11/06/2012
Online shopping makes for easy football viewing
Cheap car insurance bought and paid for – check! Enough supplies in the fridge to last until 1st July – check! TV and satellite receiver primed and ready to go – check! Availability to do anything when the matches are on – no chance!Yes, it’s time for the UEFA European Football Championships 2012 and I don’t want any interruptions; least of all to sort out such things like car insurance or vehicle tax (all due for me on the 1st July).
Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I have handled everything online and my car will still be legal to drive when the Euros’ goal nets are packed away and the victors (either Spain or Germany if the betting odds are anything to go by) will have headed home to their heroes’ welcome.
I’ve shopped for refreshing beverages and tasty snacks from my local supermarket, all to be delivered periodically over the course of the tournament, and my fantasy Euro football team is already at the top of my league. It’s all looking good.
Plus, because sorting car insurance out over the internet is usually the cheapest way of doing it, I have saved myself enough money to ensure that I’m smiling as the England team heads into its first game tonight – whether I’ll be smiling at the end of 90 minutes is another matter entirely, but then I’ll just have to think about my great duck2water deal and I’ll be able to smile again.
Image © DrabikPany via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheap car insurance, European Football Championships, UEFA
29/07/2011
We go bananas for new Beetle
As someone who grew up with no small degree of reverence for the VW Beetle, a car so iconic and enduring that it was part car, part cultural symbol, I was left feeling somewhat ambivalent with its 1999 incarnation.
Yes, I thought, how exciting, it’s here at last. But hang on a minute… it’s a bit boring and a bit, well, girly.
In fact, what Volkswagen had done, essentially, was take the basic design template for the original Beetle and make it as bland as possible by removing all of the character. Plus it had the naffest and most pointless of all possible vehicle accessories: a flower holder.
Truth be told – I didn’t exactly go bananas.
Now here’s some good news. We at Duck2Water have had a sneak preview of the 2011 incarnation of the Beetle, and it looks good. Not only is it environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient and roomier than the 1991 version, it’s also a lot less girly. It’s not that women won’t like it, it’s just that it’s got a broader appeal.
A spokesperson from VW comments, "We wanted the new model to be a car of today, as well as a design tribute to the original.
"It has a more macho appearance and is a more dynamic driving car. This is not a girly car and we've thrown away the flower holder."
In fact, it all looks so good that I’ve already started saving – it’s thought that the new Beetle will be cheap for car insurance too. Woo-hoo, I really could go bananas!
Yes, I thought, how exciting, it’s here at last. But hang on a minute… it’s a bit boring and a bit, well, girly.
In fact, what Volkswagen had done, essentially, was take the basic design template for the original Beetle and make it as bland as possible by removing all of the character. Plus it had the naffest and most pointless of all possible vehicle accessories: a flower holder.Truth be told – I didn’t exactly go bananas.
Now here’s some good news. We at Duck2Water have had a sneak preview of the 2011 incarnation of the Beetle, and it looks good. Not only is it environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient and roomier than the 1991 version, it’s also a lot less girly. It’s not that women won’t like it, it’s just that it’s got a broader appeal.
A spokesperson from VW comments, "We wanted the new model to be a car of today, as well as a design tribute to the original.
"It has a more macho appearance and is a more dynamic driving car. This is not a girly car and we've thrown away the flower holder."
In fact, it all looks so good that I’ve already started saving – it’s thought that the new Beetle will be cheap for car insurance too. Woo-hoo, I really could go bananas!
Photo by helena.40proof via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 1999, 2011, Beetle, cheap car insurance, Volkswagen, VW
25/03/2011
Our fine four fendered friend
I don’t think I’m alone in being excited at the news that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is set to fly again in a newly commissioned sequel to the original Ian Fleming story.
Despite its pretty dreadful songs, out-dated special effects, convoluted plot and truly sinister, nightmare-inducing villain, the Child Catcher, the film adaptation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has appealed to children of all generations ever since its release in 1968.
As a kid I saw the film that had been adapted from the book, read the book that was adapted into the film and then read the book that was adapted from the film which had been adapted from the original book. Yes, my head’s spinning too.
And, just to complicate matters, having taken my own kids along, I have now seen the stage musical, which has been adapted from the film which was adapted from the book, which was… well, never mind.
