Ms Christie said, “It was my friend Thomas who inspired me to do it.
“He had a stroke some time ago and we have to get him to so many appointments. And now if we want to go out for a meal, we can drive there.”
Despite failing two previous tests, she passed on her third attempt with only four minor faults.
Ms Christie is now hoping to take advanced driving lessons to effectively manage night conditions and motorway driving – which may also reduce her car insurance premium.
It just goes to show you really are never too old to learn a new skill.
Photo © kilo_3d via photobucket
Labels: car insurance, driving lesson, driving test, licence, motorway driving
Friday, February 24, 2012
The siren-like call of the sat-nav
Most of us would probably be quite happy to have a sat-nav, if we haven’t got one already.
But beware!Their voices can lead you astray as surely as a siren’s call, and in total sat-navs have reportedly cost £203million in vehicle repairs in the last 12 months alone.
The head of car insurance at Confused.com stated, “Our research has shown that the sat-nav is not always the blessing it was once hailed to be and, increasingly, motorists appear to be citing the device as a source of frustration and danger.”
The problem is that a combination of out-of-date maps on the devices and drivers relying too heavily on the directions given by the gadget is resulting in crashes which could easily have been avoided.
Although it is hoped that a summit set to be held in March this year will solve a lot of the navigational errors being suffered my motorists, many sat-nav problems can be resolved by drivers paying more attention to the road and looking at their intended route on a real map before leaving.
The art of true navigation is being lost, let’s reacquaint ourselves with it.
Photo © Unhindered by Talent via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, Confused.com, crash, device, directions, gadget, map, motorists, navigational error, road, sat-nav, summit, vehicle repairs
Friday, February 10, 2012
Could personalising your car be dangerous?
A recent survey published by a UK car insurance company showed that the average British motorist spends nearly £100 personalising their car with accessories, but these extras could potentially increase their chances of being involved in an accident and might raise their insurance premiums.
Apparently, 57% of motorists accessorise their cars; typically choosing options such as floor mats, air fresheners, stickers and even on some rare occasions... fluffy dice.Around one in ten of these drivers modifies their car to express aspects of their personality, but a third said they just wanted to make their vehicles more comfortable.
However, 70% of those surveyed had placed accessories which obscured or blocked their view.
Modifying a car should never be carried out at the risk of safety.
A spokeswoman for the insurance company said, “You can understand why so many of us want to make them more comfortable or individual, but car accessories should never impede the driver’s vision in any way.
“If you are going to adorn your rear window with stickers or soft toys, make sure they don’t obscure your view.”
The research also revealed that young drivers are more likely to accessorise their vehicles which, depending on the level of customisation, could increase their insurance premium. To find out how much your extras could set you back, click here to get a quote.
Photo © yortw via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: accident, car insurance, insurance premium, young drivers
Friday, January 20, 2012
High-tech glasses and road safety
We’ve all seen people driving while chatting on their mobiles and been thoroughly disgusted at their reckless behaviour, but some new technology might give us yet another hazard on the road.
A company called Lumus has developed a pair of glasses which can project images onto its own lenses, making email, film, TV and games available to the wearer, centimetres from their eyeballs. It’s a very clever piece of tech but imagine how many reckless drivers might choose to watch a film while on the motorway. They’d probably have some popcorn on their lap too, knowing the ridiculous things they get up to on the road to the detriment of car insurance prices and motorist safety nationwide.
The company’s website tag-line is “Seeing through. Seeing beyond. A vision ahead,” but the problem is that although the images are transparent to allow people to get on with their day while being entertained, if you focus on them the real world behind will probably just become a blur.
Fingers crossed that no-one wears these glasses behind the wheel and that pedestrians don’t get too swept up in the film they’re watching to pay attention to traffic.
Photo © runekrem via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: behind the wheel, car insurance, driving, glasses, hazard, Lumus, mobiles, motorway, road, technology, traffic
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
A holiday with a difference
Fancy a holiday in the new year? How about a trip round the M25, the motorway which has been voted in various polls as the most hated place in Britain?
Well, one bus company from Brighton & Hove Bus will be happy to oblige. For only a small fee it is willing to take paying tourists on a 117-mile round-trip of the M25 for a spot of sightseeing.It all sounds very post-modern – a trip round the London Orbital to satiate the leanings of "lovers of modern coach travel".
Although you could be forgiven for thinking that the tour sounds like a sure-fire commercial disaster, it is actually proven very successful in the past – hence the decision to take bookings once again.
Gaze out your window and enjoy the wonders of Heathrow Airport's Terminal Five, Lakeside Shopping Centre and row upon row of angst-ridden car insurance customers trapped behind the wheels of their vehicles.
Wow, forget Paris, I’ve got a real surprise in store for my girlfriend this coming Valentine’s Day.
