Comment
Alistair Carmichael: Mobiles and cars just don't mix
Published: 30 January 2007
When Barbara Castle introduced the breathalyser for testing drink drivers in 1967, she did so in the teeth of fierce opposition. Drinking and driving was considered acceptable. Today it is regarded as one of the most dangerously self-indulgent and socially unacceptable activities.
James Daley: The Cycling Column
Published: 30 January 2007
Sean O'Grady: Don't drink the transmission oil
Published: 30 January 2007
One of the frustrating things about running our Honda Civic Hybrid as a long-term test car is that nothing much happens. The only thing I've had to attend to in six months is the windscreen washer reservoir. You can't squeeze much entertainment out of that.
Alexei Sayle: OK, China, it's payback time
Published: 23 January 2007
I'M ALL in favour of China's growing economic strength and its penetration of Western markets, but I don't feel this because of any altruistic motives such as thinking that we need another superpower to balance out the United States or anything. My interest in China is prompted by the thought that I might one day want to revive my stand-up comedy career.
Stephen Foley: China syndrome strikes America
Published: 16 January 2007
AS AN advertising pitch, I can't see it going down well with America's car buyers. Changfeng, the state-controlled Chinese car maker which hopes to start shipping its SUVs to the US next year, unveiled its latest model with a so-bad-it's-hilarious video at the Detroit Motor Show.
Sean O'Grady: Now I can't even afford to take the bus
Published: 16 January 2007
There's been a lot of talk recently about the soaring cost of public transport, and how it costs more to go by train than it does to catch a plane from, say, London to Manchester. The price of a standard open return rail ticket on the London to Manchester run is now £219, after the New Year hikes in prices. The wonder of it is that there is anyone that pays such silly prices. Maybe disqualified drivers and Russian oligarchs are filling the carriages that pull in to Manchester's Piccadilly station every day.
Alexei Sayle: Where true healing begins
Published: 09 January 2007
Unlike most people in the entertainment business, I am not interested in getting my hands on "freebies". It always amazes and disgusts me how at the end of awards ceremonies you can see wealthy celebrities fighting each other, sometimes with knives, just to get their greedy paws on a free goody bag that contains a packet of balloons, a pencil and a copy of Exchange & Mart from 1987. Admittedly, this obsessive honesty of mine does lead me to make mistakes. For a while, there has been a media war going on in London where people are paid to hand out free copies of rival newspapers. I was unaware of this so each time somebody in a purple jacket tried to thrust a paper in my hand I thought they were trying to bribe me and I would give them a long and impassioned speech about how my soul wasn't for sale to Rupert Murdoch or Associated Newspapers for the price of a free paper.
Sean O'Grady: Why ludicrously posh motors are good for us
Published: 09 January 2007
We've got a bit of a luxury theme going on this week: Maserati, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce and Maybach all in one plutocratic edition. (Sorry there's no Bentley this time.) I ought to apologise in a way, because such fun seems at odds with the miserabilist spirit of our times. We ought not, you might argue, be giving even a line of coverage to such extravagances when the planet is dying because of them. One trip to the shops in the twin turbo bored-out sports-tuned 6-litre V12 Maybach would probably melt an ice cap.
Sean O'Grady: The market will make us all green
Published: 12 December 2006
We hope you agree with the choices for our inaugural Green Motoring Awards. But we know that the only really worthwhile award would be given to those who gave up their cars altogether and embraced the bicycle and public transport. A few heroic Independent readers have contacted me to confirm they have done just that, and we shall be honouring them with their own feature. We're not convinced that life is as easy without a car as with one, but we're prepared to learn...
James Daley: The Cycling Column
Published: 05 December 2006
Alexei Sayle: They think it's all voice-overs
Published: 05 December 2006
When I put my old newspapers out for recycling on a Sunday night I always make sure I wear a spangly cloak, lime-green plastic hot pants and a revolving red light on my head so passers-by will definitely notice me. There's a valid reason for this attention-seeking behaviour - it's that I do the voice-over for the TV ads that encourage you to recycle your newspapers, so I want to be conspicuous when I myself am doing it, to show that I agree with the concept behind the commercial.
Sean O'Grady: Want to avoid road pricing? Just drive less
Published: 05 December 2006
I've heard quite enough about road pricing, thank you very much. And what I have heard I have not liked. I also happen to think I've got a couple of ideas that Rod Eddington didn't give due weight to in his report last week. Allow me to expound on them briefly. Who knows; such freer debate, outside the parameters of the Eddington Report, might just save us all a few quid.
Sean O'Grady: What is the price of going green?
Published: 28 November 2006
Right now I am in a bit of a quandary. I'd really like to buy the long-term Honda Civic Hybrid I'm driving around in.
Alexei Sayle: 'Fess Up, Gordon, Or I Get Nasty
Published: 21 November 2006
On the digital channel More4 they show these little mini programmes called interstitials that fill up the space in between longer programmes. Another term for these short films is bumpers.
Sean O'Grady: Now that's a stretched limousine
Published: 21 November 2006
Sean O'Grady: Don't shoot the messenger
Published: 14 November 2006
The Cycling Column: Let's not moan, we are making progress
Published: 14 November 2006
I've been on holiday over the past fortnight in what are reputed to be the two most pro-cycling cities in North America - Toronto and Portland. Both have won numerous awards and accolades for their positive attitude to cycling over the past few years, and have made some pretty good progress towards getting more people out of their cars and on to their bikes. In the US and Canada, where the car culture is so much stronger than the UK (I was amazed to see petrol on sale for 38p a litre in Canada!), this is no small achievement.
Alexei Sayle: It's easy, just like driving a tank
Published: 07 November 2006
During the rioting in Budapest two weeks ago, on the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian uprising, some demonstrators stole a Soviet-era T-34 tank due to be used in the commemoration, and drove it at the police. Seeing this on the news, I thought to myself, "Boy! They must have some tough driving test in Hungary for somebody to be able to drive that!". I mean, even in a big crowd, who in Britain knows how to drive anything except a car or a scooter?
Tim Luckhurst: Why is there this hysteria about mini-motos?
Published: 07 November 2006
I witnessed my first motorcycle accident aged 13 in 1976. David demanded to race his 1958 vintage 150cc single-cylinder James Captain against my 1967 Raleigh Wisp. It was ostensibly futile. The James was feeble by modern standards, but it still produced a lot more power than my moped. The difference was that my brakes worked.
James Daley: The Cycling Column
Published: 31 October 2006
Sean O'Grady: Be Civic minded and beat the tax
Published: 31 October 2006
I always get a little twinge when I clamber into our long-term Honda Civic Hybrid. It's nothing to do with the nice leather seats, in bland grey but comfy enough (and heated too). It isn't the damage I'm doing to the environment, because it isn't a bad car as far as Mother Earth is concerned (although at 39mpg this petrol/electric Honda is not as eco-friendly as I thought it'd be).