As I imagine it was for many, I didn’t actually love any of the adaptations that much. For me it was never about the narratives, or the characters (the human ones, anyway) – they were all incidental. It was almost all about the car.
As a six-year old boy, I just found something so fundamentally beautiful and compelling about the Chitty, a 1920s Paragon Panther with its hidden wings, innumerable gadgets and real, living character.
Admittedly, by the time I was eleven, I did find some small romantic interest in Truly Scrumptious, which, had I actually watched the film again at 13 might have begun to match my interest in the car.
So, to whoever’s been commissioned to write the sequel, just give me the car, it’s all I want – 300 pages of it and little else.
And, please, give Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cheap car insurance – 300 pages of him being grounded without cover would just be too painful.
Despite its pretty dreadful songs, out-dated special effects, convoluted plot and truly sinister, nightmare-inducing villain, the Child Catcher, the film adaptation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has appealed to children of all generations ever since its release in 1968.
As a kid I saw the film that had been adapted from the book, read the book that was adapted into the film and then read the book that was adapted from the film which had been adapted from the original book. Yes, my head’s spinning too.
And, just to complicate matters, having taken my own kids along, I have now seen the stage musical, which has been adapted from the film which was adapted from the book, which was… well, never mind.
As I imagine it was for many, I didn’t actually love any of the adaptations that much. For me it was never about the narratives, or the characters (the human ones, anyway) – they were all incidental. It was almost all about the car.
As a six-year old boy, I just found something so fundamentally beautiful and compelling about the Chitty, a 1920s Paragon Panther with its hidden wings, innumerable gadgets and real, living character.
Admittedly, by the time I was eleven, I did find some small romantic interest in Truly Scrumptious, which, had I actually watched the film again at 13 might have begun to match my interest in the car.
So, to whoever’s been commissioned to write the sequel, just give me the car, it’s all I want – 300 pages of it and little else.
And, please, give Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cheap car insurance – 300 pages of him being grounded without cover would just be too painful.
Image by cletch via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheap car insurance
11/03/2011
A slur on Slough – surely not
It’s hard not to feel for the good folk of Slough. For a long time the town has been inextricably linked in the minds of most Brits with one of the most famous poems in the British language.
Call me ignorant or a foolhardy romantic but when I think of poetry I usually think of quaint conceits and flowery language but late poet laureate Sir John Betjeman certainly didn’t have these things in mind when he composed his ode to the town.
His poem begins, “Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!/ It isn't fit for humans now,/ There isn't grass to graze a cow./ Swarm over, Death!”
Oh well, at least there’s a reference in Shakespeare to cheer the town up – or not, with it’s single reference describing it as a “mire”. Not quite like being compared to a summer’s day that.
And things have hardly got better recently with the release of a study which shows Slough to be in the bottom five of the list of the UK’s car friendliest towns.
And there is bad news cheap car insurance hopefuls in the town. The same survey revealed that Slough was also in the bottom five for vehicle theft.
But before I drop another news bomb on the town, I think I should let it speak for itself.
A local councilor comments, "It is a shame a survey like this concentrates only on issues which involve the expenses incurred by car drivers rather than the whole experience of driving.
"In Slough we have invested time and money in our road network ensuring the road surface is of a high quality, potholes are filled quickly and our roads are safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists."
Call me ignorant or a foolhardy romantic but when I think of poetry I usually think of quaint conceits and flowery language but late poet laureate Sir John Betjeman certainly didn’t have these things in mind when he composed his ode to the town.
His poem begins, “Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!/ It isn't fit for humans now,/ There isn't grass to graze a cow./ Swarm over, Death!”
Oh well, at least there’s a reference in Shakespeare to cheer the town up – or not, with it’s single reference describing it as a “mire”. Not quite like being compared to a summer’s day that.
And things have hardly got better recently with the release of a study which shows Slough to be in the bottom five of the list of the UK’s car friendliest towns.
And there is bad news cheap car insurance hopefuls in the town. The same survey revealed that Slough was also in the bottom five for vehicle theft.
But before I drop another news bomb on the town, I think I should let it speak for itself.
A local councilor comments, "It is a shame a survey like this concentrates only on issues which involve the expenses incurred by car drivers rather than the whole experience of driving.
"In Slough we have invested time and money in our road network ensuring the road surface is of a high quality, potholes are filled quickly and our roads are safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists."
