50,000 jobs are at risk if the Government decides to scrap the annual MOT test in favour of the EU’s every other year model. On behalf of UK women drivers everywhere… please say ‘No’ Justine.

Government proposals to end annual MOTs would put at risk up to 50,000 jobs in the retail motor trade disproportionately hitting apprenticeships, young employees and independent businesses, according to new research by Pro-MOTe.

In their report, “An MOT system that works”, Pro-MOTe explains that:
* Almost 150,000 people are employed in the UK as a direct result of MOT testing with 105,000 jobs in 21,000 testing stations and a further 42,000 in tyre and parts businesses;
* The retail motor industry employs a higher proportion of skilled workers (38%) compared to the UK as a whole (11%), and a higher proportion of 17 to 24 year-olds with more than 14,000 apprenticeships starting in 2009/10;
* MOT-related activity within the retail motor trade is valued at £2.35 billion.  Replacing the current 3-1-1 MOT regime in which cars and vans are tested at three years and every year thereafter to a 4-2-2 system in place in most of the rest of the EU would reduce income from fees and repair work by £1.06 billion;
* A reduction of trade in such a labour-intensive industry would put between 25,000 and 40,000 MOT tester jobs at risk with a further 8,000 jobs in related activity vulnerable too.

The Pro-MOTe report follows its earlier studies that found that reducing MOT frequency would risk causing up to 250 more deaths every year on UK roads and would cost the motorist an additional £57 a year.  Recent opinion polls have shown that the proposed changes are not supported by drivers themselves.

We are told that the Government will announce its decision tomorrow. One last attempt to influence them then…

How can they opt for anything other than the status quo with jobs and lives on the agenda? But why has it taken them SO LONG to say so, causing so many people unnecessary stress in the industry and the time it takes us all to canvass for common-sense. We don’t need the EU to tell us how to run the UK motor industry; we’re different from France and Germany, for example, and we know best for UK motorists in this instance.

FOXY Steph

Last night a friend and I went to see The Artist film in Brighton. Which, as an aside, was SO wonderful that I can totally recommend it.

This time it was my friend’s turn to drive us in her VW Polo and during the journey I noticed she had a dashboard warning light on needing attention. ‘I’ve been to the garage about it’ she said ‘and apparently it’s nothing to worry about.’

Well it would be if it was my car. I’d want it switched off for starters and the fact that a garage couldn’t do that suggests it hasn’t got the latest diagnostic equipment so how would they know for sure there’s nothing wrong?

And certain malfunctioning dashboard lights are now a reason for failing a car at MOT time.

So either way my advice is to get any potentially dangerous light looked at and switched off. Otherwise you might be risking something nasty, causing your engine serious problems and if your MOT is imminent I think you might need it sorted before then…

These are the lights that will be checked to make sure they are working properly, where fitted, in MOT tests this year.

• Electronic parking brake
• Electronic stability control warning lights (where fitted)
• Headlight main beam warning light
• Electronic power steering warning light
• Brake fluid level warning light
• Tyre pressure monitoring system warning light
• Air bag warning light
• Seat belt pre-tensioner warning light

It’s all a bit worrying because electrics can be tricky and expensive, especially for older cars.

Tell us if you have any experience to add to this please…

FOXY Steph

A recent Freedom of Information request revealed that c4,000 drivers were banned from the roads in 2009 due to poor eyesight and a new study suggests that 2.7m motorists would fail their driving test today for the same reason.

Which is yet another good reason to commence interim refresher driving tests methinks, to keep us all up to date with the latest rules and regulations and to give us the peace of mind needed to know we’re safe to drive.

New research from esure car insurance reveals that one in twelve motorists (eight per cent) are not able to read a license plate from 20 metres, which would result in them automatically failing their driving test if taken again.

Almost half of motorists (45 per cent) admitted their eyesight had deteriorated since they first took their test (no surprise there…) with nearly one in three admitting to asking passengers to read road signs for them.

It is suggested that we Brits favour vanity over safety when it comes to our driving because nearly a quarter of motorists polled (24 per cent) have driven without our glasses despite being prescribed them. I suspect that few women drivers realise they are required by law to immediately book an eye test if they have any sight concerns. The research revealed that the average motorist waits three years to have an eye test, while one in ten motorists (10 per cent) confessed that they had not had an eye exam in the last ten years. I am confident I was once married to one of these…

Mike Pickard, Head of Risk and Underwriting at esure car insurance, said: “While the number of motorists banned from driving due to poor eyesight is increasing, it’s shocking to see how many motorists have concerns about not having twenty-twenty vision but are still happy to drive.

