It’s nice to have some trees and flowers in the garden, perhaps even some little gnomes or something similar…

But Stonehenge made of cars?

Artist Jim Reinders constructed the…artwork…in 1987 in rural Nebraska in America, and it’s recently been put on sale for $300,000. That’s about £186,294.

Every year around 100,000 visitor come to gaze at this – ehem – 24-year-old wonder, which shares exactly the same dimensions as the ancient stone original in the UK, but the group which owns it (Friends of Carhenge) can no longer afford to maintain the structure.

The Wyoming estate agent in charge of selling this odd piece, which is entirely built from American cars, states, “Carhenge's uniqueness, novelty and unusual components continue to draw the attention of film and television production crews as well as over 80,000 tourists from all over the world.

“As the second most popular tourist site in Nebraska, Carhenge provides a tremendous ownership opportunity for entrepreneurs.”

Well that may be but I’m afraid you won’t catch me buying it, I don’t have enough space for one thing! Sorry Friends of Carhenge…

Labels: cars, Friends of Carhenge, Jim Reinders, Nebraska, Stonehenge

There are countless numbers of times that I have found myself caught in an incredibly slow moving traffic jam and wished that my car would just sprout wings and fly me out of the situation.

Well, it seems that my hopes aren’t as fruitless as they may seem. According to a report, developers have been creating a flying jeep!

They are being designed for the use of the U.S army and will hopefully carry four people, as well as equipment, and have the ability to take off and land vertically at the flick of a switch.

The first model of the Jeep, named the ‘Flying Humvee’, is expected to materialise at the end of next year and take to skies from as early as 2015.

It will be able to handle all-terrain driving as well as flying up to 250 miles on one tank of fuel – and this can all be achieved by a driver who hasn’t had pilot training!

Ok, maybe it isn’t very likely that I’ll get behind the wheels of one of these wonder-vehicles myself, but the thought of them will certainly make traffic jams more interesting!

“...And take off!”

Labels: car, fly, Jeep, traffic, vehicle

A friend of mine passed her driving test today and she is soooooooo happy.

Now, I don’t want to embarrass her, but she had already had one or two attempts and I know she was getting pretty frustrated with failing on very minor issues, but today she joins the ranks of fully-fledged women drivers, and she can hold her head up high when she says:

“I PASSED!”

So, for anyone out there who has just failed their practical driving test or if you’re soon heading off for another attempt, just remember, perseverance is the key and the Highway Code is your bible.

And when you finally pass and can get into your lovely shiny car, all by yourself, to go driving wherever you want, just remember to have your CoverGirl women’s car insurance sorted before you get behind the wheel, so that you’re street legal and good to go.

CoverGirl says, “CONGRATULATIONS to all you new drivers out there &ndash: we salute you.”

And to anyone who has failed a test we say, “Keep trying, it is worth the effort.”

Labels: practical driving test, women drivers, women’s car insurance

No one likes to be halted in their journey or diverted onto a different route to the one which they had planned, thus being plunged into the unknown, but car accidents and road works can have a hugely detrimental effect on journey times and can cause frustration and anger behind the wheel.

So, women drivers are urged to take the initiative and plan ahead before setting out on a long or unfamiliar journey.

The Highways Agency website offers up to date traffic information, route planning guidance and even a mobile phone app so that you can access the latest news on driving conditions wherever you are. (Although we strongly urge you to park up and make sure it is safe to use your mobile phone before trying to access the site from the road – it is a serious offence to use a handset while behind the wheel of a vehicle.)

It also has a handy link to the Transport Direct website which contains a great route planning facility. All you have to do is type in some details of where you want to travel from and where you want to get to and it shows you various different ways of travelling, including using alternatives to your car, such as public transport or even walking. It can even find flights, car parks and cycle routes.

Here at CoverGirl we think being forewarned is forearmed and that by avoiding any unnecessary detours and stresses which can arise from road closures, we are likely to stay car accident free and claim free – so we won’t lose our no-claim discount on our women’s car insurance. Smart, or what?

Labels: no-claim discount, womens car insurance

Even in this day and age we women still have to put up with jokes about our poor driving, but when they come from the mouth of a professional person like a lawyer it is particularly irritating and quite shocking.

Nick Freeman, a celebrity defence lawyer who deals with traffic and speeding offences recently said the following:

“Speed does not kill. Bad driving does, and that includes going too slowly and being in the wrong lane.

“Why can't these women be prosecuted? Oops, I mean why don't the police start to prosecute this kind of unlawful driving?”

Hilarious Mr Freeman.

The head of road safety at the AA however, stated, without entering into juvenile quips about male and female motorists’ skills, “A lot of bad driving does involve speed. We can't criticise people for being slow drivers.”

Andrew Howard, we thank you for your balanced outlook on road speeds.