Image © osde8info via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheap car insurance, potholes, road network
14/10/2010
Cheaper driving in the country
If you live in the country, there’s a chink of daylight for your hard-pressed wallet with news that the Government may be able to cut your motoring fuel costs by 5p a litre.Although there’s lots of good things about rural life, buying petrol isn’t one of them. Not only do you have to drive long distances to find a petrol station but it’s unlikely to be one offering a discount price.
Riding to the rescue is the unlikely shape of Government - representatives have started talks to offer a pilot scheme for drivers in areas including the Hebrides, Orkney and the Shetlands in Scotland as well as the Isles of Scilly off Cornwall to reduce the amount of fuel tax they pay.
Unfortunately, the move will have to be approved by the European Commission but if Brussels approves then drivers in other areas where isolation contributes to the cost of living could also benefit through an extension of the scheme.
Although buying a tax disc is the same price wherever you live, ongoing costs for a vehicle are often higher away from towns where there is competition from a number of garages and spare parts are easily obtained.
However, there is one aspect of driving costs where country-dwellers do actually have an advantage and that’s in buying cheap car insurance.
Because fewer vehicles are stolen and there are fewer accidents, lower insurance premiums are generally available for rural residents compared with their city counterparts.
Image © connor395 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheap car insurance
05/06/2009
Cheap car insurance and downsizing your wheels
Yes, we all know there's a recession on and there has been much in the news lately about motorists who want to downsize their vehicle in order to save on the cost of their car insurance, but there must be many motorists out there who really do need a car. Mums, for instance, would find the school run a bit daunting trying to get the eldest to the community college and then the twins to primary school all on the back of a 50cc Ninja Moped. And what about the weekly shop - it won't fit in a top box, will it?
So, how do you get cheap car insurance in these credit crunched times? Well, duck2water is a dedicated online motor cover provider who keep their overheads low by not having expensive high street premises or big-budget advertising campaigns.
If you want to get a really competitive car insurance deal or just want to see if we can beat your renewal quote, jump in and give us your details on our duck2water quote pages. And see if we can save you from having to ditch your Skoda for a Scooter.
So, how do you get cheap car insurance in these credit crunched times? Well, duck2water is a dedicated online motor cover provider who keep their overheads low by not having expensive high street premises or big-budget advertising campaigns.
If you want to get a really competitive car insurance deal or just want to see if we can beat your renewal quote, jump in and give us your details on our duck2water quote pages. And see if we can save you from having to ditch your Skoda for a Scooter.
Labels: car insurance, cheap car insurance, credit crunch, recession
12/01/2009
Winter car maintenance, or the lack of it!
So, Christmas has been and gone; the New Year has been ushered in, I've driven up, down and across the country in a bid to appease all family members, and my cheap car insurance has thus far (touch wood) been unaffected by accident or injury.
However, the recent cold snap seems to have affected a large number of cars. Winter car maintenance has suddenly been flagged as important and returning to work today, after the weekend, there were various tales of car breakdown woes including a cross-Europe homeward trip on the back of a recovery vehicle, with a whole family in tow (literally).
My own car seems to have suffered significantly too; last week a brake light went, today I discovered one of my dipped headlight bulbs has gone, I have gone through cans of de-icer, bottles of anti-freeze, gallons of screen wash and to top it off my battery is misbehaving terribly. It has been a little dodgy for a few weeks now, but rather than replace it, I have just urged my partner not to sit with the ignition on without the motor running and to ensure he never switches the lights on before he turns the engine over. It seemed to have worked as well; the car continued to get us to and from work, until...
Yesterday, after a particularly gruelling day of athletics at a North London Arena (and yes, watching your son's pentathlon exploits is exhausting) I took the dreaded London Orbital car park route for our homeward journey. What should have taken a smidgen over 2 hours quickly turned into nearly three hours of hell on a Sunday night, with car accidents, traffic jams, idiot tail-gaters and icy rural roads in darkness.
Eventually, we made it home; the exalted athlete was ready for a bath, pizza and bed, and I had a hankering for a drop or two of Chardonnay. We came to the bottom of our road and just as I was about to signal my impending left turn, an ambulance came towards us with blues and twos blasting. Being the conscientious driver that I am, I stopped and waited patiently to let the ambulance go past, only to witness it turn into our cul-de-sac and promptly block all entrance for other vehicles. The ambulance personnel disembarked like stormtroopers, ran full-pelt into the old people's home that sits at the entrance of our close and I'll admit I swore under my breath. In the past this same thing has blocked the road for up to half an hour and I knew I had made a calculated error.
