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The latest in a string of breath- taking adverts desperately trying to promote safe and sensible driving, features a car crash at 30mph where the driver has neglected to wear his seat belt.
It is shame such a graphic advert is required to bring home to people such a simple message- wear your seat belt. This message must be taken on board by not only drivers, but passengers too- as a previous advert highlighted the dangers of a back seat passenger not wearing their seatbelt, mainly that they can crush those in the front seat.
In a further attempt to encourage people to “clunk, click every trip” the Government is considering doubling the fine for not wearing a seat belt from £30 to £60.
1 in 6 road deaths could be avoided if seat belts are worn.
The RAC Foundation urges motorists and passengers to wear their seat belts for all journeys, which includes a 2 minute trip to the local shops as well as a 2 hour motorway journey. As seat belt wearing advocate Sir Jimmy Savile says:
“It takes 2 seconds to be thrown through a window, but 2 years to put your face back together.”
Harsh but true.
Source: The Scotsman, Shocking TV ad scares us into belting up in the car, 4/11/08
The latest high-tech developments in motorway warning information have been recently unveiled in the West Midlands on the M42 on 36 existing signs over the 11 mile ‘Active Traffic Management’ stretch of motorway. The five different types of pictograms will help warn drivers of dangers ahead including accidents, congestion, snow/ice, high winds or an increased skid risk.
The Active The National Traffic Control Centre is operated by the Highways Agency. The facility monitors the flow of traffic on England’s busy motorways, as well as providing the latest information on accidents and delays to the public and media alike. Live information from the National Traffic Control Centre is fed direct to the Traffic England website, which gives live traffic information 24 hours a day. Access to the site, at www.trafficengland.com, is free to all. Traffic Management scheme allows motorists to drive on the hard shoulder during busy periods.
Remember children’s TV character Brum? Or David Hasselhoff’s companion KITT in the hit show Knight Rider? Well- these magical self driving motors could be on sale within a decade according to General Motors, who have come up with a vehicle they are naming “Boss.” The possibilities of such technology are endless, with features thought never imaginable appearing at the touch of a button on the dashboard.
Source: Telegraph 8th January 2008, Meet the car that drives itself
We often hear of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ giving first time buyers a helping hand on the proporty ladder, but according to research from Zurich, this assistance is also extending to paying motoring bills.
Parents are spending an average of £2400 a year to keep their children or grandchildren on the road according to the report and almost half (approximately 11 million) of the UK’s 28 million motorists received some financial assistance from their parents to buy their first car.
These findings illustrate that the cost of motoring for some, namely parents, is a lot higher than others, which goes to show that any increase in motoring costs, especially fuel will have a doubly wammy effect for those supporting two or more vehicles.
Source: Whatcar
Thursday is the new Friday and green is the new black, but are those advertising their products and services, especially cars, in danger of putting people off with ethical talk?
This is the question which has been posed by Green Light, a new report from the Guardian, which researches into the views of different types of green customers. It finds that;
- ‘Onlookers’ make up 26% of the UK population (i.e. Moderately concerned, No desire to live ethically, participate in ‘easy’ activities.
- The ‘Conveniently Conscious’ account for 35% of the population (i.e. fairly concerned, think others should be penalised for their unethical behaviour, do the easy things, not concerned about ethical or local issues)
- ‘Positive Choosers’ consist of 31% of the population (i.e. aware, concerned and feel guilty about their lifestyle, desire to live ethically, buy from good and boycott bad companies. They are not vocal about their views)
- ‘Vocal Activists’ account for 4% of the population (i.e. Concerned, aware and take a stand. They live ethically and vocalised their discontent).
- ‘Principled Pioneers’ also make up 4% of the population (i.e. Committed, pro-active and whole hearted approach to living more ethically and seek out new ways to reduce their carbon footprint).
Where does this leave you on the scale and what does it mean for greener cars. Technically it means that 74% of the UK population (not including the ‘onlookers’) have the potential will to buy a low carbon car for their next car purchase. An encouraging thought, but unless the right information about CO2 ratings is made readily available potentially only the ‘principled pioneers’ who seek out their own information on action to take, will make this shift to a new low carbon vehicle. 70% of the UK population need the information to make this change, lets hope Government and industry can meet this challenge.
Buying a ‘top in class’ car for environmental performance can save enough carbon dioxide each year to fill one hundred and seventeen medium sized cars, but would it save your life? This is the question being posed by the RAC Foundation, as the new ‘57 plates’ hit the showrooms.
