With Easter almost upon us, the usual people are complaining in advance about how the price of petrol will shoot up when hordes of people take to the roads for the long weekend, with the oil companies mysteriously wanting to cash-in. Well, duh. What do you expect? This is how the free-market economy works. And ... [More]
Bullbars have a legitimate use in some rural areas, where threats such as kangaroos and other wildlife can do significant damage to a car and its occupants. In urban areas though, they’re a menace, significantly increasing the chances of injury and death to other car occupants, cyclists and pedestrians. Given that 90 percent of 4WDs ... [More]
Insurance companies are talking about reducing insurance premiums for people who don’t drive much, on the basis that they’re less likely to have accidents and cause pollution. I’m not sure why insurance companies inherently care about pollution, but bring it on! But hey, I can say that — my average driving in the car has ... [More]
I mean, okay, maybe you need the truck to do whatever work you’re doing in the adjacent shop. But why completely block the footpath with it, forcing people onto the street to get around it? How about finding an actual spot on the street? Irritating enough for able-bodied pedestrians like me. Doubly irritating for people ... [More]
Was away for the weekend in parts of the world you can only get to by road. 275km covered, which is a lot for me, who rarely drives more than 10 minutes in any direction. Thankfully there were four of us in the car, and the conversation made the driving go so much faster and ... [More]
As you may have spotted, I’m not much of a fan of cars. Oh sure, modern western society relies on them, but far too much. But even in my version of suburban utopia, they’d be there by neccessity for some people and some trips. So given they’ll always be around, it makes sense for them ... [More]
1. I’m turning right. You’re turning left. But I got here first and my car is bigger than yours, so I’m going to go first. 2. Sure, I can park here on this corner. Why not? 3. Sure, I can park here. Why not? Pah, pedestrians, school kids? Who cares?
Last week I filled up my car for just over $1 per litre. It was $1.609 $1.069, and I had some freaky discount offer that gave me 6 cents off, instead of the usual 4. But just seeing the humungous tank-like 4WDs rolling around the streets, and the resistance from government to improve PT makes ... [More]
A few times a week I make a left hand turn out of a side-street into a divided road. Frequently there is someone in the divided road doing a U-turn against me. And an alarming amount of the time, they fail to give way. I’ve got deliberately cautious now, it happens so much, seemingly particularly ... [More]
PS. Tuesday pm: A great little video on the topic of 4WDs.
My mate Brian sums up my attitude to cars quite nicely: “a car is just an airconditioner on wheels!” On Saturday I washed the exterior my car for… ooh, the first time in a year, I reckon. I vaccuum the inside of it every few months, but the outside I’ve really let go. The birds ... [More]
I just saw someone get hit by a car. He bounced off the bonnet of a dark-coloured Porsche (UCD-852) that had zoomed through the intersection as the light turned red. The man hit the footpath and ran into the nearby supermarket. The car stopped, and the driver got out and chased after him. I found ... [More]
I don’t suffer from road rage (not travelling by car in times of heavy traffic when I’m in a hurry helps a lot). If anything, I suffer from road smugness. I don’t shout at idiots on the road. Instead I make smart-arse remarks, to myself or to others in the car. “Yeah, well done mate.” ... [More]
Dear Car 2, it’s not your fault. Car 1 has parked in a stupid way, in the middle of two spots. But you can’t fit there. Really, you can’t. No matter how many times you try. Whatever angle you come in at. Your car is bigger than the space that is left. You might as ... [More]
A friend of mine has a car that is leased through a government job. The lease is expiring, and she’s seeing if she can swap models to something smaller and more fuel-efficient. Government policy dictates that, with few exceptions, fleet cars are Australian made. Australian made cars are all big ones: Falcon, Magna, Commodore and ... [More]
A grizzled old man in the supermarket queue tonight was bitching about petrol prices. “It’s criminal!” he was saying. I didn’t feel like trying to explain the concept of Peak Oil to him. Nor did I think telling him it was only going to get worse would placate him. A more informed response to the ... [More]