If Cars Were Drugs

Continuing my reading from yesterday, i found that each year..

1,700 Australians die in car accidents
4,000 Australians are disabled by car accidents
2,400 die of air pollutants (which cars produce half of)
48,000 people are hospitalised from transport accidents

Possibly because i used to work in pharmaceuticals, i wondered "If cars were a new drug, would the government even allow them into the market?"

Costly Cars

I read that in 2007, the RACQ estimated the total cost of owning a car to be 100-300 bucks a week ($5,200-$15,600 per year) when everything was included - fuel, loan interest, rego, insurance, depreciation, racq membership, tyres, services, repairs...

The scary thing is that this assessment was based on a fuel price of 113.5 cents (now just a dream) and didn't even include parking costs or the costs of making an insurance claim (eg. the excess). And there are probably more..

Meanwhile, a friend of mine is paying a few hundred bucks to get her windows made slightly darker!

Green Wave

On my blogroll is Copenhagen Cycle Chic and it is there that i found this great clip of a "Green Wave". (Music is Danish)



All the traffic lights are timed so that cycling at 20kph means every traffic light is green.

Over a Barrel

As if global warming wasn't enough reason to ween ourselves of oil, Alan Durning presents the following graph showing oil price rises and recessions.


He notes that the increased oil prices (since 2003) took hundreds of billions out of the US economy. Possibly the sudden rise in price also made some families unable to keep up with their sub-prime home loans. He concludes that less oil addiction would make us less vulnerable to price shocks.

The English Explorer

You may remember from my earlier story, the footy season has wrapped up (until the world cup). Obviously, this means no friday night footy - and having finished an assignment today, i was looking for a study break. So it was off for a evening walk, and a stop-off for supplies.

Homeward-bound, and a man sits reading in a car. I'm guessing he's lost. Few locals drive rent-a-cars, and leisure-readers rarely choose the refidex.

A tap on the window, some impromptu sign language for "would you like some help?", and i discover our friend is english and looking for Mt Cootha - or as he describes it "the big hill where you can see all of Brisbane". (insert accent from The Bill)

Fortunately for our new friend, i'm the kind of guy who knows his local map numbers, so we had him sorted out in about 30 seconds flat. My work here was done! (insert superhero-sounding voice)
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ps. it was a little bit chilly this evening, and i had been home all day. upon reflection, i wonder what this man thought... lost, in a foreign country, and an un-shaven beanie-wearing bloke knocks on his window. :) well he trusted me, and very much appreciated my help.

That's The Spot

OK, so it looks a bit odd - a bicycle parking sign, and then a bunch of cars. But there is a bike area where i took the photo from - trust me! Anyway, well done to the people at Coonan St shops.

Drive Time

So the other day i posted my estimation of the amount of time wasted by driving.

Well today i read that the average Australian spends 1hr 27min each day behind the wheel. Stunning, isn't it?

Broncos!

So today was rugby league grand final. With Brisbane Broncos in the U/20 Grand Final i wore my broncos t-shirt today (and to church this evening). On the way home i passed by a man even more decorated in Broncos clothing. He greeted me with a wave and a loud cheer of "Broncos!!!" (pointing enthusiastically at his own jersey).

Imagine if we'd won!

Anyhoo, it's these little moments of interaction that one doesn't get when bundled up in a car.