Following the poor crash test performance of the G-Wizz electric car many have unfairly branded green cars as ‘unsafe’. RAC Foundation analysis of European data from EcoTest (www.ecotest.eu) and Euro NCAP crash tests (www.euroncap.com) demonstrates that this is not necessarily the case, but good information needs to be systematically available to the car buying public to ensure that people can evaluate the options available. Some top green and safe cars within their own class include**
· Toyota Prius 1.5 Hybrid Executive
· Citroen C5 Kombi HDi 110 FAP Tendance (Diesel)
· BMW 318d (RPF) (Diesel)
· Audi A6 2.0 TDI (RPF) (Diesel)
· Opel Zafira 1.6 CNG Edition (Gas)
Smart “green” car buying can reduce a persons carbon footprint by 8% and create a yearly fuel saving of at least £106, but with less than half (44%) of the Government’s recommended environmentally friendly vehicles coming with life saving Electronic Stability Control (ESC) equipment as standard it is clear that new car buyers need to pick and choose their lean, clean, safe machine.
Road crashes could be reduced by more than 20 per cent, especially in wet or icy conditions, by cars being fitted with Electronic Stability Control (ESC), yet just 55% of new cars sold it the UK fit ESC as standard and even fewer greener cars (44%) are sold with standard fitting. In the UK it is estimated that if 90% of cars were fitted with ESC it would save 400 lives and prevent 3,000 serious injuries each year (Thatcham). It is therefore vital that ESC is fitted to all cars, and especially those that are being encouraged for environmental reasons.
Edmund King, Executive Director of the Royal Automobile Club Foundation said;
“Car buyers should not have to choose between a car that saves a life or a car that saves the planet. We do not live in an ideal world, but it is possible to get the best of both worlds in one car, if the right information is made available. The Government’s ‘Act on CO2 campaign’ is a welcome initiative but on its own does not provide enough information for people to purchase a green and safe car most appropriate to their needs.”
“Twenty-one percent of UK motorists believe that better information is the key to reducing CO2 emissions. The Government is encouraging people to buy ‘green’, but it is vital that the cars advertised meet the highest safety standards to avoid the further tragic loss of life on our roads. Motorists should check out EuroNCAP safety ratings as well as Eco-ratings before making the all important purchase.”
* Formula and references for calculation;
- Average person travels 5729 miles in a car per annum (as a passenger and a driver) (DfT, TSGB, 2006)
- This annual mileage equates to 9219.93km by car per year
- If people can save on average 45.2g/km CO2 by buying best in class car they can save 416740.84g of CO2 per annum (45.2 x 9219.93 = 416740.84). This equates to 231707904.8ml in area (416740.84 x 556).
- 1 gram of CO2 is equal to 556ml (Source: www.abc.net.au/science/features/carbon/default The Carbon conundrum feature)
- An average medium sized car (Based on the Toyota Prius) occupies the volume of 19.73 litres (or 1973000ml)
- 231707904.8 / 1973000 = 117 medium sized cars
** Tables in Annex A and B available on request
Table 1
Class
Average CO2 (g/km) saving between top and bottom cars:
1 and 2 – City 30.7
3 – Supermini 12.2
4 – Small family 48.4
5 – Family 80.6
6 – Executive 73.6
7 – Luxury 25.8
Average 45.2
Average MPG saving when comparing top and bottom rated cars:
1 and 2 – City 3.2
3 – Supermini 5.3
4 – Small family 15.6
5 – Family 19.2
6 – Executive 11.4
7 – Luxury 3.2
Average 9.6
Average MPG’s by group:
1 and 2 – City 49.5
3 – Supermini 53.0
4 – Small family 53.4
5 – Family 46.9
6 – Executive 38.8
7 – Luxury 28.2
Average 45.0
***Royal Society of Arts Carbon trading scheme suggests a personal carbon allowance of 5 tonnes of carbon per person per year http://www.rsacarbonlimited.org/resources/default.aspa
One tonne of carbon is equal to 556,000 litres. Swapping to the most environmentally friendly vehicle within class saves 231,707.9 litres of CO2. 231,707.9 / 2,780,000 (556,000*5) * 100 = 8.3%.
**** Formula and reasoning behind calculation
- Average price per litre of petrol (Based on 20th July figures) 96.8p per litre or £4.39 per gallon.
- The average UK vehicle does 37.84mpg (Source: http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/stats.shtml)
- ISDN 020 7389 0601Cost per year for average vehicle: 439 / 37.84 = 11.6p per mile. 11.6p x 5729 = £664.56
- Cost per year for environmental vehicle with 45mpg average: 439/45 = 9.75p. 9.75p x 5729 = £558.58
- Difference between two types: £105.98
***** Act on CO2 Campaign http://www.dft.gov.uk/ActOnCO2
****** EC (2007) Eurobarometer: Attitudes on issues related to EU Transport
Policy. Analytical report.
