Why 4WDs Proliferate in Gridlocked Cities

Sick of wasting your life in traffic? At least you're not alone

If you spend one hour driving to work (much of it, stopped in gridlock) and one hour getting home, at the end of one year you have spent the same amount of time stuck in traffic as the average person spends awake in a month. It’s the textbook definition of wasting your life in traffic.

(Two hours per day equals 10 hours per week equals 480 hours a year with four weeks of annual leave. If you’re awake 16 hours a day for 30 days a month, that’s 480 hours too. It makes you think about all that commuting.)

See my report on peak-hour traffic absurdity, which ran live on Sydney radio 2UE, below. Bankstown to Sydney CBD, toll roads versus free roads.

Australia’s roads are becoming ridiculously congested. It’s obvious, right? Maybe this ‘escape clause’ is one of the reasons why an incredible one in three new-vehicle buyers are purchasing a 4WD vehicle of some description, be it a ‘proper’ 4WD (with real off-road potential), a so-called ‘soft roader’ (read: ‘light-duty 4WD’) or some form of 4WD ute. Perhaps the aspiration one day to escape the daily grind is strong when you’re paying through the neck to sit in peak-hour gridlock.

These people might own a 4WD to escape, but the chances are they probably drive overwhelmingly in congested, peak-hour conditions in big cities. Traffic jams are increasing, as the growth in city-based driving out-paces infrastructure investment, and while public transport fails to cope.

Here’s a snapshot of driving Down Under.

driving, NewsJohn Cadogan15 March 20124wd, suv, urban carComment

25 Safe Holiday Driving Tips

driving, Home PageJohn Cadogan11 December 2011Comment

Should You Swerve?

Seen all that roadkill on Australian highways? Here's how to sidestep becoming collateral damage in a kamikaze kangaroo attack

You need to get over those bad re-runs of Skippy. Skippy was a fictional character that always saved the day despite being about as smart as a politician. Actual, real kangaroos are bastards.

Roadkill revenge: that's when you swerve to avoid a kangaroo (or and other animal on the Coat of Arms, or even any other animal) and, while you might miss the animal, you lose control, slide and crash. Watch the video below and see a rare roadkill revenge near miss. (I'm driving.)

Car Safety – 10-point DIY Holiday Driving Reliability Checklist

These 10 DIY car safety tests will prevent a lot of breakdowns, not to mention roadside heartache. And you'll save $100 or so by doing them yourself

Remember that the time to do these car safety checks is, obviously, before you leave home. Because you might unearth a problem in the course of these car safety checks, give yourself time to have the car professionally repaired before your intended departure date.

Car Safety Test #1: Coolant level

Modern cars have a translucent plastic radiator overflow reservoir with ‘high’ and ‘low’ level marks. All you need to do for this car safety check is confirm visually that the (usually green) coolant level is between the two marks. If it’s low, wait for the car to cool down and top up with clean water to the mid-point between the two tide marks.

Car Safety Warning: Never remove the radiator cap when the engine is hot or warm. You could burn yourself as boiling water erupts from the radiator.

Car Safety Test #2:

John Cadogan3 December 2011breakdown, car reliability, car safety, check, roadside safety Comment

How to Save Money Commuting

Save time, save money – and get some of your life back

This post is about how to save money commuting.

Easing the burden (and cutting the cost) of daily commuting is easy - in theory. You can save money commuting. How much money you actually save commuting depends on the nature of your job and the flexibility of your employer.

Here are four key strategies to save money (and time) commuting to work and back:

1. How to save money by telecommuting: Convince the boss you can work from home

Obviously it’s not a one-size-fits-all proposition, but in an increasingly digital world many of us could save money commuting simply by working from home – at least some of the time. If you have broadband, you can even communicate face-to-face with colleagues over Skype. Writing proposals, reports, etc., editing video, graphic design, admin – many jobs have an ‘e-world’ component that can be done just as proficiently from home as from the office. Working from home is the perfect way to save money commuting.

The key to making this work is to make it a

drivingJohn Cadogan20 November 2011car, commute, commuting, driving, how-to, workComment