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Archive for December, 2013

5 Ways to Look After Yourself on the Roads this New Year's Eve

As Dave has already mentioned in his post about making sure you keep aware of driving safety this Christmas, I thought I would echo this by reiterating the issue of drinking and driving this New Year’s Eve.

New Year’s Eve is a joyous time – we all have our own hopes, ambitions and dreams for the coming year – but it must also be borne in mind that some people have these hopes and ambitions taken away from them in the most unfair and brutal way. It doesn’t need me to tell you, but it pays to be safe on the roads this New Year’s Eve. Here are 5 ways to can make sure you stay safe.

Designate a Driver

This is an obvious one and many people hammer home the importance of this – but I’m going to say it again anyway…make sure if you’re going to somewhere you need to drive to someone drives and doesn’t drink! You’ll have to go some to repay a favour…but even paying to hire in a private driver beats the possible outcomes at the end of the night if you do get in the car after drinking

Take a Taxi

Of course between a fair few of you, taking a taxi is the easiest option and often works out far cheaper than driving. Everywhere in Australia has a fantastic array of taxi companies but they’ll be busy over New Year…make sure you book one NOW!

Don’t be Distracted

There are lots of ways to be distracted while driving during the festive season, but New Year’s is an especially exciting time in which it’s easy to be caught up the party atmosphere. If you do have to drive, be aware of others and their associated sense of inebriation.

WALK!

Although here at Private Fleet we’ll always fly the flag for car ownership, if you’re going somewhere closeby why don’t you just walk? Staggering home in the early hours of the morning is far preferable to staggering to a car….

Drive a Roadworthy Car

Don’t be the one during the New Year who gets in a second rate, and frankly downright dangerous car, and think ‘I’m not going far, it’ll be okay!’ Bear in mind that police presence is always at a heightened state during Christmas, and with more people on the roads you need to be in a car you’re comfortable driving. Check your lights, tyres and other associated safety items. the New Year is not a time you want to be called up and fined for something easily fixable. For more information on this, check out our post on easy ways to keep your car safe and retain your certificate of roadworthiness

From everyone here, we all hope you have a fantastic festive season and a wonderful New Year. Please, be safe on the roads and sensible in your travelling endeavours. Be sober, be sensible and don’t be distracted. Many people know the sadness of losing a family member this time of year. Don’t be a statistic.

For more information about the world of driving, check out other posts on this blog or contact us if you’re looking to upgrade your car in 2014! http://credit-n.ru/zaymi-na-kartu-blog-single.html

A Very Merry (Stormy) British Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas

And all through the land

Not a road remained drive-able

Not even for a van

I am indeed writing this on Christmas Eve in the United Kingdom. As a child I of course found myself dreaming of a White Christmas, before coming to the abrupt realisation that I lived in a land of dull dreary drizzle filled misery. The chance of me waking up to a snow filled Christmas is about as likely as me getting a date with the Australian beauty that is Rose Byrne. I am perfectly aware however that as my brain cells translate the chemical thought patterns into physical movement that causes written words that the Australian Christmas is a highly different affair to that of which I am used to. As the great man Tim Minchin doth speak, you Australians will be…

“…Drinking White Wine In The Sun”

And as such I thought it necessary to set forth unto the world a story of a very British Christmas 2013. I am not sure if the British weather is worthy of Australian news, but if this is not the case, let me fill you in. For the last few months, the usual miserable British weather has let loose a storm of rage unto our nation. Usually it is the case that the weather is wet and overcast, but just enough for the old biddies of the UK to moan and groan at their daily bus stop meet ups. However this year this mild moist-ness has turned into storms of epic proportions. Well, when I say epic, I am not comparing these to the real storms that occur across the rest of the world. But for Britain, pounding rain and howling wind is enough to bring the country to a grinding halt.

Not just your normal amount of rain...

Not just your normal amount of rain…

We find ourselves on the eve of Christmas eve and the whole country has been warned of imminent stormy conditions. As the night arrives my attempt at sleeping is ruined by the battering of the rain upon my window and the power of the wind smashing the glass from nearby garden houses.

Christmas Eve arrived, and my eyes were opened to the horror that lay before me. Chances are you have been wondering how I was going to bring this very British rant into a car based discussion. Well, let me put it this way, my Christmas Eve driving experience was so much more complex and terrifying than ever before. It is not often that you find yourself driving along, singing along to another Christmas classic, you take the corner…

“When the snowman brings th- FALLEN TREE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!”

Trust me, it will be at number one next Christmas. I am just beyond glad that the brakes on my car have been kept in good condition that stopping was not an issue. While I am on that point, it is always a help to know the best way to deal with emergency stops in soaking conditions. When learning to drive, we are often tested on our emergency stops by slamming our feet on the brake. Have any of you ever tried doing that on a soaking road? Well here is a little lesson in friction; you do that and you will find yourself sliding at basically the same speed you had been going at originally. Oh, and you probably will have no control of the direction your car takes either.

Those winds were a lot stronger than people thought...

Those winds were a lot stronger than people thought…

What is the trick you ask? Well, remain calm and do not panic. You do not want to lock the brakes and start a slide. What you do want to do is slowly but firmly apply the brake. Not everyone would do the same thing, but my advice would be to repeat the previous step numerous times. In my previous experience it reduces the probability of sliding and it will bring you to a stop in a smooth and uneventful manner.

Speaking of rain covered sadness, the amount of rain that had fallen on my fair land had resulted in my drive being blocked by a flooded road. The funny thing is, the reason my local town had flooded is because the local council had decided to use the floodplain of the river to build new houses on. And yet after doing that seemed so shocked when excess water had NO WHERE TO GO APART FROM FLOOD THEIR TOWN. Dearie me, the genius of some people…

I must say though high speed (ish) driving through large puddles is so much fun. If you find yourself on an empty bit of road faced with a large body of water blocking your path, you know what to do. Trust me, you will not regret it!

