Posts filed under 'cars'
swiftcover.com is celebrating its 5th birthday by giving away free car insurance to seven customers. The promotion began on Monday 26th and will end early next week.
To stand the chance to win all you need to do is buy a car insurance policy by visiting www.swiftcover.com. Your name will then be entered into a prize draw to win free insurance for a year!
Tina Shortle, marketing director for swiftcover.com, says:
It has been an amazing first five years, so we wanted to celebrate by rewarding the people who have made it all possible – our customers. We look forward to the next five years of offering cheap, hassle-free insurance to UK drivers.
There are still a few days left of the promotion so buy now for your chance to win!
July 30th, 2010
A common debate which has been going on as long as I can remember is whether woman or men are better drivers. If you ask a group of men what they think they are likely to say men are better drivers, however many organisations and insurance provides are specialising in products for female drivers.
A recent survey done by confused.com found that women take longer to pass their driving tests. The average women needs 21 lessons before they are able to pass the test, whilst men take 17 lessons on average. Females were also found to be more nervous before a test so this fact could be down to nerves rather than bad driving.
A study which came up last year found that women take 20 seconds longer to park than men. However it is thought that this is because men have greater spatial awareness and coordination which helps them better assess where the car is moving to.
When it comes to road safety it seems that men have a bit to learn according to figures from the road safety charity Brake. More than 80 per cent of all drunk or drug charges, careless driving convictions, speeding offences and convictions for neglecting traffic signs were brought against men in 2008.
This is probably a debate which will never end but all these facts show that its not just females who need to shop around for car insurance, males should also think about shopping around for the cheapest cover.
July 19th, 2010
Recent research by swiftcover.com found that 40% of people would choose to drive route 66 as their dream holiday driving experience, making it the most popular motoring experience among UK drivers. The route, which is 2,500 miles, starts in Chicago on the East Coast and runs through a number of states before ending in Los Angeles.
The research also found that:
40% of people would choose to drive Route 66 as their dream driving adventure
14% of people would love to drive a supercar like a Ferrari or Lamborghini
14% would like to have a 4×4 off-road adventure
8% would choose to drive the winding mountain roads of Switzerland or Italy
So why not live your driving dreams this summer! Just make sure you use a reputable experience provider such as Red Letter Days.
July 2nd, 2010
More than 6 years has passed since the ban of using mobile phones whilst driving and if caught using a mobile phone you could have to pay a fine of up to £60 and get three penalty points, but this doesn’t seem to be stopping the distraction of mobile phones. A recent survey by Autoglass found:
More than half of drivers say that texting whilst driving is the biggest distraction for motorists.
71% admit that it is easy to become distracted at the wheel.
2 out of 10 people admit they have had an accident or momentarily lost focus while on the road.
Other distractions which made it on the list were eating and drinking, singing along to the radio, checking hair and make up, sneezing, lighting a cigarette and staring at an accident.
For tips on how to minimize distractions at the wheel visit
www.autoglassnews.co.uk
June 21st, 2010
The department of transport has officially approved electronic car insurance certificates, which will make life much easier for drivers. Drivers will no longer have to wait for insurance certificates to arrive by post, but can receive them by email just a few minutes after purchasing insurance. The move will also make taxing your car easier as you can do it online using your electronic certificate, avoiding post office queues.
Car insurer swiftcover.com has welcomed the news by saying
We are delighted to see that e-certificates for motor insurance have finally been approved by the Department for Transport as this has been something that swiftcover.com has been pushing for since we began in business.
Our service is based on making car insurance quicker, simpler and more efficient to organise, which not only saves drivers time, by getting rid of things like call-centres, it also helps save costs.
This is a great move to make insuring your car easier and faster which most importantly means more time to spend on yourself!
May 27th, 2010
A new technology of hands free tweeting has been developed for Ford cars. The system has already been fitted in Ford Fiesta cars in America, and will be fitted into Ford Focus cars in the UK from next year. The system will be able to read twitter updates out load while you are driving so you won’t need to take your hands of the wheel and your eyes can stay on the road.
Future developments of the system will include voice recognition where the driver will be able to add tweets by saying them out load. The system will also include the ability to read text messages out loud while you’re driving, and you will be able to control your MP3 player using voice commands. Hopefully this will encourage motorists to avoid using their mobile phones while driving.
May 11th, 2010
Recent research from swiftcover.com found that 80% of drivers want the new government to cut tax on petrol, improve congestion and help the environment, however not many believe that any of the parties will make a positive difference for drivers. Here are a few interesting statistics which they found:
• 50% of drivers don’t know which party would be best
• 11% of drivers believe a Conservative Government would be best for motorists
• 6% say a Labour Government would be best
• 3% feel the Liberal Democrats would be best for drivers
• 2% say the Green Party would be best
The survey also showed how strongly drivers feel about change:
• 80% of drivers want the tax on petrol cut
• 43% want a reduction in road tax
• 61% want the government to get tougher on uninsured drivers
• 43% want greater action to punish dangerous drivers
Hopefully the new government will start to take more interest in motorists concerns and start taking positive action for drivers.
May 7th, 2010
How many people in the country name their car? You would actually be surprised if you talked to your friends, that the majority of girls call their cars something. In fact, being totally incredulous about this, we asked some motorists, and were met with horror that the majority of them named theirs.
Apparently, people who don’t name their cars, are in the minority, when over 4000 car owners were polled, they found that 1 in 20 women gave their cars a name, with over half feeling like their car had a gender.
This is causing jokes that women treat their cars like pets, associating them with a personality. It reminds people of the Herbie series of films from the 70’s, where the VW beetle helps the little old lady save her home from a corrupt developer, amongst other things.
Maybe we are the only people in the world who aren’t experiencing the joy of a car with human attributes! Never the less, they are still cars, and therefore by UK law still require a valid car insurance policy.
April 13th, 2010
Many drivers will be feeling the strain of the rising fuel costs, with petrol prices rising close to a record high in the past few weeks. It seems almost unbelievable that this time last year we were paying an average price of 90.7 pence.
Here are some useful tips to help you save money on fuel:
Shop around for the best prices- some petrol stations offer better value than others so it’s always worth shopping around. There are websites such as www.petrolprices.com where you can find which petrol stations are the cheapest.
Lose unnecessary accessories and gadgets- anything that protrudes from your car will add resistance and cause you to use more fuel, so best to lose the roof racks and roof boxes when you’re not using them.
Drive smartly- breaking hard and accelerating harshly can use more fuel than driving smoothly. Driving fast also uses more petrol so stick to the speed limit. Taking your foot of the accelerator early when slowing down can also help.
Share a ride to work- if you are able to share lifts with others then this is a great way to cut down on fuel costs.
Don’t use your car for short journeys- short journeys are often more cost efficient than longer journeys.
Click here for some more tips on how you can save petrol.
April 9th, 2010
I have just read an article in the Telegraph about a five year old who took his family’s 4×4 on a joyride, which I’m sure was a day his family won’t forget. Just after 7am on Thursday morning the boy took the 4X4 and joined the morning rush hour traffic. A number of motorists called 999 after seeing him, barely tall enough to see out the windscreen. He drove the car ’slowly but erratically’ for four miles before crashing it into a wall, but he and other road users had a lucky escape with no serious injuries. A police spokesperson said:
The boy was crying afterwards because he was a bit shaken. But for a five-year-old he had actually driven quite well. It’s a bizarre case and we’re not taking action against anyone.
After reading this article I think it’s fair to say that you can never underestimate a five year old.
April 1st, 2010
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