Image © timo_w2s via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, coach, M25, motorway, sightseeing, tourist
Friday, December 30, 2011
When the motorway becomes a 30-hour maze
We all know what it’s like to get lost on the motorway – the way one wrong turn can lead us inexorably into a darkening vortex of frustration and disorientation.
So spare a thought for one 82-year-old man who was recently found by police after 30 hours lost on the motorway.The retired carpenter said that he had at first been “a little lost”, but that little wormhole of lostness had eventually led him to an abysmal blackhole of deepening displacement.
The police commented, “He had been driving around the south of the country, predominately on the M25 motorway but had also gone onto some A roads in the area.
“He had stopped to catch up on some much needed sleep – we think in a motorway service area, before setting off again.
“He is after all 82-years-old. Presumably he put fuel in the car during the service stops over the two days.”
The lost man had initially set off on a short and familiar trip to see family.
After his family reported him missing, his car was spotted by police using an automatic number plate recognition camera, the same as the kind used to identify those driving without car insurance.
We think he might have received a sat-nav from relieved family members this Christmas.
Image © Gene Hunt via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 30 hours, car insurance, lost, motorway
Friday, October 14, 2011
London landmark lands on MPs
Could you imagine the car accidents and carnage which would occur if Big Ben (the clock tower, not the bell) actually fell over – well, apparently it could happen because Big Ben’s tower is beginning to lean.
But, if you’re a London young driver, you don’t need to worry about getting a special clause in your car insurance just yet, because it is likely to be somewhere in the region of between 4,000 and 10,000 years before there’s a risk the structure could topple over.Apparently, the tower leans to the north-west by 0.26 degrees – which means it’s 0.5m out of line at the very top – and this is enough to make the lean visible to the naked eye.
Some pundits have suggested the listing may have been caused by the building of an extension to the Jubilee Line on the London Underground but experts who have been monitoring the tower since 1999 say there is no evidence to support this.
Other specialist civil engineers suggest that the clay on which the famous clock tower is built is drying out more rapidly on the north side and this has caused the structure to sink on one side. However, there is no concrete theory! Ha ha – concrete theory – get it!
And architectural historians worried about the demise of important, beautiful buildings need not be too concerned because if the tower eventually falls, its trajectory will see it landing on Portcullis House, the modern block just over the road from the Houses of Parliament, which is home to the offices of many MPs.
I’m not saying a word!
Image © J Venn
Labels: car accidents, car insurance, London, young driver
Friday, September 16, 2011
The world’s youngest driver?
A YouTube clip of a 4-year-old Chinese girl driving a car has caused an internet sensation.
In the video, the girl, perhaps the youngest driver in the world, sits in the driver’s seat as she calmly drives along a motorway in Shandong Province – an area not noted for its safe and sedate driving.
Amazingly, she is seen overtaking other vehicles as she drives at speed, while her parents appear completely nonplussed, occasionally interacting with her from the backseat until her father says, “Jia Zeng, stop the car. Let daddy drive.”
As someone with young nephews and nieces, as much as I’m shocked to see a 4-year-old allowed behind the wheel, I’m equally astounded at how well-behaved she is. It’s usually at the point that you ask a young child to do something that it throws itself headlong into a tantrum – certainly not something you’d particularly want if it was piloting a car down the motorway.
Once she’s pulled over to let her daddy drive, he pops out of the back seat and removes some wooden blocks from the accelerator – meanwhile she returns to being a normal 4-year-old and pops a sweetie in her mouth.
I’m not familiar with motoring law in China, but I find it hard to imagine that it wouldn’t be an offence. I’m also certain that Chinese car insurance companies don’t offer car insurance to drivers as young as four.
Poor girl, it might look like fun, but it is impossible not to fear for her safety.
Labels: 4-year-old, car insurance, Chinese girl driving a car, young, youngest driver in the world
Monday, August 8, 2011
I’m not going on holiday this year, make no mistake
“We’ve gone on holiday by mistake,” is just one the many brilliant lines in cult classic Withnail & I. And although it might be a rather strange claim and statement of despair, it is, sadly, not an entirely unfamiliar situation for many young people.
With economic pressures such as low wages and high car insurance, we’re lucky if we arrive at any kind of holiday at all. Yes, Withnail and the authorial I might not have had heating, lighting, running water or any comforts of civilisation – and, yes, they had Withnail’s incorrigibly hot-breathed uncle to fight way, but at least they had a holiday, something increasing numbers of young people are finding it impossible to do.And what is it we can afford when we do? The answer is usually a damp cottage in rural Wales that we arrive to find already inhabited by hundreds of arachnid guests, or a cut-price holiday package in Egypt that leaves us with gastro-intestinal fireworks display and a finer knowledge of the alphabet of food poisoning, from E coli to Salmonella.