It just remains for me to say, that I hope you have a Happy Christmas and it brings you all the happiness that you all deserve.

Let us raise a glass to another year of fantastic motoring! And thank you so much for this opportunity to be part of the Private Fleet family!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Keep Driving!

Follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69

Peace and Love!

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Christmas Wishes

I’m sure my fellow bloggers will add their own wishes for Private Fleet members and their loved ones; for me it’s been an honour to have been asked to part of the Private Fleet family. Coming from a background of service, sales and the automotive field, it seems an ideal fit to be able to contribute and I thank all of you for your affirmation of that.

Although Christmas is meant to be a time of happiness and cheers,it’s all too easy for it to be a time of hurt and tragedy on the roads. The police and governments quite rightly sometimes cop a backhander for their apparent heavy handed approach to road safety, however it is a situation where every day needless events on our roads result in lifelong sadness for families. For those that are intending to do a drive over the next few days, please be the one that is sober. Please be the one that is driving a roadworthy car. Please be the one that DOESN’T have your mp3 player’s headphones in your ears. Please be the one that observes the speed limits and with areas that have had some rain, plan ahead by checking the forecast and drive to the conditions. Please be the one that brings their family to loved ones safely and return them home.

On behalf of the management, staff and all associated with Private Fleet, from my family to yours, a very Merry Christmas.

Dave Conolesanta_1203670c http://credit-n.ru/oformit-kredit-online.html

Holden to leave Australia in 2017

Tis the season to be jolly, tra la la la la, la la la… Wait a second.

Christmas is just around the corner, and yet the news I bring you is neither festive nor jolly. It has been announced that General Motors is to stop the production of motor cars in Australia as of 2017. Holden has been an established brand in Australia for the last 65 years. Where the manufacturing may be shipping out to other lands, GM have said that they will retain a sales and parts distribution division in the country.

The Holden Pontiac GTO

The Holden Pontiac GTO

So what are the reasons behind this announcement? But more importantly, what are the consequences?

Let’s begin with the explanation…

In a statement provided by General Motors, they said, “The decision to end manufacturing in Australia reflects the perfect storm of negative influences the automotive industry faces in the country”. Australia is facing an exponentially growing crisis in the motoring sector. For some time, car makers have been struggling despite subsidies given to the industry by the government. The help may have been flooding in from the government, but despite all of this the drought continues. As a result, serious talks are taking place as to whether the government should abandon the car industry altogether.

But wait, why is the car industry struggling?

In many ways, it is through the strength of the Australian economy that the car manufacturers are deciding to leave. For example, the Australian dollar has raised 30% against the US Dollar in the last few years. Following this, the domestic market in Australia is small which means that companies are left competing for what is after all a very small share. I am no expert on economics or marketing, but with a small domestic market, it can only mean small growth. Not only this, with the small market, one of the only ways to make any form of end money is to demand high manufacturing costs. Hardly very attractive for big business really now is it?

As a result, over the last 30 years, the number of cars produced in Australia has more than halved.

What does this all mean for the future of the car industry in Australia?

Thats right… That is Mount Doom for the Australian car industry

Thats right… That is Mount Doom for the Australian car industry

In short, it casts a catastrophic spell of destruction.

This whole debacle could indeed be the trigger that releases a deadly chain reaction of events that could bring about a sticky end to the Australian motoring industry. As it is, most of the cars sold in Australia are imported from across the world. This announcement from GM follows that made by Ford in May which stated that it would cease production in 2016. With Ford and Holden all but disappearing into the sands of time, this leaves Toyota as the sole manufacturer in Australia.

But come on on now, considering all this economic malarkey and the end of GM and Ford, it can only be a matter of time before Toyota follow a similar path. If the worst does indeed happen, with the suffering of the motoring industry comes the suffering of those who are involved with it. It has been estimated that over 50,000 jobs could be lost. That is never a number to be ignored.

Finally, with a current weak Japanese currency which makes exporting cars from Japan a lot cheaper, twinned with the fact that the Australian dollar is so strong could just be the icing on the cake of ultimate death and destruction. Rest in peace? Maybe.

So is there anything that can be done?

The current problem is that as with any economic issue that sweeps over a country, the reply is always to make the government “take steps for the future”. The problem I have with this is that it is more often that not an empty phrase. From my experience when these vacuous phrases begin to be thrown around, the next step is well… nothing. Nothing happens and then the infected area declines into nothingness. The sad fact of the matter is, that steps do need to be made. But the steps themselves need to be made a lot more clear.

If Australia wants to retain a manufacturing centre, then it needs a complete reinvention. The Australian economy needs a new image that will attract new business. I am going to be honest, I do not know enough about this kind of thing to offer a detailed answer. LEt’s be honest, if I could do that, I probably would be in a massively high paying job and be famous as the saviour of Australian motoring. However, I like to think outside the box. And as such I would like to draw your attention to the V8 Supercars.

The V8 Supercars may just be the answer that no one realised

The V8 Supercars may just be the answer that no one realised

It is one of the worlds top motorsport series, but with a little more pushing and development, I see it indirectly bringing about more business to Australia. I mean, Silverstone is the home of F1 and there are countless teams that base their manufacturing in the UK as a result of this. What the V8s need is a full on world series that brings the influence of the sport to countries across the world, especially all those rich western countries like the UK and the US. Show the majesty of Australia and see the results.

This post may have started negatively, but I do see that there is hope for the Australian car industry, it just may take some time that is all. But as they say, good things come to those who wait.

Keep Driving People!

Follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69

Peace and Love! http://credit-n.ru/kreditnye-karty.html