December 2003
Was following a stretch black Omega today filled with what I assumed to be mourners due to its colour.When it pulled into the supermarket car park I realised that it was obviously just a family car as they got out to do their shopping.
Made me think - how good a buy is an ex undertakers stretch limo? You will get a permanent 8 seater (at least) with a big boot.
Anyone any experience of buying these - at what age / mileage do they get sold on? I assume they don't spend much time cruising the motorways, in fact I would imagine much of the time they don't even get in to top gear! Read more
"LOWER DRINK LIMIT URGED
The legal drink-drive limit should be almost halved to prevent thousands dying on our roads, the Government's transport watchdog has said.
The chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport, David Begg, said it was estimated that 50 lives a year could be saved if the blood alcohol limit was reduced from 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood to 50mg.
The number of drink-drive fatalities has jumped to 560 for 2002, continuing the recent upward trend, Professor Begg said.
He added: "We now lag behind much of Europe on the levels of alcohol we allow in drivers.
"Recent research undertaken in the US strengthens previous analysis pointing to alcohol levels above 40mg in 100ml of blood resulting in a significantly higher crash risk."
Professor Begg said more targeted enforcement of drink driving and legislation enabling evidential breathtesting to be administered at the roadside would "save lives, save cost and save time".
"
In conclusion (my words) the current law is not working as the number of deaths through drink driving has increased. So do we endeavour to enforce the law better?
No we change the law to make it tougher..
Some fault in the logic?? Is Mr Begg taking lessons from Homer Simpson?
And yes I am 100% against drunk drivers and don't drink and drive, just wish current alws were enforced properly before we have more...
madf Read more
Drink Related Crime a Bigger Problem Than Drugs, s
29 October 1999:New survey calls for tougher action in local crime strategies Alcohol causes more problems for the Police than drugs - according to a new survey of serving Police officers conducted by Police Review in association with Alcohol Concern.
29 October 1999 - Embargoed until 3 November 1999
DRINK RELATED CRIME A BIGGER PROBLEM THAN DRUGS, SAY POLICE
New survey calls for tougher action in local crime strategies
Alcohol causes more problems for the Police than drugs - according to a new survey of serving Police officers conducted by Police Review in association with Alcohol Concern.
A majority of officers taking part in the readers' survey - 60% - said that alcohol had a greater impact on their workload than drugs, with 40% saying that the effect was about the same. None said that drugs were the greater problem.
Most of the officers surveyed - 68% - said that they encountered alcohol-related crime and disorder on a daily basis, with 96% believing that the scale of the problem was not reflected accurately in their local crime statistics. 84% believed that insufficient priority was given to alcohol in their area's crime and disorder strategies/partnerships.
A ban on drinking in the streets was amongst the most popular solutions put forward as a means of tackling the problem - as were tougher penalties for offenders who commit crimes while drunk and a review of licensing legislation.
The survey findings are to be announced at Alcohol Concern's Annual Conference on Wednesday, November 3rd (details below) - which is entitled 'Alcohol, Crime and Disorder: Joined Up Action or stuck behind bars?'.
Keynote speaker at the conference will be Home Office Minister, Charles Clarke MP, who will be describing Government policies designed to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder. Among subjects on the agenda will be crime audits, the Police view, problems in prisons and community safety.
Alcohol Concern Director, Eric Appleby, comments: "The survey offers an interesting insight into the views of the people who have to deal with the effects of alcohol-related crime each and every day - and we ignore what they say at our peril.
"What we need urgently - and we have said this forcefully in our proposals for the Government's National Alcohol Strategy - is a concerted, coordinated attempt to tackle this important issue, both nationally and locally.
"Nationally, we need 'joined up' action by the different Government departments responsible for issues such as policing, help-giving services, community safety and licensing. Locally, we must keep up the pressure to make sure that alcohol is taken seriously, and tackled, by anti-crime strategies."
Adds Gary Mason - Editor of Police Review: "Government emphasis on the drug threat has meant that the well-catalogued link between alcohol abuse and crime and disorder has been largely ignored."
From Alcohol Concern
madf
Can anyone recommend a brand of screenwash? I recently ran out, and bought a bottle from a petrol station (a 'cheaper' chain, ie not Esso, Shell, BP etc), and filled the washer, topping up with water,. Since, every use has resulted in a white residue being left on the screen as it dries. Really annoying! I'm tempted to go with the OE fluid supplied by SEAT, VW etc. Anyone any other thoughts? Halfords any good? Or another petrol station??
TIA,
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
Seat Leon Cupra
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner. Read more
I live in a hard water area and use Decosol. Never had any probs with it.
Hawkeye
-----------------------------
Stranger in a strange land
What determines if a registration is transferable?
If you see someone selling an old pre letter prefix car for restoration. But lets say its a hopeless Austin/Morris something with no history and not worth the time/money to save. Can you scrap it and transfer the plate? How does it work?
Cheers Read more
So then Dude is this correct...
1960 Ford Thingy Mot'd but tatty, reg 123 ABC
I can buy it for £350, transfer/sell the reg, and pay DVLA for a different reg for the Ford? Does then that then mean that if I sell the ford its reg is non-transferrable?
1959 Morris Wotsit running but no MOT, reg 345 DEF
Weld it, fix the brakes, MOT it. Then get grubby my hands on the reg as above?
1958 Austin Doodar, stood in a field, reg 789 XYZ
To get it thru' an MOT would cost £k's don't bother
Cheers 67
Nissan Primera 1.6 1995
I've been in this situation before.
If something needs replacing I shop around for the best prices and then usually go with the cheapest. However, it doesn't always prove to be cheapest in the long run. (The last time for a new radiator, it cost me fortune for a new head gasket & replacement of cooling system components =£500!!)
