- Car envy
- Councils’ controlled parking issues
- En-suite parking space
- Leaving a warm car on cold days
- Swapping pompoms for podiums
- When more spaces mean less space
- Speeding motorists becoming rarer
- Unlucky registration plates
- Distracted driving during the summer
- Gone driving
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012
When more spaces mean less space
In some UK town centres it can be quite difficult finding somewhere to park your car. I know I’ve had problems before when I’ve gone round and round for a while and then had to give up and search for roadside spaces down residential streets instead.
I don’t like parking up on a roadside next to someone’s home because I feel that I might be in the way. Obviously I don’t park in front of people’s driveways, but I always wonder if they look out of their window, see my vehicle sat there, and think ‘Now where’s Lucy going to park when she comes over today?’, or something similar.
Thankfully, many councils are trying to improve parking for motorists and are finding ways of increasing the number of bays available.
However, Leicester City Council recently showed everyone that creating new spaces isn’t as easy as you may have imagined.
Employing a contractor to paint new bays along a street, the council didn’t plan the work well enough and made a bit of a mess of it all.
Motorists found that when all the spaces were in use, there was only a gap a little under one metre left for drivers to fit through. Needless to say, you can’t fit a car through a gap of that size, and people were not pleased.
The mistake has since been rectified, and hopefully Leicester City Council will plan work better in the future…
I don’t like parking up on a roadside next to someone’s home because I feel that I might be in the way. Obviously I don’t park in front of people’s driveways, but I always wonder if they look out of their window, see my vehicle sat there, and think ‘Now where’s Lucy going to park when she comes over today?’, or something similar.
Thankfully, many councils are trying to improve parking for motorists and are finding ways of increasing the number of bays available.
However, Leicester City Council recently showed everyone that creating new spaces isn’t as easy as you may have imagined.
Employing a contractor to paint new bays along a street, the council didn’t plan the work well enough and made a bit of a mess of it all.
Motorists found that when all the spaces were in use, there was only a gap a little under one metre left for drivers to fit through. Needless to say, you can’t fit a car through a gap of that size, and people were not pleased.
The mistake has since been rectified, and hopefully Leicester City Council will plan work better in the future…
Photo © compujeramey via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: bay, car, driveway, Leicester City Council, motorist, parking, roadside, space, town centre, UK, vehicle
Friday, June 1, 2012
Motorised kissing
When I got married it was on a budget, so the one
thing I made a point of driving home to then husband-to-be was the fact that we
didn’t need a fancy car involved. “The car is the least important part of the
wedding,” I told him. “It’s all about the dress, the kiss, the church and the
honeymoon.”
As it was, he managed to arrange couple of vintage
Rovers through a contact of his dad’s, for free, so I didn’t mind.
But what to make of two newlyweds in China who
recently made the cars the main event?
On their way to their reception, as their two cars
drew alongside each other, they leaned out of their respective windows and
shared a passionate wedding day kiss.
"We wanted to do something different for our wedding day
kiss picture," said the couple.
I would have been terrified. Not only is leaning out
of a car window ill-advised at the best of times, but this couple actually did
it on a motorway. All that the groom would have needed to do was lean that
little bit further and it might have been window kiss to widow kiss in just a
few swift seconds.
I’ve a feeling that these kinds of shenanigans, no
matter how romantic wouldn’t be allowed to take place in the UK anyway, what
with health and safety and all that.
And I can just hear the driver delivering the
injunction, “Sorry love, my car insurance doesn’t cover acts of extreme
romantic abandon.”
Photo © Tobyotter via Flickr, under Creative
Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, kiss, Rovers, UK, wedding
Friday, May 18, 2012
More concerns about potential speed increase on motorways
There was a lot of hubbub a few months ago when the government announced that it was thinking of raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph.
Well, there’s still a lot of discussion going on about the potential speed increase.
Most recently, the Road Safety Foundation checked the 4,350 miles of motorway in the UK and raised concerns about the fact that there are not very many crash barriers along these high-speed road-ways.
Furthermore, along some stretches of highway the trees have been planted dangerously close to the roadside and some crash barriers haven’t been repaired or replaced after a previous incident, leaving them weak and unable to sustain the force of another accident.
The AA agreed with the charity, stating, “Some stretches of motorway are more suitable for 80mph than others.
“If you don’t have adequate central reservation barriers, a hard shoulder and variable speed limit message signs then the road is not safe for 80mph.”
The government plans to review all the positives and negatives of increasing the speed limit later on this year.
What do you think the government should do? Please leave us your comments!
Well, there’s still a lot of discussion going on about the potential speed increase. Most recently, the Road Safety Foundation checked the 4,350 miles of motorway in the UK and raised concerns about the fact that there are not very many crash barriers along these high-speed road-ways.