Information about vehicle performance can be found at www.ecotest.eu ; www.dft.gov.uk/ActOnCO2 ; www.euroncap.com and www.thatcham.org
Petrol stations are in decline according to a new report from the Petrol Retails Association (PRA). There are now less than 9500 petrol forecourts in the UK, which is the lowest number since 1912.
150 petrol stations have already closed this year, according to the oil industry body Catalist and if the current rate of decline continues, it is likely that motorists will find it more and more difficult to fill up their cars, especially in rural areas or if they have small tanks. Filling station provision differs significantly accross the country, and in a world where we are trying to reduce miles driven, it is a nonsense that more and more drivers will find themselves travelling out of their way to fill up. Filling up ‘enroute’ is obviously the sensible and option, one which is taken up by significant numbers of motorists already, but we could see a future where dedicated fuel trips become a reality as fuel companies base their station locations on the fact that consumers have the ability to travel longer distances than ever before. Action is needed to prevent this unsavoury and unsatisfactory future scenario.
(Source: Whatcar.com)
Parking. Easy for some, not so easy for others, which is why many people have hailed the introduction of technology, which helps the driver negotiate the often tricky reverse park.
However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of America is not so convinced. A new report from the government department looks at the role of the reverse view camera in preventing fatalities from people being backed over. On the whole there are few statistics available for this type of incident as the majority happen on private land, but the report took the stance that reversing cameras are ‘expensive, unreliable and give drivers a false sense of security’.
Reversing cameras, like Sat Nav systems (See other blogs on this issue) are not infalable, and as well presented in the response on this issue in www.autoblog.com ‘To put it simply: Nothing is foolproof’. Rear-view cameras do not provide a great field of vision, or very good night-time visability, but if used alongside common sense and attention, can be another useful addition to the safer modern car.
(Source: Autoblog.com)
Soon, the green credentials of your vehicle could limit where you will be allowed to drive.
In London, 4×4 owners may become deterred from driving within the Congestion Charging zone from 2008 when they will face a daily charge of £25, and in some German cities, the green credentials of your vehicle could ban you from driving in certain areas.
Environmental driving zones or Umweltzonen, have already been defined in six German cities and are set to appear in three more in the new year. The zones are ranked from two to five and correspond with the Euro emissions scale, which means the emissions ranking of your car will determine which zones you may drive in (see blog July 12th: CO2 labels on cars becoming more commonplace and Department for Transport). Note also that there is no ‘zone 1′ thereby seriously limiting the movements of those with very environmentally unfriendly vehicles.
The punishment for driving in a zone above your category is fine of 40 euros and possibly points on your license.
In the future Britons’ cars could be seeing a lot more of the driveway unless their car can match environmental requirements. Certainly something to consider when purchasing that next car.
Source: www.autoblog.com
www.umwelt-plakette.de (translate)
The end of Peak Oil?
January 18, 2008 in Comment, Consumer Issues, Environment | by elizabethdainton | Leave a comment
The world’s oil supply is not running out according to a major new study of 800 oilfields by the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). They have concluded that rates of decline are only at 4.5% per year, which is almost half of the rate previously believed, which supports their conclusion that oil output will continue to rise over the next decade.
The report’s author Peter Jackson said ‘We will be able to grow supply to well over 100 million barrels per day by 2017.” Current oil world output is around 87 million barrell’s a day. Many will ask where this leaves theories on peak oil. Those at CERA conclude that world oil production will peak as demand is weakened by taxation and government efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Essentially politics, not geology is identified as the limiting factor.
The research and theory on the future of oil supply and demand can be interestingly compared with the human and current story of oil consumption in Venezuela reported in today’s Guardian.
In Venezuela, which has the seventh largest oil reserve in the world, the world where oil costs $100 a barrel is literally and metaphorically a million miles away. A litre of fuel costs 0.7p, meaning that filling the tank of a large car costs a total of 42p, which is equal to the cost of a cup of coffee in the area. When exchange rates are taken into account petrol is 45 times cheaper than in Britain, due to Government subsidy introduced in the 1940s. As a result people view cheap fuel as a birthright, which is also the case in other fuel producing countries such as Burma, Indonesia, Iran and Nigeria. Revolts are likely if prices rise. Domestic consumption in Venezuela has soared to 780,000 barrels a day and the subsidy costs the Government around £4.5 billlion annually. The consumer boom has doubled the number of cars on Venezuela’s roads and has caused significant pollution and grid lock.
This example provides a stark illustration of the CERA research findings working in todays world. It would certainly appear that politics rather than production drives use and consumption of fuel and in a future as the challenges of global warming become more pressing and prominent, theories of peak oil are likely to be less relevant to the debate than geo-political realities.
Source(s):
The Times Friday 18th January 2008
The Guardian Friday 18th January 2008