Horse Jam

I don't really like horror films.  Especially ones that are not advertised as horror films.  I started watching a film once - it started with a group of motorists stuck in a traffic jam.  If that wasn't bad enough, a large number of vandals suddenly appeared and started to damage the bonnets and roof panels of the stranded cars.  And to make it worse, there was plinky, jolly music being played over it all.

I switched channels and vowed never to watch any of La La Land again.

This photo reminded me of that:

It is from this BBC story about a traffic jam in North Wales caused by a horse on the carriageway.

It is a bit misleading in that it makes it look like a major incident with an escaped horse although in reality, the traffic was stopped briefly by the Police so that the horse could be moved from a broken-down horsebox to a non-broken-down horsebox.  Even if the horseboxes had rear doors, (which they don't appear to) getting a horse that is already nervous about vandals on the roof safely along the roadside would be a nightmare - ha "mare" - geddit!?

What are you supposed to do when your horsebox breaks down anyway?

I've just renewed my breakdown recovery.  I was with AutoAid - not one of the big four - AA/RAC/National Breakdown/Green Flag but good value and they are big enough to sponsor BTCC cars:

So I was surprised to see I could be with Green Flag for 40p less.  I signed up for Green Flag and it's a good job there is a cooling off period because my wife spotted a bit about Excesses on the Policy Document - they wanted to charge me £40 for every call-out!  Bloody cheek!

I'm back with AutoAid.

I don't know if AutoAid cover horseboxes - if not, they may get saddled with a Green Flag policy.

The End of The World

As an English speaker, I never made the connection with the name Mondeo (Ford's "World Car") and various words for "World" in the Latin languages - Mundo, Monde, Mondo.

He's left is lights on - hope he doesn't get a flat battery.

Anyway, Autocar announced the inevitable this week - the death of the Mondeo.

They followed it up the following day with one of their most-excellent slideshows portraying the history of the car.

I use the word "inevitable" as it was fighting a losing battle on three fronts:

1. Premium Brands
2. Smaller Cars
3. Bloody SUVs/Crossovers

Being a badge-snob, I am guilty of the first of these - my last three cars, a Merc, a Jag and my current BMW are Mondeo sized vehicles - my Jag even shared its underpinnings with the Mondeo - but why have a Ford when you can have a premium name for not too much more money and with less depreciation.  And, as Autocar point out, cars bought/financed on leasing schemes take into account depreciation so it can actually work out cheaper to get a premium brand.

Smaller cars are getting bigger - a subject I tackled in 2019.  Mondeo Man doesn't actually need a Mondeo any more - a Focus is plenty big enough for him and his 2.4 children - the 0.4 can go in the boot.

Since the new car registrations - the 21-Reg's - came out on March 1st, every single one of them I have seen has been a cross-over.  I hate them - but an awful lot of Chinese people love them and an awful lot of British people seem to too - it is depressing but most people are not car people.

So, as a car fan, this may not actually be the end of The World, but it is the end of The World as we know it.

Fiat is Coining it in.

A seemingly counter-intuitive idea from Fiat in this Autocar story today.

Drivers of the New 500, will get to "earn" digital coins by driving in an economical manner.  Unfortunately, we are not talking Bitcoins here - we are talking KiriCoins - the invention of UK Start-Up Kiri Technologies who, being a start-up, nobody will have heard of yet - especially not people who you may want to spend their new coins with.

Now I thought that the new 500 was meant to be electric only so you couldn't help but to drive economically but, according to their Website, there are also hybrids in the range.

And, talking of their range, are they including the larger 500X and 500L models?

The idea is, according to the story, "By driving efficiently, owners will earn an ‘Eco:Score’ for each journey, with one kilometre of city driving roughly equal to two euro cents."

So, basically, the more you drive, the more you earn - see the problem here?

And, is the technology clever enough to give extra coins to people car-sharing in a Fiat 500L?

A Bare Behind

Second post in a week where I felt the need to Post because I thought of a good title.

Although it is actually a bear behind:

A fluffy pink teddy bear wearing a Hi-vis jacket to be precise.

The Fox News story is here.

I'm not actually too sure what it proves - it was an experiment by the IIHS - the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. I think it told us that drivers who were experienced with automatic lane control systems were more observant than those less experienced in the systems when it comes to spotting cuddly toys on the highway.

Woof Rack

Some good car news and some bad car news out of The States over the last week or so.

I was in two minds about commenting on both until the above Post Title came in to my head for the second story and I just couldn't waste it.

But first, from Fox News of all places, some good news - unless you are a racist motorsports fan.

NASCAR's flag ban opens sport to diverse new crowd.  It seems that having less symbols of oppression at a sports event means that you get more people turning up.  The Confederate Flag has been banned from the circuits - the theory being that "for every fan who complained about lost heritage, someone new would discover a sport far more inclusive than initially perceived."

Turns out the theory was borne out - probably much to the annoyance of your typical Fox News viewer.  Good.

The second story, from Car+Driver, is bad news - but only if you like to let your dog ride loose in the back of your pick-up in Utah or six other US States.

In Utah, Letting Dogs Ride in Pickup Truck Bed May Be Illegal Soon.  A proposed bill, from a Democrat, "would make it illegal for people to drive faster than 40 mph with unrestrained dogs in the back of their truck. There are exceptions for working farm dogs and hunting dogs or if the sides of the bed are at least 46 inches tall."  Apparently, there have been some horrific cases of dogs falling from vehicles killing themselves and injuring other road users.

I envisage Fox News reporting on this the same way that they reported that "Barack Obama wanted to ban all guns" - when he actually was trying to make their usage safer - for example by preventing terrorists from buying them.

There is another solution: