Roll Bars For All Cars

A recent survey in Ireland found that 89% of people thought it was a good idea to have roll bars installed in every new car manufactured. With so many people being killed when their cars turn over, the question must be asked, is it a good idea to install all cars with roll bars.

The cost of such a move would be very expensive for every car manufacturer. Ireland itself would have very little to do with the move as there are no leading car makers in Ireland. However, even if the most basic of roll bars were installed in every new car manufactured through out the world surely if they even saved one life they would be worth the cost.

Drunk Racing!

Drunk racing is a sport which is on the rise through out the US. Its really simple, the race is like any other car race, the idea is to get across the finish line before you opponents, except all drivers must be drunk.

Before each race which normally last roughly half an hour each driver must take in at least seven units of alcohol. The racing is increasingly popular thought Texas and has spread rapidly to other states. Although it is under much scrutiny this type of racing is not illegal once it is done on a private track and all drivers have a racing licence. Hundreds flock to see the spectacle which happens every month. The drivers can keep their cars under control for the most part but you are guaranteed lots of wreckage through out the race with the corners proving to be the tricky spots for most drivers. There is also talk of ‘drunk racing’ leagues being setup next year to cater for the growing interest in the sports. Drunk racing has be mimicked by lots of online gaming sites to much approval of drunk racing fans and its organisers.

One thing is for sure, drunk racing will continue to rise and an application has been made to the NSP to have it approves as an actual type of racing.

Texting While Driving

Thousands of motorists have picked up the habit of texting while driving. Most will claim that it doesn’t effect their driving and simply dismiss any claims that say otherwise. However, studies have shown that texting while driving a car can decrease your concentration levels by up to 600% at times. In 20% of car accidents last year at least one of the drivers involved admitted to being distracted by something while behind the wheel.

Drivers texting while driving is not the only distraction known to cause havoc behind the wheel, reading, putting on make up and eating are all common sight on our roads today.

In some countries all of these are illegal, however motorists seem to continue with these habits and impose a threat on other drivers. Texting seems to be very common among young drivers yet is not reading a newspaper seems to be very common with drivers of all ages. This is a continuing problem on our streets and many claim there is not enough being done to stop motorists being so negligent.

Sat-Nag

In today’s world most people will have sat-nav in their cars. Over the last few years it has become exceedingly popular and is now standard with most modern cars or can be purchased in most technology stores. Sat-nav systems have proved to be great gifts for motorists over the last five or so years.

Sat-Nag is a fake satellite navigation system that will drive you absolutely crazy. The idea of the sat-nag is to educe road rage and get you lost. The sat-nag will confuse and abuse you. The sat-nag will often become confused and give you dreadful directions such as ‘left-left-right-no left-wait-right-I mean left’ or will instruct you to ask for directions. Sat-nag has been releases this for the Christmas and will be walking out of stores as ‘gag gifts’ or just for practical jokes. It is available for under £10 and simply cannot be missed.

Personalised Number Plate Gifts

Personalised number plates are very popular through out the UK and the rest of the world. With Christmas on the horizon Personalized number plate sales are increasing. Rude or funny number plates seem to be the choice of many along with sport related plates.

Number plates usually go for around £500 but they have been known to go for £30,000 or more. As gifts they can be difficult to pick, of course the lettering is important and must suit the recipient. Available number plates can be viewed here at cherished number plates and range in price in according to the demand for such a plate. The 51st series of number plates are also very popular among English Football fans because of the relation to England historic 5-1 victory over Germany.

If you can’t find a gift for a loved-one number plates are not to be overlooked. They can say a lot about a person and can prove to be a perfect present for almost anyone.

Tinted Windows Law

Car enthusiasts and boy racers are constantly tinting the windows of their car to give it the sleek look they desire and create a certain element of mystery about their car. Tinted windows also offer security by not allowing theifs to looking into a car. However, there are certain restrictions in place to stop windows from being entirely blacked out.

New technology is in use by the police to calculate the amount of light passing through the glass. If the light shed is under 70% then the vehicle is deemed unsafe.

These restrictions are in place to maintain a certain level of safety. For example to allow the driver to see cyclist and other objects which may be obscured by blacked out windows especially at night.

Persons caught with windows that break this legislation can be summonsed to court and faced with a fine.

Jeeps and city life do not mix

It is well known that thousands of city dwellers are today driving 6L, gas guzzling sports utility vehicles. They seem to be the latest craze in our materialistic lifestyles. The latest range rovers and jeeps are becoming ever more prominent on our streets. Although they may be well and good on the open road or in the countryside, the monstrosities are just too big for the narrow city streets and not to mention parallel parking.

Women seem to have a monopoly on this part of life; they crave the style and luxury of these jeeps when in reality a smaller car would be just as suited for going to the shops and dropping the kids to school. These large vehicles eat fuel and are not environmentally friendly nor do they do any favours to your back pocket.

