Cool Stuff at WotsKool!

Research conducted by moneysupermarket.com has surprisingly shown that villages can be just as bad for vehicle crime as cities.

The worst location for thefts from cars and vans and vehicle theft is the village of Winchelsea in East Sussex. Although the top vehicle crime spots included Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester there were many much smaller villages including Saltburn-by-sea in Cleveland, which was in second place, and Godstone in Surrey which was in third.

The crime statistics were based on the number of motor insurance claims made by residents over the past 5 years.

It came as quite a shock to see smaller villages at the top of the car crime list. The crimes included theft from vehicles as well as vehicle theft. A common problem is theft from works vehicles where trades-people will often leave valuable tools.

A local council in the UK recently proposed to make it an offence for drivers waiting in queues at level crossings not to stop their engines. Those not doing so would be eligible for an on the spot fine.

But does it really do any good to stop and restart your engine when waiting in a traffic queue? The UK Automobile Association recommends turning off the engine if you are likely to be stopped for more than 3 minutes. Otherwise, the inconvenience and tiny amounts of fuel involved make stopping and restarting the engine hardly worthwhile.

Motor vehicle manufacturers are acknowledging that a large proportion of urban driving is actually spent at a standstill. Several have started to introduce ’stop-start’ technology which can result in fuel savings of between 10 and 15%.

So the answer to the question is ‘yes it can be’.

The ingenuity of us humans is definitely cool. We are fantastic at finding solutions to apparently insurmountable problems.

I feel confident that the clever engineers and scientists working to find a green alternative form of energy to power our cars and vans will succeed. Consumer demand for greener vehicles is acting as a major motivator, as is the ever increasing price of crude oil.

There are already a number of promising hybrid vehicles, like the Toyota Prius, on the roads today. And the near future looks like it will see an increasing number of totally electric and near silent cars on our roads.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and that certainly appears to be the case with new technologies that will power our cars in the future. The Tesla Roadster is a fine example of the automotive technology that is likely to make it to the mass market some time soon.

With a top speed of 130mph (210km/h) and acceleration from 0 to 60mph (100km/h) in about 4 seconds this little sports car is already generating a lot of interest. A family saloon and lower priced compact version look set to be available within three years.

The future is looking very bright for green, environmentally friendly motor vehicles that actually cost relatively little to run.

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