The journey home had already been the stuff of bad dreams and so, not wanting to prolong the agony for him, I told my son to get out of the car and walk the hundred yards to our house. And that was when the nightmare started. I put on my hazard warning lights and made the cardinal mistake... I turned off the engine and left the parking lights on.
I had sat for no more than three minutes when I realised my mistake and sure enough the car had died beneath me. When I turned the ignition key there was nothing, not a flicker, I couldn't even lock the doors. I exploded with rage, the expletives that reined forth from my mouth surprised even me, and my poor unsuspecting partner, who came down the road to offer to sit in the car until the ambulance moved, received the full force of my rant. To add insult to injury we were then asked to push the car out of the way, as we were blocking the path of the ambulance and my partner and I, who are not the most mechanically minded people, tried to bump start the car with pathetic ineptitude.
Eventually we pushed it to our house and left it there with a view to calling the breakdown people in the morning. I was exhausted, tearful and wanted to take a chain saw to the dismal lump of metal that purported to be our family car. My ever-calm partner suggested I go in and put my feet up. So, I did.
This morning it started without a murmur and my chagrin was palpable.
I am going to get a new battery... some time this week... or perhaps it could wait 'til the MOT in February...
Winter car maintenance is just a pain if you ask me. Getting cheap car insurance is a doddle compared to it and I'd rather do that any day, than visit a garage. It's almost certain to be cheaper too.
However, the recent cold snap seems to have affected a large number of cars. Winter car maintenance has suddenly been flagged as important and returning to work today, after the weekend, there were various tales of car breakdown woes including a cross-Europe homeward trip on the back of a recovery vehicle, with a whole family in tow (literally).
My own car seems to have suffered significantly too; last week a brake light went, today I discovered one of my dipped headlight bulbs has gone, I have gone through cans of de-icer, bottles of anti-freeze, gallons of screen wash and to top it off my battery is misbehaving terribly. It has been a little dodgy for a few weeks now, but rather than replace it, I have just urged my partner not to sit with the ignition on without the motor running and to ensure he never switches the lights on before he turns the engine over. It seemed to have worked as well; the car continued to get us to and from work, until...
Yesterday, after a particularly gruelling day of athletics at a North London Arena (and yes, watching your son's pentathlon exploits is exhausting) I took the dreaded London Orbital car park route for our homeward journey. What should have taken a smidgen over 2 hours quickly turned into nearly three hours of hell on a Sunday night, with car accidents, traffic jams, idiot tail-gaters and icy rural roads in darkness.
Eventually, we made it home; the exalted athlete was ready for a bath, pizza and bed, and I had a hankering for a drop or two of Chardonnay. We came to the bottom of our road and just as I was about to signal my impending left turn, an ambulance came towards us with blues and twos blasting. Being the conscientious driver that I am, I stopped and waited patiently to let the ambulance go past, only to witness it turn into our cul-de-sac and promptly block all entrance for other vehicles. The ambulance personnel disembarked like stormtroopers, ran full-pelt into the old people's home that sits at the entrance of our close and I'll admit I swore under my breath. In the past this same thing has blocked the road for up to half an hour and I knew I had made a calculated error.
The journey home had already been the stuff of bad dreams and so, not wanting to prolong the agony for him, I told my son to get out of the car and walk the hundred yards to our house. And that was when the nightmare started. I put on my hazard warning lights and made the cardinal mistake... I turned off the engine and left the parking lights on.
I had sat for no more than three minutes when I realised my mistake and sure enough the car had died beneath me. When I turned the ignition key there was nothing, not a flicker, I couldn't even lock the doors. I exploded with rage, the expletives that reined forth from my mouth surprised even me, and my poor unsuspecting partner, who came down the road to offer to sit in the car until the ambulance moved, received the full force of my rant. To add insult to injury we were then asked to push the car out of the way, as we were blocking the path of the ambulance and my partner and I, who are not the most mechanically minded people, tried to bump start the car with pathetic ineptitude.
Eventually we pushed it to our house and left it there with a view to calling the breakdown people in the morning. I was exhausted, tearful and wanted to take a chain saw to the dismal lump of metal that purported to be our family car. My ever-calm partner suggested I go in and put my feet up. So, I did.