Whether or not these city dwellers will cop on and mend their ways is not to be seen for the near future, we can expect to be seeing a lot more jeeps driving in our congested cities.

The Recession Bites

As discussed here previously, the credit crunch will have devastating effects on the car industry. Merging is expected and so are some companies expected to go belly up. Anyhow, it appears that the first victim of the credit crunch as far as the car industry is concerned is the possible comeback of old favourites.

One such company was Talbot, a motoring company profiled right here at cherished number plates. They were based in India and discontinued in 1992 after the production of their final product, a small cargo van was abruptly stopped. They were due to make a comeback under the leadership of Peugeot this year, but due to economic difficulties the comeback never happened.

Now we must wait and see how the others will fare in such pressing circumstances.

Future is Ideal

Last week I did a blog article about internet myths and dodgy modifications you can make to supposedly make your car run on air nearly. Surprise Surprise, none of them have ever been proved to work in a functional and practical way.

I was searching around on the internet and found an article about how cars are being predicted to operate in the future (around fifty years or so). Aparently, technology has already been developed and is still in its infacy which will enable car to interact with one another and drive themselves without any human intervention whatsoever. I men, planes can already land themselves and pretty much go an entire journey without any intervention from the captain if he tells it to.

Imagine a road system without any kind traffic jams, crashes or just bad drivers. Pretty good eh?

Christmas Cars

So...it’s everyone’s favourite time of year all over again. Or at least it is for the high street. Decorations from Christmas trees to LEDs, and joyful carols sung by an over worked Sony stereo system. Bet head off then to get those presents, clothes and to stock up with plenty of beer and food…and beer.

The kids are loaded up into the back seat, the wife in the passenger seat is an hour behind schedule and an argument is inevitable at one stage throughout the merry day.

Alas, the shopping is done and you trudge, demoralised and fed up, back to the loyal family car. It’s not all going to fit, is it? All those extra bags and boxes and trays of cans. So what car is there for the Christmas shopping run?

By far your best option is an MPV which stands for Multi-Person-Vehicle. Generally, the French models, or a German Opel is the way to go. With these vehicles such as the Zafira, there is enough space for all the family, granny included and all that shopping can go in the spacious boot, under the seats in the cubby-holds and of course on the huge parcel shelf. If there is more shopping then there are people, the rear seats can be folded down and there you go!

Shopping Sorted!

No MOT? No sale!

When you first bough your car, you were over the moon. Polishing, cleaning, hovering and a lot of TLC were to be in store for your new pride and joy for the next few years. However, the mechanical side of things often did go a little un-noticed, didn’t they? When the time comes to sell, you don’t bother with getting a new MOT. Major mistake.

Take one look around any car classified website or at the back of an auto mag and you will find thousands of cars up for sale. Chances are you’ll find some that will be priced as much as £500 too cheap fo no apparent reason until you dig a little deeper. No MOT is often mentioned in the ad. That means that the mechanical soundness and road worthiness of said vehicle is immediately brought to the fore of the customers mind.

It is strongly recommended to get your car up to scratch and MOT’d before putting it on the market. Otherwise you could be loosing out on hundreds.

Car theft, a continuing problem

Car theft is a continuing problem on our streets today. Although many precautions can be taken to protect your car, theses efforts seem to only be in vain. Car theft is a worldwide business worth billions each year. This issue has been raised here before, including crimes such as plate theft and the entire being stolen. A nightmare for anyone to wake up and see that the family four-door is gone.

Everyone’s car is at risk to theses criminals, car alarms, immobilisers and tracking devices seem to be easily deactivated by criminals in illegal garages or ‘chop shops‘. Equipment has also been developed by these thugs to quickly enter a vehicle, start the engine by by-passing any anti-theft device and make-off with their ill-gotten vehicle.

Cars are also being re-registered very easily, the criminals only have to claim that the car is an import, pay a small fee and have the car re-registered and sold to an innocent buyer. The car seriel numbers are often ground down and re-stamped to thwart and suspicious officials.

Car theft will always be prominent on our street, it has become something we have learned to live with. However, the police have recently begun to clamp down on the problem and their efforts seem to have had some positives effects. Theft is down as much as 50% is some areas and convictions have also risen for the offence.

Fiscal internet myths for your car

The internet, a second realm to our already complicated world. Here you will find thousands of myths and storys on how to run your car on water and cooking oil for cheaper or reuse your oil safely.

These myths are mostly, very impractical and dangerous for you and your car. For example, trying to run your car with water sounds like a cash saving idea but believe it or not it actualy doesn’t work. The vast majority of these myths are made up and completely un-true. Some of the may even ruin your engine and end up costing you a lot more money then you will actualy save.

My only suggestion is to disregard all of these myths and save your self the hassle of dealing with a ruined car. Best advice…buy a small European car with 50mpg and you’ll be doing just fine when it comes to fuel economy for your car.

With today’s current economic situation, you can’t afford not to.