“We urge all motorists to have their eyes examined regularly and to make sure they always wear their glasses if required whilst driving.  Failing to do so could land you a hefty fine and poses a danger to both themselves and other road users.”

Hear, hear Mike. Presumably the drivers that were banned had their eyes tested at some stage and were deemed to be unsafe at the wheel. I am not aware of eyesight being tested after an accident although this could be a contributory factor of course. I imagine (but the study doesn’t say this) that this condition is largely down to old age or a known medical condition.

But it is a useful reminder to us all of course, says she smugly, within days of her visit to SpecSavers in Worthing…

FOXY Steph

Women drivers who are interested in their personal and family motoring safety should consider joining FOXY Lady Drivers Club -  to stay up to date with the latest motoring advice, information and special services available, like free car checks.

Now that cars are getting quieter there are concerns that pedestrians might not hear them approaching.

Or that in our highly commendable drive towards a greener and more environmentally friendly motoring future the absence of a noisy engine in terms of hybrid and/or electric cars might cause a new type of road accident. Which nobody would want to happen of course.

Which got me thinking about recognisable sounds that might represent a manufacturer’s brand and image. Picked with care, this could become the musical extension of a brand’s personality. Much as individuals become brand ambassadors; like Thierry Henri ‘s Va Va Voom and Kylie’s ‘Sssh!’ campaigns.

Of course this wouldn’t work in a busy High Street (just imagine the chaos caused by such cacophany…)  but if cars can turn their own lights on, I’m sure they can be programmed to switch on a suitable musical message when necessary to remind people they are there.

Like the sounds of an engine, some might say, if nobody can be more creative in their sound planning…

FOXY Steph

Most female bike riders want to be treated like girls not boys.

Girl Torque is Suzuki’s new website resource for female motorcyclists with news, features, advice and information with a female twist and a women only Track Day launch on 14th September at Donington so we can take to the track and test the latest GSX-R models to suit ourselves.

Suzuki GB’s Michael Le Flay doesn’t see female motorcyclists any differently from male riders but says he understands the subtle differences and challenges faced by females in such a male-dominated pastime.

“For example, riding clothing sizes can be difficult to judge, as much as it may be for for a new rider to understand the differences needed when it comes to seat heights.”

So we women can’t judge clothing sizes or understand getting bike seat heights right… bless!

Even so it’s good to see that Suzuki clearly recognises that women don’t want to be treated like men. Why would we when we’re so different?

But clearly girls who ride bikes are more like men than those of us that buy cars – the name ‘torque’ is a clue that male and female bikers like speed and performance. Women are less interested in chat about torque than men when it comes to buying cars we find.

Vive la difference.

FOXY Steph

TV broadcaster Adrian Chiles recently tried Yamaha’s XT1200Z Super Ténéré bike.

This is what he said afterwards!

 

“I’m not a bike buff as such, so I can’t embellish anything I say about the Super Ten with any technical stuff, but I knew as soon as I clambered aboard that I was in the presence of something twice as magnificent as anything I’d clambered on before.

As I pulled on to the dual carriageway for the first time I experienced the strongest urge to proceed in the direction of, say, Athens, possibly off-road. Regrettably, the only odyssey I could manage on it was the very short haul up the A3 from Weybridge to West London.

The following morning though I could barely wait for my 3.45am alarm call so I could be King of the Road all the way from Chiswick, where I live, to ITV Studios on the South Bank where we broadcast Daybreak from.

I arrived at the 4.30am meeting with a happy flush glowing on my cheeks. “Blimey, you look happy,” said one of my colleagues, “have you been having sex or something?” “No, better than that,” I said, “come down to the car park later and I’ll show you…”

According to Yamaha, Adrian’s experience is quite typical of the feeling that customers have about the 1200cc parallel twin Yamaha.

Although few of us might put it quite so succinctly!

FOXY Steph

Just in case you don’t know of FOXY Lady Drivers Club or FOXY Choice but you’ve heard someone mention FOXY Lady (as garages tend to do), please be very careful when you google to see what we do.

Because the words ‘foxy lady’ can take you into very unsavoury areas online unless you add ‘drivers’ or another motoring term to find us.

So I thought I should explain what ‘FOXY’ means to us and why we chose it in spite of all this.

