Daily Archives: March 30, 2012

Tweet driving slammed by safety groups

March 30, 2012   Sean

New research shows that drivers are still not getting the message when it comes to mobile phone use while driving – and social networking is a big problem.According to the survey by road safety charity Brake and Direct Line, 21% of young drivers admit to using email, Twitter and Facebook while on the go – more than twice the proportion of ‘older drivers’.Alarmingly, 44% of young drivers say they text behind the wheel. Again, this is a far higher proportion than that of older drivers.This is not the first time that the shocking extent of smartphone use behind the wheel has been revealed – so the message isn’t getting through, despite the warnings.
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New Renaultsport Twingo zooms in

March 30, 2012   Sean

Renault has revealed the facelifted version of its tiniest hot hatch, the Twingo Renaultsport 133.The raspy little Renaultsport has always been well received, largely because it’s one of the only cars that sits well with the highly overused ‘go-kart’ metaphor. Unlike certain cars.It’s re-styled in line with the rest of the Twingo range (obviously), but also gets some engine improvements that make it slightly cheaper to run. Win!Emissions go down to 150g/km and economy up to 43.5mpg, improvements of around three percent.Renault has decided not to tinker with the mechanical setup in any way, “so its performance and grin-inducing driving characteristics remain intact,” according to the press release. We can’t argue with that.
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China bus drivers, Don’t hit those cars!!

March 30, 2012   Sean

Bus drivers in China have been instructed explicitly not to hit supercars, and to that end have been shown posters featuring the badges of various supercar makers to memorise.Yep, according to Car News China, the average bus driver in Jinghua couldn’t tell a Kia from a Koenigsegg. But now they have no excuse, because they officially know what the badges look like – and how much the cars are worth, which is also printed on the poster.
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Tyres more important than jerry cans

March 30, 2012   Sean

In the light of the Government’s Corporal Jones moment about not panicking over the possible fuel strike, two organisations have said that we should focus on our tyres instead.

Kwik Fit has said that 69% of cars it checked had tyres under-inflated by at least 3psi (that is typically around 10%). The company reckons it adds up to an annual bill of £1bn, due to excess fuel consumption – it takes a lot more energy to make a wheel rotate if the tyre is soft, as anyone who has tried to push a car with a flat tyre will attest.

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