Truth be told, most of the time it’s just not worth it. That’s why this year, I’ve decided to have a holiday at home. London’s lovely and warm, so I’m going to take some time off and be a tourist in my own city. I’m going to tour the parks and explore the museums and have barbecues with friends. What’s more, I’ll save a couple of hundred pounds and reduce my carbon footprint in the process.
Photo © scalvert1978 via photobucket
Labels: car insurance, carbon footprint, holiday
Friday, July 29, 2011
Young drivers, your country needs you!
“Young drivers! Young British drivers! Young talented British drivers, your country needs you!”
With two recent F1 world champions, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, I thought that there must be an abundance of young British driving talent, but it turns out that I’m wrong – in a sense.You see, just as it is with car insurance, it seems that the cost of motor racing is proving a real impediment to young drivers in this country – few, if any, sports are as expensive as motor racing, and it seems that the vast majority of hopefuls just can’t afford it. As a result, a whole generation of talent is slipping through the net.
For example, only recently Skoda UK looked to recruit a driver for its 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge but had to overlook all British candidates on the basis that they simply didn’t have the experience.
And why didn’t they have the experience? Well, because they don’t have the money. In today’s world or motor sport, unless you have the private funding to boost your career, you’re unlikely to get a place on the starting grid.
“Young drivers! Young British drivers! Young talented British drivers! Young talented rich British drivers, your country needs you!”
Photo by Dmitry Sumin via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: british, car insurance, F1, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, rally, young drivers
Monday, July 11, 2011
Vanilli comeback, you know it’s true. But did anyone miss you?
Does the day on which you are born hold augurs for what your future will hold? I for one certainly hope not.
Which cataclysmic event did I soundtrack my first infant cries? With what peeling of bells from on high did the world celebrate my arrival?
The answer: none, and none.
You see, unlike my dad, who, as he likes to tell practically everyone he meets, was born into the exultant peace of 1945’s VE Day celebrations, I was born on an entirely inauspicious day, November 15, 1990.
Instead, I, beetroot-red and stunned by the light of the outside world, lip-synced to the indignant howls of the world’s music press at the news of the fraud of Milli Vanilli.
Yes, Milli Vanilli, the erstwhile Grammy-winning pop duo who, it emerged on the day of my birth, had never between them sung a note in earnest.
Outed as lip-syncing frauds, they want on to endure notoriety and eventually, in a tragic twist, the suicide of Milli.
But, in a new twist that must in some way be entwined with my fate it has been announced that Vanilli, now solo, has been working on a comeback album.
But what can it mean? What can it augur? My hope is that, with my car insurance due for renewal on the day of my birthday, I’m going to get a nice retro 1990-style quote.
Image © Alan Light via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, milli vanilli, quote
Friday, June 24, 2011
Spiteful dads go “topless” to embrace irony
As representatives of conscientious and responsible young drivers it wouldn’t be like Hoot to forget to Father’s day.
So with the third weekend of June having just passed, we thought it fit to continue with our dad-related theme.
Yes, why is it that dads, just as they retire from being the free taxi service, so often decide that it’s the perfect time to, excuse the pun, convert to convertible driving?
Is it just to spite their offspring that they spend the whole of our childhood and adolescent years resisting any idea of buying a convertible that they then, just as we move out and have to start thinking about getting our own car and our own car insurance, suddenly decide that they’ll take a chunk out of our inheritance and splurge on a soft-top?
Ironically, more than one in ten dads who buy convertibles say that they do it to “recapture their lost youth” – to me it seems that all their doing is exposing their old age to the elements.
Another ironic twist is the desire cited by many to “feel the wind through their hair” – unfortunately for many the winds of time have already swept most of that hair away.
To complete our triptych of ironies, many dads say that they buy a convertible to “enjoy the good weather” – c’mon, we do live in Britain…
Image by culture.culte via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, convertible
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sorry gaffer, computer says no
GPS technology can do so much more than just help you find your way successfully from Land’s End to John o’ Groats – it’s now being used to sell car insurance to young drivers in the form of a telematics box and it may even help England win the European Championships in 2012.
Yes, I know this last statement sounds wildly spurious and optimistic but it’s true, if only you’ll read on.Jack Wilshire, widely considered to be the greatest creative young midfield prospect we’ve produced since Paul Scholes – some even rate him as better – has said that he won’t go to the European Under-21 Championships after being warned off competing by the little GPS black box he has fitted to his body every time he plays.
It says that he’s getting tired, worn out and risks injury and exhaustion if he continues to play on through the summer’s under-21 tournament, having already clocked up more pitch minutes than any other Arsenal player this season.
As such, he’ll be free to rest, relax and have a summer holiday like any other person this summer. As a full international and Arsenal regular, he’s no longer a novice student of the game, so his decision to not compete will earn him a well-deserved break and be one that hopefully helps us come the 2012’s senior tournament.
Image © Ronnie Macdonald via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, Jack Wilshire, young drivers