This morning it started without a murmur and my chagrin was palpable.
I am going to get a new battery... some time this week... or perhaps it could wait 'til the MOT in February...
Winter car maintenance is just a pain if you ask me. Getting cheap car insurance is a doddle compared to it and I'd rather do that any day, than visit a garage. It's almost certain to be cheaper too.
Labels: breakdown, cheap car insurance, recovery vehicle, Winter car maintenance
12/12/2008
The cheap car insurance nightmare
It's the time of year when car insurance companies are tested to the limits; car accidents caused by party revellers who have not heeded the "Don't drink and drive" campaign messages, icy roads and hazardous driving conditions, people anxious to get home for Christmas - they are all factors involved in the proliferation of winter road traffic accidents. But I don't wish to be the harbinger of doom at this pre-Christmas juncture and I would much rather think about the joyful things associated with driving at Christmas.
So, quite randomly, when I think about Yule-tide car travels, what comes to mind?
1. Chris Rea singing "Driving Home for Christmas" - Yes, sadly, I am of the generation whose formative years were blighted by a plethora of Christmas singles that somehow refuse to go away no matter how groan-worthy they are. Shakin' Stevens and Wham! spring instantly to mind and for the masterpiece that is "Driving Home for Christmas" the Rea-meister lent his dulcet tones to lyrics that included the memorable line, "Top to toe in tailbacks", a scenario that back in the eighties was not quite so prevalent as it is now. And so, this song has probably prompted many a long-distance lorry driver to start blubbing into his Red Bull as he ploughs on through the motorway mayhem trying to get his wagon home in time for last orders on Christmas Eve.
Not the greatest ever tune, but it perpetuates that thought of being with your loved ones no matter how far you have to go.
2. Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle" - Horses, horses, horse, horses. And if you don't know what all that is about, well you just don't know your Chick Flick Rom Coms at all.
Yes, the scene where our fair-haired heroine drives to her family home on Christmas Eve accompanied solely by her radio and some very dodgy festive programming, is a classic piece of cinematic schmaltz. She, and supposedly thousands of other American females, listened to the tale of a widower and his son, romanticising about his perfect, but sadly deceased, wife and the love of all things Yulesy; and Ryan falls instantly and hopelessly in love with him.
Rather unromantically, I beg to ask why anyone in their right mind would listen to a home-spun psychology programme on Christmas Eve, and why any man of sound mind would allow himself to be manipulated into that tell-all situation. But having said that, it was a Christmas moment that saw young women, including myself, weeping in cinema aisles, and had the makers of houseboats and fairy lights rubbing their hands together with glee.
Winter driving with small children - I was driving to my Mother's one year, just before Christmas, with my daughter who must have been about eight and still totally in awe of the prospect of Santa's arrival. We had just motored through the New Forest and rather than persevere on the A31 to Blandford, I took the B3703 that takes you straight through the picturesque little town of Wimborne Minster.
I've always travelled this route to my Mother's house, I don't know why, but I prefer it infinitely to the A road. Anyway, as we drove into the heart of the little town we turned a corner to be greeted by the most magical array of Christmas lights that I have ever seen.
The roads are narrow, the shops are small and full of traditional wares such as wooden dressers, china pots and Sunday-best suits for women of a certain age. The lights were simple strings of multi-coloured balls going back and forth across the thoroughfare; reminiscent of how I imagine a high street from the fifties would have looked. The lights stretched out in front of us, in the deserted little town and both my daughter and I gasped at their beauty. It was like a fairground with nordman firs on every other little shop, all a-twinkling and glistening in perfect harmony.
We drove through in what must have been a matter of moments, but the image of our matching smiles and a shared moment of wonderment warmed my Christmas from that moment on and will stay with me forever. And for sheer atmospheric magic, this scene has not been matched by any amount of Santas sliding down ladders, silent ding-donging illuminated bells, or twenty foot trees with haphazard light strings flashing frenetically in the gloom.
Well done Wimborne; you made a mother and daughter very happy that winter evening.
4. Boxing Day driving - And then of course there's the car insurance provider's nightmare; the Boxing Day dash with hopes and prayers that you're not still over the limit.
And even if you're driving safe in the knowledge that you only had one tiny sherry with your teatime mince pie the day before, you can't help but wonder about the driving habits of others on the road with you. How many are still feeling the effects of the half bottle of chocolate creme liqueur they drank whilst watching Star Wars episode 158 before slumping into a turkey induced stupor at midnight on the Big Day, you might well wonder.
