Dublin City Council recently proposed the idea of banning private cars from most areas of the city centre in a bid to improve traffic congestion.
But the plan has been met with fierce criticism from retailers who claim that such a restriction could result in a 24% drop in consumer spending.
The Irish Parking Association ramped up the drama when they claimed that spending in the city “would collapse” if the proposal goes ahead.
This, of course, is to assume that Dubliner’s spend much in the first place.
Hey, at least drink driving will be curtailed.
Although one Dublin drunk we spoke to about the proposal said that “after eight pints you want to be able to find your car, don’t you? You don’t wanna be wandering around for ages like a headless chicken. If they make me park outside the city I’ll never find it, so I won’t.”
But Dublin City Council really want to reduce the amount of traffic in and around the city, and believe that restricting access will cause more people to use other modes of transport to get to the shops.
The Irish Parking Association though believe shoppers will simply go elsewhere;
“People who want to shop by car but find themselves restricted in Dublin city centre will travel to other destinations, like the M50 shopping centres, or they will shop online taking money out of the city centre and the Irish economy.”
Couples Car Stolen After Just One Day
An Australian couple visiting the UK for a few weeks have to be the most un-luckiest couple in the world.
Okay, so they didn’t divorce, die, or get caught up in an earthquake, but they did have car trouble.
After splashing out £7,000 on a brand new car to tour England with, they returned to their hotel room to find that their key to the car had been stolen – just one day after they bought it.
Things got worse when it turned out that whoever had stolen it had also managed to sell it within just a few hours.
Fortunately, the burglar – the rather elegantly named Tasavur Raja of Sackville Gardens, Ilford – was soon caught, and has been sentenced to 34 months in prison.
Raja was snared after CCTV footage picked him up leaving reception at the time the thievery is thought to have taken place.
When he was arrested and questioned, Raja claimed that he was visiting a friend who was staying in the hotel.
When it soon became apparent that his buddy had checked out of his room, he decided to smash his way into the room anyway.
Then he raided it.
Obviously he was in a bad mood because his mate had left without telling him.
Still in a bad mood, he nabbed the car keys and then sold the vehicle for a personal profit.
Detective Constable Steve Rush said: “The victims have worked hard for many years to afford this trip of a lifetime around Europe and this will have put a cloud over their holiday and experience of the UK.”
Bloody hell Raja.
Lexus To Remove Negotiating From Car Sales
Whenever you go to buy a new car, you expect to do a bit of haggling with a car salesman.
You’ll try and get a lower price, and perhaps a few extras thrown in for free, whilst they’ll try and convince you that you need this, that, and a brand new Mercedes.
Before you know it, you’ve bought five cars and a tractor.
“I bought the tractor just in case,” you tell your wife.
It’s a bit of a game that at times has given car salesman a bit of a bad name. According to Lexus though, it’s also a game that we no longer want to play.
Jeff Bracken of Lexus said: “We know from the research that we do that there are a lot of young folks who are not so intrigued by the negotiation process, and even a group of folks who just don’t even want to go into the dealerships.”
Lexus have come up with a rather novel solution to our 21st century fear of dealerships: They’ve decided to remove the negotiating process altogether.
This is in a bid to appeal more to introverts, minorities, women and millenials who are not buying their cars because they don’t want to get roped into a haggling battle – a battle they will lose.
A statement from Lexus reads: To help build better relationships with our female guests…and I can tell you I’ve needed a lot of advice from the women I work along with, including our agencies and diverse internal team members, to create meaningful initiatives that resonate with our buyers.
“For example, hosting ‘Ladies Night Out’ themed events that provide a relaxing setting to learn more about Lexus vehicle technology.
“We also designed events to resonate with women by connecting our dealerships with communities, like: Child Safety Day… Safety for Female Drivers… and Car Seat Installation Days.”
Road Rage In India Nearly Kills Bus Driver
India recently witnessed an episode of road rage that was like a scene straight out of a Bollywood thriller.
On a busy road in Mumbai, a driver of a Suzuki Swift suddenly reversed backwards, straight into an oncoming Volvo bus.
It sounds to us like the car driver is at fault here, but what happened next suggests he thought the bus driver got things wrong.
The Swift driver armed himself with a cricket stump and bat, before stepping out of his car.
Passers-by thought he was off to play a bit of sport, but instead he turned his attention to the bus.
He then smashed and damaged the Volvo bus door.
Madness.
The car driver then got onto the bus and smashed the driver’s head in with the cricket bat.
All road-raged-out and no doubt suffering from a bit of arm ache, he got back into his car.
The bus driver though, wasn’t happy, and decided to avenge his blood-splattered head.
Running out of his bus, with blood pouring everywhere and kids screaming “ZOMBIE!!”, he jumped onto the Suzuki Swift’s bonnet, causing a bit of damage.
Undeterred by a zombie on his bonnet, the car driver accelerated, with the bus driver holding onto the windshield wipers for dear life.
After 300 metres, he lost his grip and fell off, suffering even more injuries.
Eyewitnesses saw the Godzilla-like scenes, with a traffic constable even going as far as “signalling the car driver to halt”.
Hmm, if a death-defying bus driver on your bonnet isn’t enough to make you stop, we’re certain a hand signal isn’t either.
The bus driver sustained plenty of injuries, but has since been discharged.
The car driver meanwhile, went on the run but eventually surrendered. He is currently out on bail, free to terrorise more bus drivers.
Toyota Release Their First Hydrogen-Powered Car
Forget diesel and forget electricity because Toyota are set to unveil their first hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai’s to Europe this week.
The Japanese brand shipped the first five models to Belgium and Bristol, and will sell the vehicles for €66,000 a pop.
At first, the Mirai will only go on sale in nations where some semblance of hydrogen infrastructure is already in place. These include the UK, Germany and Denmark.
Some 50 and 100 cars will be available from now until next year.
Toyota are releasing the Mirai sedans in a bid to raise awareness of fuel cell technology in the automotive industry. They also hope to encourage more development of hydrogen infrastructure.
Karl Schlicht, Toyota Europe Executive vice-President said: “This marks the debut of a new age for clean mobility.”
Blimey! We’ve only just started embracing EV’s!
That’s the thing with capitalism, it moves quickly! One minute you’re driving a Lambo, and the next you’re driving a hydrogen car.
Toyota though, have always been one step ahead of their competitors and 227 steps ahead of Proton. For example, the Mirai comes 15 years in the wake of the innovative hybrid Toyota Prius.
And if you’re looking to get your hands on a Toyota Mirai, it’s worth knowing that hydrogen fuelling stations in this country are limited at the moment, but government support is encouraging.
Indeed, £11million of government grants will be going towards 7 new hydrogen fuelling stations.
Hydrogen fuel cells release no CO2 emissions and are easier to refuel than electric cars. There is no lengthy charge time involved.
So don’t go green – go hydrogen!
Unless you fancy a Fiat 500 or something.
