Not A1

 Take a look at this:

It's happened before that people making a film about how a road is an accident blackspot have managed to capture some live evidence.

The BBC managed it here.

There is so much wrong in this scenario and while the Seat driver will get the blame - after all the Seat went in to the Tesla - the Tesla I think is actually at fault.

Firstly, why are they driving along in the overtaking lane?  And then why slow down?  And why no brake lights?  Do you not get brake lights if using regen braking?  I don't actually know the answer to that but there is a major design fault there if you don't.

I'm assuming they slowed down to let the little grey car (Peugeot?) onto the A1.  Did they flash to say join?  If so, that's not what a flash of the headlights means.  As with any such junction, it is up to the vehicle joining to make sure it is safe, not for others to let them in (although there is nothing wrong with a little road courtesy when it is safe to do so)  And that little grey car will have been extra cautious after already having crossed one carriageway of an obviously very busy A-Road.

And that road layout is bloody dangerous!

But then that was what they were trying to prove.

A spokesman for National Highways is quoted as saying, "We'll continue to keep the safety on the stretch of road under continual review and work with the local community on any future safety improvements."

Oh, well, all's well that ends well.  Nothing to see here.

Apart from an accident every week.

Tesla Sunk

No this isn't an update on Wednesday's post.

This is the story of somebody in Norway driving their Tesla into a fjord and being rescued by people on a floating sauna.

I know.

But you can see it here.

Strange that the first question you ask yourself isn't, "Why have they driven in to the water?"

It's Behind You!

What is? 2021?

Well, today is December 31st - the traditional day for looking back.

But you won't be able to do that if you own certain Tesla Model 3's from model years 2017 to 2020.

This Car+Driver story explains how cars of that ilk are being recalled due to a rear camera failure caused by opening and shutting the boot too often.  This will obviously affect anyone wanting to see what is behind them when reversing.

I'm not convinced how big a story this is - I'm only using it as an excuse to get one last post into 2021.

You see, if the rear-view camera has failed and affected drivers want to go backwards, they are going to have to do what I have been doing throughout my driving career...

...and LOOK OUT OF THE BACK WINDOW!!

The Good Old Days

The other week, I compared the traffic levels on my commute to those of the late 1970s.

Turns out I should have compared them with the early 1970s.  The BBC did today.

I enjoyed one of their photos in particular:

I could identify all of the cars there - I do like a Vauxhall Victor.  This other picture they chose seems more relevant to a Covid story though:

Meanwhile, today, they also tell us that car sales fell in April to 1946 levels.

 

I wouldn't have been able to identify a line of cars from that year - the year the Wolseley Eight was launched: 

Car sales were 97% lower in April than the previous April with the top selling car last month being...

…The Tesla Model 3.

That's an Autocar story.  Autocar also tell us what the top 10 selling new cars for 2020 so far are.  I don't know if it is good news or bad news that there are two SUVs in there.  I'd have thought there would be more but it is still two too many.  I also think that they chose the wrong sub-heading for that article - "We run through the latest new car registration data to see which models are flying off forecourts"

Meanwhile Car+Driver point out a different consequence of cars sitting idle for long periods:
Rats nesting in your engine!

No Charges Were Brought

Not for trespass anyway.  It doesn't say about anything else - like theft - but I hope there were.

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about this Car+Driver story - A Florida Tesla owner claimed that his car's battery had died on the way to a friend's house around midnight. So, he parked on a stranger's front lawn and plugged his charging cable into an external outlet for 12 hours.  Here's a photo:

The wording of the article implies to me that the author is not a fan of electric cars but he does have a go (quite rightly) at this particular electric car owner and concludes with the advice, "...when you screw up, you call AAA"

 

I'm presuming he means the American Automobile Association - but I suppose that in this case, he could be suggesting getting hold of some of these:

Models

Sorry, that should read "Model S".

This story from Autocar today makes it look like Ford are being a bit cheeky.

It reports on how Ford are planning to get into the electric car segment using the name "Model E" - including a rival to Tesla's Model S.

In fact, according to that article, Ford blocked Tesla’s attempts to trademark the name "Model E" back in 2013 leading to Tesla then choosing the Model 3 name for its forthcoming entry-level car.

But, then again, Ford could have laid a claim to "Model S" too if they had wanted to - after all, they were using it 109 years ago:

This was a precursor to the more famous Model T - which I reported on in 2014 challenging a Tesla Model S to a race from Detroit to New York.

That article included this picture that I really liked:

And now this article gives me an excuse to publish another picture of a model that I really like.

What Has Jason Siu Got Against Tesla?

And who is Jason Siu?

Well the chap with the glasses is Jason Siu but I doubt if it's the same Jason Siu to whom I refer.

No, the guy I'm on about is the one who wrote this Autoguide article yesterday.  It is entitled

"About 12,200 Tesla Model 3 Preorders Have Been Canceled"

Yes, I know it's American spelling, but then Autoguide is an American car site.

About 4000 of those 12200 turned out to be accidental duplicates.

The http address of the story spells "cancelled" the UK way.

But that's besides the point.

No, the point is he is really catty about how many pre-orders of this futuristic yet relatively affordable car have been cancelled.  He says, "We’re not quite sure what’s more surprising: The fact that there are still 373,000 Tesla Model 3 preorders, or that only 8,000 people have canceled."

Maybe he shouldn't be surprised.  After all, on April 5th this year, he gave us this article.

That was entitled,

"5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Hold Your Breath on the Tesla Model 3"

That gave a series of reasons why we should doubt the availability of the Model 3 and even its reliability.

 

My only real problem with this car is its front end.  It can't be just me who looks at that and sees this:

Anyway, that article by Jason was published just two days after this one - interestingly entitled

"6 Reasons Why I Put Down a $1,000 Deposit on a Tesla Model 3"

What!?  He's one of the people who has pre-ordered one!

The April 5th article starts with "Nearly 300,000 people have paid a $1,000 deposit to reserve a Model 3, but the big question remains, can Tesla deliver on its promise?"

He doesn't point out that he himself was one of those nearly 300,000 people!

Maybe he wasn't.  Maybe his cheque bounced.  Maybe his wife told him he couldn't have one after all.

Who knows?

But, whatever the reason, I don't think Tesla will be getting any Car of The Year Award votes from Mr.Siu.