Your cheap car insurance might cover you car for damage, your breakdown cover might pick you up if your vehicle fails, but if you are involved in a Christmas car accident, you are likely to remember the consequences for quite some time. And no-one wants to add that particular memory to a Christmas driving list.
So, quite randomly, when I think about Yule-tide car travels, what comes to mind?
1. Chris Rea singing "Driving Home for Christmas" - Yes, sadly, I am of the generation whose formative years were blighted by a plethora of Christmas singles that somehow refuse to go away no matter how groan-worthy they are. Shakin' Stevens and Wham! spring instantly to mind and for the masterpiece that is "Driving Home for Christmas" the Rea-meister lent his dulcet tones to lyrics that included the memorable line, "Top to toe in tailbacks", a scenario that back in the eighties was not quite so prevalent as it is now. And so, this song has probably prompted many a long-distance lorry driver to start blubbing into his Red Bull as he ploughs on through the motorway mayhem trying to get his wagon home in time for last orders on Christmas Eve.
Not the greatest ever tune, but it perpetuates that thought of being with your loved ones no matter how far you have to go.
2. Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle" - Horses, horses, horse, horses. And if you don't know what all that is about, well you just don't know your Chick Flick Rom Coms at all.
Yes, the scene where our fair-haired heroine drives to her family home on Christmas Eve accompanied solely by her radio and some very dodgy festive programming, is a classic piece of cinematic schmaltz. She, and supposedly thousands of other American females, listened to the tale of a widower and his son, romanticising about his perfect, but sadly deceased, wife and the love of all things Yulesy; and Ryan falls instantly and hopelessly in love with him.
Rather unromantically, I beg to ask why anyone in their right mind would listen to a home-spun psychology programme on Christmas Eve, and why any man of sound mind would allow himself to be manipulated into that tell-all situation. But having said that, it was a Christmas moment that saw young women, including myself, weeping in cinema aisles, and had the makers of houseboats and fairy lights rubbing their hands together with glee.
Winter driving with small children - I was driving to my Mother's one year, just before Christmas, with my daughter who must have been about eight and still totally in awe of the prospect of Santa's arrival. We had just motored through the New Forest and rather than persevere on the A31 to Blandford, I took the B3703 that takes you straight through the picturesque little town of Wimborne Minster.
I've always travelled this route to my Mother's house, I don't know why, but I prefer it infinitely to the A road. Anyway, as we drove into the heart of the little town we turned a corner to be greeted by the most magical array of Christmas lights that I have ever seen.
The roads are narrow, the shops are small and full of traditional wares such as wooden dressers, china pots and Sunday-best suits for women of a certain age. The lights were simple strings of multi-coloured balls going back and forth across the thoroughfare; reminiscent of how I imagine a high street from the fifties would have looked. The lights stretched out in front of us, in the deserted little town and both my daughter and I gasped at their beauty. It was like a fairground with nordman firs on every other little shop, all a-twinkling and glistening in perfect harmony.
We drove through in what must have been a matter of moments, but the image of our matching smiles and a shared moment of wonderment warmed my Christmas from that moment on and will stay with me forever. And for sheer atmospheric magic, this scene has not been matched by any amount of Santas sliding down ladders, silent ding-donging illuminated bells, or twenty foot trees with haphazard light strings flashing frenetically in the gloom.
Well done Wimborne; you made a mother and daughter very happy that winter evening.
4. Boxing Day driving - And then of course there's the car insurance provider's nightmare; the Boxing Day dash with hopes and prayers that you're not still over the limit.
And even if you're driving safe in the knowledge that you only had one tiny sherry with your teatime mince pie the day before, you can't help but wonder about the driving habits of others on the road with you. How many are still feeling the effects of the half bottle of chocolate creme liqueur they drank whilst watching Star Wars episode 158 before slumping into a turkey induced stupor at midnight on the Big Day, you might well wonder.
Your cheap car insurance might cover you car for damage, your breakdown cover might pick you up if your vehicle fails, but if you are involved in a Christmas car accident, you are likely to remember the consequences for quite some time. And no-one wants to add that particular memory to a Christmas driving list.
