I take it back. They were nice initially on the phone on the day my car was pranged, but they have messed up big time, and I can't get hold of them ( Read more... )

My faithful old car was smashed beyond economic repair on Friday morning. It was parked perfectly reasonably on the main road, facing against the traffic, while we were dropping the kids at school. In the 15-20 minutes before we got back, someone drove past, clipped the wing mirror, then hit the back door and rear panel, and then bashed in to the ( Read more... )

I've lost the original source for this, but road accident fatalities in the
UK have dropped dramatically over the period 2000-2013. I think I heard
that they had started to climb again recently, which is what prompted me to
go get this graph.

Good news!


( Read more... )

I've been partly shocked, partly not by the VW emissions scandal. As many commentators have observed, we've known for ages that real-world emissions are way worse than official tests. But for a company like VW to be caught with such a direct and obvious fiddle is a bit shocking.

Breugel has a short, interesting data post looking at the impact of ( Read more... )

Road traffic accidents are on my mind at the moment, for several reasons.( Includes discussion about them and links to tough safety campaign videos featuring hazard to children )

One of my deep beliefs is that near misses and close escapes are gifts of enormous value from the statistical gods ( Read more... )

Gah ( Read more... )

The media is helpfully recycling Ford's press release in to free publicity for their latest wheeze, called Ford Econocheck. The idea is that you pay them £30 and get a free check of your (Ford) car's fuel economy-affecting features (tyres, air filters), and a datalogger installed. After seven days you (or the dealer) hoiks it out, and you post it ( Read more... )

I had a couple of days off work this week added on to two bank holidays.

( Which I spent on the baby, car sorting, and gardening... )

The economics of second-hand cars are fascinating. And relevant to me at the moment ( Read more... )