Furthermore, along some stretches of highway the trees have been planted dangerously close to the roadside and some crash barriers haven’t been repaired or replaced after a previous incident, leaving them weak and unable to sustain the force of another accident.
The AA agreed with the charity, stating, “Some stretches of motorway are more suitable for 80mph than others.
“If you don’t have adequate central reservation barriers, a hard shoulder and variable speed limit message signs then the road is not safe for 80mph.”
The government plans to review all the positives and negatives of increasing the speed limit later on this year.
What do you think the government should do? Please leave us your comments!
Photo © Highways Agency via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: AA, crash barrier, government, motorway, Road Safety Foundation, speed limit, UK
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Swedes can text and drive
The British government and police have placed such a great emphasis on the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving that criminalisation of the act has long seemed the only option. In Sweden they like to do things rather differently.
Rather than taking heed of the findings that mobile phones act as a distraction for motorists, the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute has conducted its own research into the subject. Surprisingly it found that enforcement of mobile phone laws in other European countries has had minimal impact.
The Swedes would undoubtedly point to recently released media reports telling of the widespread use of hand-held devices and access to social networks by young drivers in the UK. They may also draw upon revelations that the number of British motorists using their phones has risen considerably since the first year of legal enforcement.
A Swedish government representative said, “For it to be effective you would need a total ban, as it is the calls themselves and their content that distracts the driver. Hands-free doesn’t help and I can’t see a total ban being passed.”
Here at CoverGirl we have been wondering what you, the blog reader and potential car insurance customer think about this issue. Would it be better if the British government had turned a blind eye to the use of mobile phones, or was the right decision made when penalties were introduced?
Rather than taking heed of the findings that mobile phones act as a distraction for motorists, the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute has conducted its own research into the subject. Surprisingly it found that enforcement of mobile phone laws in other European countries has had minimal impact.
The Swedes would undoubtedly point to recently released media reports telling of the widespread use of hand-held devices and access to social networks by young drivers in the UK. They may also draw upon revelations that the number of British motorists using their phones has risen considerably since the first year of legal enforcement.
A Swedish government representative said, “For it to be effective you would need a total ban, as it is the calls themselves and their content that distracts the driver. Hands-free doesn’t help and I can’t see a total ban being passed.”
Here at CoverGirl we have been wondering what you, the blog reader and potential car insurance customer think about this issue. Would it be better if the British government had turned a blind eye to the use of mobile phones, or was the right decision made when penalties were introduced?
Photo © OregonDOT via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: distraction, driving, law, mobile phone, motorist, Sweden, Swedish National Road and Transport Institute, UK, young drivers
Monday, March 12, 2012
A useful SpareOne
If we told you that a new mobile phone would be appearing on the UK market this month and that all it did was make and receive calls – you might not be very impressed.
But wait! Don’t be so quick to judge!
This phone, called SpareOne, runs on a single AA battery and stays charged for about 15 years.
It has been designed by XPAL Power to be a back-up mobile phone kept in the glove compartment of a car in case of emergencies.
Imagine being stranded in the middle of nowhere and having no battery left on your mobile. No problem, if you have the SpareOne!
“It’s essentially designed to make and receive the most important calls, no matter what,” stated an XPAL Power spokesperson.
It sounds to us like this is yet another piece of very useful emergency kit to have in your car. A quick ‘will you be buying one?’ around the office makes a lot of heads nod.
We wouldn’t be surprised if breakdown companies start listing these handy mobiles as something that every motorists should have somewhere in their vehicle, just in case.
If you’re interested, the phone will be on sale in Britain on the 15th of March and will cost £60.
But wait! Don’t be so quick to judge! This phone, called SpareOne, runs on a single AA battery and stays charged for about 15 years.
It has been designed by XPAL Power to be a back-up mobile phone kept in the glove compartment of a car in case of emergencies.
Imagine being stranded in the middle of nowhere and having no battery left on your mobile. No problem, if you have the SpareOne!
“It’s essentially designed to make and receive the most important calls, no matter what,” stated an XPAL Power spokesperson.
It sounds to us like this is yet another piece of very useful emergency kit to have in your car. A quick ‘will you be buying one?’ around the office makes a lot of heads nod.
We wouldn’t be surprised if breakdown companies start listing these handy mobiles as something that every motorists should have somewhere in their vehicle, just in case.
If you’re interested, the phone will be on sale in Britain on the 15th of March and will cost £60.
Photo © akbarici via photobucket
Labels: AA battery, breakdown, calls, car, charged, emergencies, emergency kit, glove compartment, mobile phone, SpareOne, UK, vehicle, XPAL Power