Labels: car insurance, cheap car insurance, Christmas, driving, road traffic accident
21/11/2008
Car insurance quotes and hard times
Are we fed up of the credit crunch yet? I don't know about you, but I'm definitely tired of reading about money saving motoring tips; how pumping your tyres up will save you 8% fuel costs, or how riding a bike to work could reduce your travel expenses by £33.70 a week. However, it seems that in the cheap car insurance world is now gripped by a need to educate the driving community with pearls of wisdom on penny pinching at the petrol station and handy hints to reduce your car insurance quote.
For a while in the car insurance business there was relatively little news to tell about motor cover deals and car driving revelation, as all media interest was focused on churning out as many ways as possible of saying, "Money - we're stuffed!"
Now, several months into the financial furore of money munching cash catastrophe, and all alliteration spent, we're apparently possessed by a sudden urge to teach people how to drive in an economically prudent fashion, and suddenly it's a good idea not to get a motoring conviction because that will keep your car insurance quote down.
I'm sorry, but for me, it's always been a good time not to get a motoring conviction. Credit crunch or no credit crunch, the thought of having a policeman stop me and say, "Do you realise you just drove through a red light, madam?" fills me with legs-to-jelly dread.
There has been the odd occasion in my two decades of driving that I have mistaken speed cameras for roadside objets d'art and not taken my foot off the accelerator quickly enough, and this has inevitably been followed by several weeks of agonising as the postman approaches. I imagine that his thoughts of my social standing will plummet when he spots a letter from the police (or whoever it is that issues speeding fines) and there you have the crux of my point; on the three or so occasions that I have gone through a speed trap over the speed limit, I have not once been issued with a fine. Now is that luck, or are speed cameras just a vague governmental hope at deterring people from driving recklessly?
Anyway, it matters not as they are apparently being phased out in favour of "average speed" cameras, that will encourage drivers to travel at the appropriate speed for more of the time. And guess what, this will alleviate the environmental effect of the hard acceleration that occurs after the braking that inevitably happens before for a GATSO speed camera. So, it's a win-win situation for the government - slower driving and reduced fuel emissions all rolled into one revenue making scheme. I can see the slogan now - "Average speed cameras are good for our financial and your physical health."
Hurrah, our monetary worries are over and they've cured global warming to boot. So, drive on friends, and just in case you didn't know already, shopping around for your car insurance quote could also save you a few quid, or have we in the car insurance providing world already mentioned that one.
For a while in the car insurance business there was relatively little news to tell about motor cover deals and car driving revelation, as all media interest was focused on churning out as many ways as possible of saying, "Money - we're stuffed!"
Now, several months into the financial furore of money munching cash catastrophe, and all alliteration spent, we're apparently possessed by a sudden urge to teach people how to drive in an economically prudent fashion, and suddenly it's a good idea not to get a motoring conviction because that will keep your car insurance quote down.
I'm sorry, but for me, it's always been a good time not to get a motoring conviction. Credit crunch or no credit crunch, the thought of having a policeman stop me and say, "Do you realise you just drove through a red light, madam?" fills me with legs-to-jelly dread.
There has been the odd occasion in my two decades of driving that I have mistaken speed cameras for roadside objets d'art and not taken my foot off the accelerator quickly enough, and this has inevitably been followed by several weeks of agonising as the postman approaches. I imagine that his thoughts of my social standing will plummet when he spots a letter from the police (or whoever it is that issues speeding fines) and there you have the crux of my point; on the three or so occasions that I have gone through a speed trap over the speed limit, I have not once been issued with a fine. Now is that luck, or are speed cameras just a vague governmental hope at deterring people from driving recklessly?
Anyway, it matters not as they are apparently being phased out in favour of "average speed" cameras, that will encourage drivers to travel at the appropriate speed for more of the time. And guess what, this will alleviate the environmental effect of the hard acceleration that occurs after the braking that inevitably happens before for a GATSO speed camera. So, it's a win-win situation for the government - slower driving and reduced fuel emissions all rolled into one revenue making scheme. I can see the slogan now - "Average speed cameras are good for our financial and your physical health."
Hurrah, our monetary worries are over and they've cured global warming to boot. So, drive on friends, and just in case you didn't know already, shopping around for your car insurance quote could also save you a few quid, or have we in the car insurance providing world already mentioned that one.
Labels: car insurance quote, cheap car insurance, credit crunch, motoring costs, speed cameras
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