Monday, September 10, 2012
Are you having to put fuel before family?
I am about to pull you into a confusing and ridiculous dreamscape – just go with it.
You’ve just driven your car down a long road, and suddenly your car begins to take over. You let go of the steering wheel, but it keeps trundling along. It seems to know where it’s going – and soon you are in a petrol station forecourt. One of the pumps unhooks itself and turns its little oily eyes towards you.
It says, “You’ll have to cancel that Sunday Roast, mate. This is going to cost you more than you thought.”
All of a sudden, your pockets, which were filled with money, are empty, and you leave the forecourt feeling annoyed.
Ok – when I click my fingers you will wake up.
Right, so, how do you feel? Did that dreamscape hold some parallel to your real life?
According to Hyundai, it should do. A surprising number of people have had to stop visiting their family as often because of fuel costs, with 60% of families missing out on gathering together for the Sunday Roast.
Don’t despair though – there are ways to save on the costs of motoring. One of them is by driving in a safe and economically friendly manner. Another, which might help low mileage motorists and young drivers receive a cheaper quote upon renewal, is by purchasing telematics car insurance.
Get a quote and see if that Sunday Roast is back on the cards!
Photo © www.theedinburghblog.co.uk via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, drive, family, forecourt, low mileage, money, petrol, pumps, quote, road, steering wheel, Sunday Roast, telematics, visit, young driver
Friday, August 10, 2012
A young driver competition
There’s nothing I like more than a good competition, and Mercedes-Benz have launched one I like the sound of. Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is looking for the best young driver in Britain.
Young driver, oh, well that cuts me out of the running straight away then – you might think.
But wait! The Terms and Conditions simply state that you have to be 16 years old or older, and at least 1.5 meters tall. I double checked, and there is indeed a 24+ category for entrants.
The winners from each age catagory will enjoy a full year as a Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy VIP – not a bad prize at all!
Being a VIP with the Academy will mean that you get invitations to exclusive events, mingle with the rich and famous, and have opportunities to drive the newest Mercedes-Benz vehicles around.
I, for one, already know I’ll be entering ‐ I’ve been watching the Olympics and I’m feeling competitive. Bring it on!
Photo © garryknight via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: Britain, competition, drive, Driving Academy, Mercedes-Benz, prize, vehicle, VIP, young driver
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
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Learning lessons
When you’re only just starting out at something, whatever it is, there’s no point pretending that you know it all. Even if others don’t find you out, you yourself will.
This maxim applies more to being a young driver than it does doing most things. After all, driving can be a matter of life and death, so it’s always worth admitting what you don’t know and moving on from there.
With this in mind it’s good advice to learn from the tragic example of 21-year-old young woman driver from the South of England who lost her life in a recent accident.
Only three-months after passing her test, the girl was approaching a roundabout in her Ford Ka car, when, apparently following the instructions of her satnav, she took the first exit.
Little did she know that it was actually a slip road and that she was travelling in the wrong direction. As a result, she collided head-on with an oncoming BMW.
The girl’s mother has wise words of warning for any young driver, “Satnavs are a help to youngsters on the road who don’t know where they are going but young drivers have so much to think about.
“If they are following the satnav they can’t always be aware of the road.
“If the satnav tells you to get off there you just think it’s telling you the right thing. She believed she was doing the right thing and didn’t question it.”
Furthermore, she thinks that satnavs “should be included in some way in driving lessons... maybe it would stop a tragedy like this happening again”. An interesting idea, and one that is certainly worth of consideration.
What do you think?
Photo © dullhunk via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, Ford Ka, young driver
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, March 16, 2012
Bar staff shaken, not stirred
It’s the kind of thing that you think of as the apogee of cool when you’re still young enough to be in primary school – four business-suited men go into a 55th floor cocktail bar, order some flashy £14 drinks then step onto the balcony.
Although that in itself might sound suave and upwardly mobile, it’s what the young men did next that is exceptional.Yes, they downed their drinks, but once they’d done that they then shocked horrified bar staff by flinging themselves from the balcony.
But this was no morbid suicide pact – instead, the men were base jumpers in disguise who had a getaway car waiting for them on the ground below.
After making their vertigo-defying jump they engaged their parachutes and gracefully descended to the ground where one brave or foolhardy (I’ll let you be the judge) young driver waited to help them make a quick escape.
But spare a though for the staff at the cocktail bar. It must have been quite a shock, traumatic even, for them to, however briefly, think they had been helpless witnesses to a suicide. "I ran from the kitchen into the room and I just saw a flash of them jumping over, and at that stage none of us knew what the hell was going on," said one.
"They had cameras on their helmets so I'm sure we'll all see it on YouTube soon. I hope they are caught – they need to pay their bill,” he added.