I need to replace my front dampers and Kwik-fit want c.£100 for supply & fitting inc vat (they are gas dampers btw) whereas my local garage who I trust to do a good job want c.£200.
Which one do I go for???
Paul Read more
Yes definitely worn out with obvious symptoms and a mate of mine who, at the time, was a Nissan mechanic at a main dealer, confirmed they were worn out. I know what you mean with fast fit establishments "cultivating the job" but have always found my local Kwik Fit to be OK.
Has BR\'s have any views on Mitsubishi Carisma models.
I am thinking of getting one probably 97/98 model,and would appreciate the advice of anyone who has experience of these cars. Read more
I have got a 1997 1.8 GLX (non-GDI)- have had it for nearly 6 years. In terms of reliability, I have had only on fault and that was the immobiliser (which was fixed under warranty about 4 years ago). No problems since.
It does everything else in an OK manner.
If reliability is high on your agenda and the price is right, I would say go for it.
Jason
There is a recurring theme in the Backroom of contributors seeming to argue that the Government have a duty to spend all of the tax revenues raised from motoring activities on Roads etc - the M6 Toll thread being the latest example.
All Governments raise tax revenue from a variety of sources to meet expenditure. For the last 50 years or so there has never been any pretence by any Government that there is correlation between motoring related tax income and expenditure. You might as well argue that the tax on alcohol should be spent building new pubs.
I would not dispute that the overall Tax burden on motorists is high. Those who feel it is too high should lobby their political masters. But it is self defeating to argue with them, or in the Backroom, on the basis that there is a moral case for these taxes to be spent for the benefit of motorists.
Read more
I find it fascinating that the Government increases the tax on petrol as a conservation issue, in order to reduce global warming so that we will be deterred from buying so much petrol. However, when the refineries were blockaded a few years ago, Ton came along to say that such tax was essential to pay for health and education.
Seems that politicians can have their cake and eat it.
Interestingly, if their schemes to reduce car ownership were successful, and we stopped buying cars, and using petrol and diesel, the economy would be in a heck of a mess. I wonder how they would get out of that?
Morning everyone,
I hope you are all well,
I get an intermittent loss of power on my Mark2 Golf that usually happens when it gets hot, after I have been driving for around 20 miles. This morning I pulled over, gunned the throttle a few minutes and it cleared.
Like I say its intermittent and only seems to happen in the morning for some strange reason, for shorter trips its fine.
It has new HT leads and spark plugs - im at a loss where to look next, any ideas?
Cheers
Nick. Read more
I would agree with the carb icing theory. Icing can happen at any time but usually on cold damp days, symptoms are gradual loss of power. ie your foot gets closer and closer to the floor but the car keeps getting slower
the engine will eventually stall but if you leave it for five mins the heat of the engine will defrost the carb and you're away again
The pierburg carb has two heating features to prevent icing. It has a flap which diverts air from the exhuast manifold and an electric heater on the fron of the carb.
check that all the air pipes are intact, especially the one that heads from the wing intake down behind the block to the manifold. check that the vac pipes on the air box are attached and no leaks, suck on the pipe heading to the wing intake flap and check you can hear the flap moving.
the heater on the carb is just in front of the main venturi and is a small cylinder with one wire. check for 12v at this wire and check that the carb is earthed, the earth strap is a wire bolted to the rocker cover. check the resistance of the heater is sensible
I'm surprised I'm the first to find this - or aren't I?
forums.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?s=23bbef2...1
I think HJ/da Mods should add official greets from the UK, seeing as everyone is now jumping on the bandwagon! Nothing like free publicity Read more
The MB forum guys are more of a "modder" crowd (but not totally MaxPowered). They do pulley upgrades on their SLK superchargers, bigger wheels etc etc.
It's a good forum if you've got a MB.
mike
Merc SLK
aluminum pipe-holder and nitrous slipper warmers
I was in Sheffield last night and after looking at the weather in the City centre at 11pm, decided it was probably best not to get back to Manchester via the Snake or Woodhead passes, and instead elected to go back on the M1/M62 via Leeds. What a good decision it turned out to be, for I was in the most severe fog from joining the M1 all the way to Halifax, about 50 miles. Once the fog had lifted the majority of vehicles still had their fog lights on, so I guess that the people of Yorkshire and Greater Manchester can look forwards to loons driving with their fogs on for the next 4 months now. Read more
Yesterday, the Woolwich area was a little foggy in places, as was most of SE London. The instruction came over the radio in the bus to turn on our fog lights. The conversation went something like this:
(C = Control, D = Driver)
C: "All mobiles please turn their fog lights on"
D: "It's not foggy"
C: "Repeat, all mobiles please turn their fog lights on"
D: "But it ain't foggy here. Are you telling me to break the law?"
C: "No, I'm telling you to put your fog lights on"
D: "Same thing, cos it ain't foggy here"
C: "Yes, but it might be round the corner"
D: "Well, when I get round the corner I'll put 'em on then"
C: "Please put them on now"
D: "No"
C: "I must insist that you put them on now"
D: "I'll put them on when I think it's necessary, thanks"
C: "I'm telling you to put them on now"
D: "Bloomin' 'eck, would you tell me when to wipe my own posterior an 'all?"
I nearly crashed the bus I was laughing that much!
By the way, the driver in question wasn't me.
Cheers
Rob
Browse
Hearse or stretch-limo no good as an MPV - OK for people carrying but dead useless otherwise. Seats usually don't come out, and with stretch limo, how do you fit fence panels, paving slabs, bricks etc in? Stick to a proper MPV - you know it makes sense (unless you can afford a fleet of different cars to suit your needs or whims).