There are 19.5 million registered vehicles travelling on Australia’s roads this year, 1.7% more than in 2018. This is slightly below the 2.1% annual average, but still climbing. In the US, car ownership goes up by about 4% per year. So why did academic Tony Seba claim private car ownership would drop 80% by 2030? Will we give up our cars? Read More
Stopping to buy petrol or diesel for your vehicle is an everyday task you may not think much about. Even so, experts are predicting the demise of petroleum, vehicles that run on fossil fuels, and your local service station. One report predicts 80% of fuel retailers could be out of business within 15 years. Read More
Parents of older teenagers may relate to that feeling of trepidation as they drive alone for the first time on P plates. Unfortunately, young drivers are more likely to be in old cars. Four fifths of young people under 20 who died in a car crash were in vehicles that were more than 10 years old. Should we be putting young people behind the wheel of old cars? Read More
In the last year, 367 people have died on our roads, 9% less than the previous year (May figures). During 2018, 11,180 were seriously injured, 9.4% less than the previous year. This improving trend hides some crucial detail about the vulnerable people who are most likely to be killed or injured on our roads. Read More
It used to be Holden drivers hated Ford drivers and Ford drivers hated Holden drivers. Now there’s a huge choice of car brands to hate and love. But attitudes to their drivers sometimes border on the irrational. For example, why do people hate Prius drivers so much? Read More
It appears ridesharing is not all it was cracked up to be. Half of Australian drivers quit within three months of joining, mostly because of low pay. Many struggle to achieve even an hourly rate of $16. Meanwhile, taxi drivers are complaining bitterly about the effects of Uber and others on their business. Read More
If you watched the news during 2018, you might have thought more people were dying on the roads. We failed once again to meet targets in the National Road Safety Strategy (NRSS), for example. greenslips.com.au took a more positive view. Now the NSW Minister for Roads admits 2018 saw the biggest reduction in the road toll in five years. Read More
Seven of the top 10 vehicles we bought in November 2018 were SUVs and commercial utes. In fact, you only have to look around the streets to see we prefer them. Given business and government buy them too, you might think SUVs are safer than other types. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that.
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The car theft capital of NSW is Blacktown where somebody steals a car every 12 hours. The most popular vehicle to steal in NSW is a Holden Commodore VE 2006-13. Even so, many Australians don’t seem too worried. Does this mean we’re too trusting? Perhaps we’re just innately optimistic – it won’t happen to me! Read More
The Summer holidays have arrived and that means many of us will be doing a lot of driving. It’s also a good time to introduce some lightheartedness. Did you know many people, especially Baby Boomers, like to name their cars? We also tend to choose colours that link to our age and gender. Remember also, cars get hot in Summer so here are some tips for keeping cool. Read More