I hate to sound like a grown-up but this kind of thing has all kinds of implications in the insurance world, too. For example, the bar may have more difficulty finding cover next time they want it if it is thought that there is a risk of the same kind of thing happening again. And what of the young getaway driver, maybe his car insurance company would not be best pleased to know that his vehicle was being used for to aid a daredevil stunt that stretches the bounds of safety and legality.
Photo © mountainhiker via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: base jumpers, car insurance company, getaway car, men, young driver
Friday, February 17, 2012
Silver drivers
As a young driver, with all your friends passing their practical tests and finding freedom on the roads, it must be easy at times to feel like young people make up a large majority of road users in Britain.
You’d be wrong though. Figures from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency show that in fact, the number of elderly motorists over the age of 80 far surpasses the number of 17 to 19s behind the wheel!
Only about 682,000 drivers up to the age of 19 hold a full licence in comparison to the one million over 80s still negotiating the UK’s road network.
Furthermore, they drive in just as safe a manner as 25 to 29 year olds and suffer three times fewer severe injuries or deaths on the highway than the 17 to 19 age group.
A spokesperson for the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) states, “Those who wish to continue driving beyond the age of 70 should only be prevented from doing so if there are compelling reasons.
“Rather than seeking to prevent older people from driving, we should make them more aware of the risks they face and offer them driving assessments to help them eliminate bad habits.”
Your 80th birthday might seem a good long way away, but it’s nice to know that your car won’t be snatched from you when you reach the big eight zero.
Photo © Todyotter via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 80, birthday, Britain, Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency, full licence, IAM, Institute of Advanced Motorists, practical test, road, road user, young driver
Friday, November 4, 2011
Reckless he is. Matters are worse… But the police force is with him.
It’s being reported that police in Germany this week stopped a driver who’d been involved in a hit-and-run with a Halloween reveller.
Much to their shock, when they got the offending motorist to wind down his window, they realised that far from being the reckless young driver they might have expected, he was actually a 900-year-old green-faced Jedi alien.
But no, fear not, Master Yoda hasn’t been brought back from the dead only to cross over to the Dark Side – the offending motorist in question was himself just a Halloween reveller in Yoda mask, albeit a drunk and recklessly driving one.
A Berlin police spokesperson commented, "The officers were especially surprised to see Grand Master Yoda at the wheel.
"The hapless Jedi returned home on foot. In this case, the force was not with him."
Fortunately, the pedestrian sustained what have been described as only “minor injuries”.
Photo © Gonzavision via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: Halloween, Master Yoda, young driver
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, October 7, 2011
Incredible reporting of young (?) driver’s race win
It’s amazing how the definition of “young” has changed over the years.
Recently, an archived news piece from 1929 came to my attention which talked about a young driver who had won the Indianapolis 500 race.The piece described Ray Keech as a daring young auto driver, but after researching the American racing driver, I found that he would have turned 29 years old just four weeks before the race took place.
Nowadays, we tend to think of motorists between the ages of 17 and 24 as being young drivers and someone aged 29 would be considered an experienced motorist, especially if they had been driving since their teens.
The article, which featured in the Calgary Herald and can be accessed here, reports the astonishing revelation that although another driver, who had crashed during the race, died at the track while the race was still being contested, the event was seen through to completion.
And, the three separate headlines to the piece further tell the story of how the driver’s death was valued by editors of the newspaper:
“Louis Meyer Finishes Second in Annual Indianapolis 500-Mile Grind”
“Only 13 Cars of 33 Complete Course”
“Bill Spence, Victim of Crash, Was Trailing Leaders – Car Rolls Over”
Quite incredible!
Image © momentcaptured1 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 17, 24, experienced motorist, Indianapolis 500, young driver
Monday, October 3, 2011
Hoot says drink driving should be zero tolerance
So, Northern Ireland could be about to reduce its drink-driving limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to just 50mg/100ml, with a reduced limit for young drivers of 20mg/100ml.Well, I for one young driver think it’s about time too. In fact I’d be up for zero tolerance in the UK.
Having seen the consequences of being involved in a drink-driving accident first hand, and having lost a good friend as a result, I can say that no alcohol for drivers should always be the way to go.
When you’re the designated driver it’s sometimes so tempting just to have one drink, but once you’ve had one you might feel like having another because you feel fine and before you know it you’re over the limit with all your mates relying on you for a lift home. It’s just too easy to get in your car saying, “I’ll be really, really careful.”
But sadly, a careful drink-driver is not the same as a sober driver.
Here at Hoot, we say don’t risk it – ever. Don’t even have one. A lifetime of pain and regret just isn’t worth the risk.
Image © K-tee Snape via Flickr, Under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: young driver, zero tolerance drink-driving
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Muzza’s sporting the right car
Here at Hoot, we love our sport (well some of us do) and there’s a feast of it going on at the moment. Golf, tennis, athletics, motor racing – there’s something for everyone (unless it’s football only for you). Still, for all those die-hard footy fans it’s only a few months till the start of the brand new season – and yes we’re polishing up our Fantasy Football League teams as we speak.