Obviously, driving at 30mph on a motorway could be dangerous, but if anyone feels uncomfortable about driving at 70mph and would rather stay at 60mph in the left lane then that’s up to them I think.

Labels: AA, dangerous, driving, lawyer, motorist, motorway, mph, road, slow, speeding, traffic, unlawful, women

Although many people find the trailers a complete hassle when they go to the cinema, I actually quite look forward to them. The adverts for other films always help me to decide which films may be worthy of my time and next trip to the cinema.

I’m not the only one – according to a report, a woman in the US also uses the trailers to help her pick films. But where we differ is that when she felt that a trailer had misled her into paying to watch a movie she didn’t enjoy, she decided that the next step was to sue the film distributor.

The Michigan based woman felt that that Drive, starring Ryan Gosling, was advertised to her as a Fast and Furious style action piece, yet when she viewed the film she discovered that it was nothing of the sort.

She has claimed that the motion picture “bore very little similarity to a chase or race action film … having very little driving in the motion picture”.

Both the cinema she visited and the film distributor, FilmDistrict, are expected to strongly contest the case, and the cinema has made known that they have already offered the cinema-goer a refund – the lawsuit’s only demand!

There are plenty of films that I haven’t been hugely impressed with, but it would never occur to me to sue anyone! Especially over the lack of car chases featured. Maybe she’ll do some more research into the next film she intends to pay to see.

I’ve visited a safari park before and had a lovely time. I felt safe in my locked car while observing the animals in their compounds.

Mind you, although when I went I travelled at a pretty slow speed, I didn’t expect to be caught in a traffic jam.

During the recent early October heat wave, visitors to a safari park in the West Midlands had sit it out when a mischievous resident settled down to take a nap.

Five, a five-and-a-half ton African elephant, quite possibly decided that the hot conditions were a little too much for him and promptly dropped down to have a sleep – slap bang across the main road.

There is only so much time you can spend observing a sleeping elephant, but I don’t think that I would like to mess with such a hefty creature! The drivers must have felt the same way (well, they probably didn’t have much choice!) and finally carried on their tour after Five had woken from his slumber and trudged off to another spot.

I like to think that he had taken the opportunity to daydream about what it would be like to drive his own car. I’m not sure he’d find a vehicle able to sustain his weight, and using a trunk to steer would probably make it tricky to find a car insurance quote!

Labels: car insurance quote, drive, drivers, elephant, road, safari park

In the UK, we often have to put up with road closures and works, but fortunately, most of the time, we are warned about them and can plan to divert our car journeys accordingly.

However, drivers trying to pass through State Route 51 in the US would not have had any warnings about the road closure in Phoenix during rush hour one morning.

A cleverly captured video shows drivers waiting patiently in their cars while two Department of Public Safety officers attempted to persuade a lone rabbit to move out of the road and onto a grass verge.

The officers arrived at the scene after hearing reports of several drivers having to swerve to avoid turning the creature into road-kill. One officer busied himself with manning a barrier while the other tried to chase the stubborn creature off the road.

The southbound motorists were eventually let through once the cottontail rabbit had been rescued from his bold post and had been safely settled into a less dare-devil spot.

The rabbit was unavailable for comment.

Labels: car journeys, drivers, motorists, rabbit, road closures, US

I pride myself on being an experienced woman driver, however earlier this year I had the unfortunate experience of losing control of my car on some standing water. Thankfully, no-one else was involved or injured and I managed to drive the car home.

However, the damage to my car was quite extensive and I was forced to make a claim on my woman’s car insurance. It was a dark day.

Yet, just a few months later and with a new car in place, all thoughts of the accident were behind me as I journeyed off on holiday with my family to a cottage in the south of England. We were having a lovely time and everyone was getting to do what they wanted to do, so when my little sister said she wanted to go karting, she was stunned and hurt when no-one else in our party wanted to join her.

So, being the loving, caring sister that I am, I said, “I’ll go go-karting with you.”

What could be difficult about it? After all I have years of experience behind the wheel and my little sister hasn’t even thought about taking lessons yet. I even thought maybe I could show her how it’s done.

But no, when we got to the circuit and were suited and helmeted up, we got into the tiny, yet surprisingly powerful, karts and I just froze. As every other participant in our session, including my ungracious sibling, zoomed past me – drifting into corners and zooming down the straights with reckless abandonment – I pootled round the track with all the dynamism of the slowest slow thing...ever.

I even had time to see my boyfriend as he creased up laughing and my dad turning away in embarrassment, and my later protestations that the whole thing brought back dreadful memories of my aquaplaning free-slide into a central reservation barrier were met with derisory guffaws and a chorus of, “Yeah right”s!

No, I can safely say, go-karting is most definitely not for me and I won’t be getting into another of the infernal little machines for a very long time. Well, maybe next year, when I’ll really show my little sister how it’s done!

Labels: woman driver, woman’s car insurance