In fact, a little bird tells me that Europa League qualifying matches kick-off at the end of June – so there’s no chance of becoming completely starved of the beautiful game.And meanwhile, there’s Wimbledon (thank goodness for the roof on centre court) to entertain us for two glorious weeks.
Apparently, the Great British tennis hope and young driver, Andy Murray, has recently got rid of his red Ferrari in favour of a slightly more conservative “gun-metal” Aston Martin because he said he felt like a “prat” when driving the Italian performance icon.
We feel he may have a point – Italian flash over British class – we know who wins every time.
We just hope Murray can be as prestigious as his choice of cars.
And guess what? He says he still drives his faithful little Volkswagen Polo, his first ever car, because it’s easier for city motoring.
A summer of sport and motoring – it’s Hoot heaven.
So, as we shout, “Come on Muzza” at our TV screens and watch forlornly as Vettel marches relentlessly on in the F1 season, there’s still some hope that our 2012 Olympic hopefuls will give us more to cheer about next summer. And yes, some of us were lucky enough to get tickets, but that’s a whole other blog.
Image © Marc Di Luzio via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: Andy Murray, motor racing, Wimbledon, young driver
Friday, June 17, 2011
Belt up!
Some young drivers might be shocked to hear that as many as one in every 20 drivers in the UK does not wear a seatbelt behind the wheel.
The research, undertaken in an AA Streetwatch Survey using data collected in April and May of this year, also reported that one in every ten cars approaching junctions seemed to be travelling too fast and almost one quarter of vehicles observed had broken brake-lights. You might be concerned that these motorists are on the roads with you, but there’s apparently even more to be worried about.
Some drivers, despite the large amount of adverts and general warnings against it, were seen using hand-held mobile phones, and one third of motorists didn’t bother indicating at junctions or roundabouts.
Despite the very real risk of serious injury or death, and fines for people caught driving without belts on, the president of the AA stated, "In previous surveys that we've done, excuses came up - atrocious things like, 'Well, actually I might crease my shirt or my blouse; I'm only going down the road.’”
As the UK road safety minister said, "Those excuses just aren't good enough because even if you're pulling out of your driveway you can hit a van, hit another vehicle, and the consequences without wearing a seatbelt are actually quite dire.
"My message to [the drivers who don’t wear seatbelts] is simple - seatbelts save lives and not wearing one just isn't worth the risk"
Image by Criterion via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: AA, junctions, motorists, road safety, roundabouts, seatbelt, young driver
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Flash cars and art
If you’re a young driver who likes flash cars you’re going to love the vehicle images created by Marc Cameron and photographer Mark Brown.
Titled the Light Graffiti Supercars Project, the duo’s work has created quite a stir in recent months with their images of iconic models created in refracted LED light.London-based artist Cameron says in the Telegraph, "We previously photographed in areas of the Cotswolds, but for this series of the Light Graffiti Cars we decided to shoot at iconic locations in the Big Smoke, with the cars featured having to be the most visually-stimulating, stunning rides of recent times."
The photographs include images of a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento in front of “The Gherkin”, a Range Rover Evoque outside the Houses of Parliament and, my particular favourite, a Mastretta MXT precariously crossing Tower Bridge.
To see the Telegraph’s gallery click here, and if you’ve got a picture of your flash car, then send it to us here at Hoot and we might feature it on the blog.
Image © davidsonscott15 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: Lamborghini, Mastretta MXT, Range Rover, young driver
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Crawlies for dinner. I find the thought creepy.
As a generation I know that we’re extremely lucky to be able to eat all kinds of foods all the year round.
We want a pineapple? We go to the supermarket and buy one for a couple of quid – conveniently pre-prepared for us if we like. Fancy a coffee? Role on down to Starbucks and order a flat white. Need some milk? Will that be organic, full cream, skimmed, semi-skimmed, jersey, Goat’s, soy or rice?
The list could go on. But it’s worth remembering that we’re among the very first generations to have taken this wealth of choice for granted.
A pineapple doesn’t even seem exotic any more, yet only a couple of hundred years ago they were worth more than their weight in gold. Coffee, too, used to sell for a similar premium and milk, well, it was just milk.
The same goes for meat. Supermarket shelves are packed with meat from all over the world – from New Zealand to Iceland – but there is a concern that all this livestock and all these air miles could eventually take their toll on the planet.
As a response to this need for low mileage food, Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers has created a three-course Banquet of Insects for the restaurant at Oxford’s Museum of Natural History. It showcases such delicacies such as worm crisps, grasshopper salsa tacos and chocolate-coated locusts.Apparently, just as we’re all being asked to become car insurance customers for electronic vehicles in preference to gas-guzzlers, we should all be considering insects as sustainable and locally sourced food.
Nice idea, but I’m going to take some convincing. What do other young drivers think?
Image © avlxyz via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: electronic vehicles, low mileage, young driver
Friday, April 1, 2011
Helping your ambitions hit target
A new study by insurance company AXA has found that young people in Britain are more ambitious than young people from any other nation in Europe.
At first this seems like a good news story, until you read further down the study and find that although they are more ambitious they also have the least faith that they will attain their ambitions.
I understand this, ambition can be crippling – it’s one thing to have the ambitious ideal but it’s altogether another thing to have the self-confidence to test the reality of that ambitious ideal.Every day in Britain, a young driver is faced with an example of this paradox. Yes, we want to take to the roads and yes, we want to get the cheap car insurance that makes it possible, but when we look for an affordable quote, we often find that none appears to exist. So faced with the choice of paying £30,000 to insure a one-litre Nissan Micra or not driving at all, we sigh with weary resignation and give up.
As much as it pains me to say, in this respect, just like with football, we could learn from the Germans and the Spanish – they are more likely to redouble their efforts and “try harder” when faced with such obstacles.
But then again, if you’re reading this then chances are that you’ve either got lucky early on and found Hoot – or you’ve already taken a leaf from the German and Spanish way and worked hard to find us, a young driver car insurance quote specialist.
So don’t give up, let us compare the market for you so that we can find you the really cheap young driver insurance that helps you reach your ambitions.
As Bill Bradley, the great American basketball player and former democratic presidential candidate, said, “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”
Image by j9sk9s via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheap car insurance, young driver
Friday, March 25, 2011
Young people faced with difficult choices
Can it really have come to this? Must it be that for some young drivers the choice is between paying for car insurance cover or putting a deposit down on a house?
Well, I for one hope that young people aren’t faced with this dilemma. Although the obvious choice would be to own a house, you still need to be able to have some freedom of movement. What’s the point in owning a house if you’re stuck in it all day and can’t actually move anywhere?
You might think I’m being extreme, but I’m not – for some young drivers, the exorbitant cost of motor insurance cover means that they are actually faced with this dilemma.
Said one young driver who was quoted £24,000 to insure his 12-year-old Volvo, “It’s enough for a deposit on a nice house.”
And this wasn’t some young boy racer. This was a responsible young man who had taken the Pass Plus advanced driver certificate.
And, astonishingly, in the same week another young driver was actually quoted a full £12,000 more for a policy for his modest grey Vauxhall Corsa.
Perhaps these two hadn’t heard of telematics car insurance, which saves you money by rewarding you for safe driving, but I’ve got a feeling that if they had we probably never would have read any news stories of their outrageously expensive car insurance quotes.
Telematics: it doesn’t make you choose between being a driver and a mortgage holder. But let’s face it, with house prices as they are today, we’re not likely to be able to afford a house for a while yet.
I wonder if our parents’ generation, many of whom bought houses in their early twenties, has any idea of just how lucky they’ve been.
Image by cheetleys via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, telematics, young driver
Friday, January 21, 2011
Frontin' in the name of...
In music, 2003 was a stand out year for high-pitched male vocals. Not falsetto, exactly – I’m not musical enough to throw such terms around, anyway – but the kind of music you and a dog could enjoy together.
Justin Timberlake released the undeniably brilliant “Señorita” that year, a song which features parts both for ladies and men (a true metrosexual, JT sings both). If you pay attention to the video, you’ll notice Pharrell Williams is playing drums; a nod to the fact that he and Chad Hugo produced the track together.
Pharrell is responsible for another high pitched masterpiece released in 2003, “Frontin’”. The song and accompanying video are notable for several things, among them the relatively unusual ratio of clothes-on-women to clothes-on-men (for a rap song) and the phrase ‘tear ya ass up’, which is presented here more as a kind of cutesy come-on than the violent threat it surely ought to be.Until recently, frontin’ was a term I understood solely in the context presented here by Pharrell – referring to a person who puts up a façade of confidence or emotional availability (the ‘front’).
Not any more.
These days, it seems, the car insurance business is getting its claws into everything: meercats, Australians, etc – and now frontin’, or fronting, to give its insurer terminology. We are to understand the word in this context as referring to a low-risk ‘parent’ figure taking out car insurance in their own name on a car meant principally for a different, high-risk ‘child’ (who is included on the policy as a named driver).
The tactic is illegal and insurers are quick to see through it in the event of an accident, meaning that the effective level of cover provided is zero. But in these cash-strapped times, plenty of people are doing it – and this definition for frontin’ is rapidly gaining currency in the motoring press.
Let’s look at the evidence. Frontin’ = cool. Fronting = definitely not cool.
Image © Karl Hab via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, fronting, young driver