To begin with, my husband and I decided to set up a motoring club to help women after our daughter had a bad garage experience and we kept hearing more and more tales about women being treated woefully in the motor industry. Having made that decision in 2004 we looked for a name that summed up what we did. It needed to be more exciting than ‘The Women’s Motoring Service’ even if that’s what we are and do.

Being a Chartered Marketer, I got out my books about building a brand to see if the business I was imagining could help me find the right name for what was soon to become a way of life, not just any old business.

I knew that the business was to

• Be for women, first and foremost
• Empower women so they’d get a better deal than they might do on their own
• Be totally independent; why would women trust us otherwise?
• Be feisty enough to influence the male dominated motor industry (that has successfully fended off female influence for years)
  AND
• Be sufficiently memorable for women and the motor industry alike so they don’t forget who we are and what we stand for.

After weeks of perming every conceivable combination of Female/Women/Girls/Sisters with Motoring/Driving and Association/Network/Club we were all totally fed up and uninspired with the boring end result. Until we started to add adjectives that is…

It was my husband that came up with the FOXY Lady formula (I’m not sure what he was thinking of at the time) and the more we thought about it the more we knew it was precisely where we wanted to be in future. Yes, even knowing that there were unpleasant websites that use foxy lady keywords for other reasons… although I must admit I had expected that ISPs would have done something about online sleaze in general by now.

In a nutshell, FOXY was to be a FEMALE BRAND MEANING ‘SHREWD, CANNY, DISCERNING’ which is what we believe women need to be in macho industries like the motor industry where we aren’t well represented.

Needless to say, ‘shrewd, canny and discerning’ adjectives describe most females I’d say, regardless of age!

Now FOXY Lady Drivers Club exists to empower women drivers when motoring gets tough in particular; I like to think of us as a women’s best motoring friend.

And newer business FOXY Choice (set up in 2008 as a result of our Club experiences) identifies and works with genuinely female friendly garages/fastfits/dealerships and bodyshops to promote them to women. We then ask women to help us monitor their performance by providing Good Garage female feedback, to be sure they are meeting the FOXY female friendly standard. As you would expect.

Occasionally we help women who have been treated badly by a garage that will never be a FOXY Choice approved supplier because part of the FOXY formula is to stick up for women who need our help, wherever they get second class treatment.

Having decided upon the name of the Club at last, with a fairly feisty personality that just might be similar to mine, I then couldn’t get anyone to draw the winking fox I could see in my mind. Until my ever so talented sister in law had a go.  And from her fantastic watercolour that did exactly what I wanted, our son christened our fox Felicity because he knew that name meant happiness.

Corny but true…and as an 18 year old, he won’t be at all pleased to think I’ve mentioned this!

Funny that as I explain all this I realise how much of FOXY came about as a result of our family. The idea came from my step-daughter’s bad garage experience, the business was set up using money from my Mum and all the research we needed was carried out by Mother in Law, four sisters in law and friends.

So this is a convoluted way to answer the question ‘why FOXY’ and what this means to us!

FOXY Steph

“We must become the change we want to see”     Mahatma Gandhi   (used liberally here…)

“I want my car to look good” says 67% of latest survey … but only 13 per cent take the time to look under their car’s bonnet, at their engine.

How stupid we Easter bonnet bearing guys and dolls sound in a national study carried out by oil company Castrol.

Apparently four million British motorists are so daft they don’t even know how to open their bonnet as admitted by 17 per cent of the survey sample who are women drivers.

Here’s the foxy facts…

Number of female motorists unable to open car bonnet – 17 per cent

Number of drivers who have never had car serviced – 2.6m (I doubt Castrol asked them all – this could be a slight exaggeration much like the ‘daft 4m British motorists’ statistic..)

Number of drivers more concerned about their car’s looks than how it works – 67 per cent

Only one in eight claimed able to check car tyres, top-up their water and oil or change bulbs themselves. And one in seven of us admit putting our own lives and that of other road users at risk by getting behind the wheel knowing our headlights, brakes or indicators don’t work properly. Now that is really stupid, I agree.

And whilst it’s tempting to write what are men, breakdown cover and garage car checks for, none of this really matters unless the industry wants to do something about it . By being a lot more creative in their marketing to us women perhaps because we have much more important things to concern ourselves with such as families, homes and careers and few of us read motoring pages anyway be this in local newspapers or male oriented motoring magazines.

But if you are reading this ladies, just remember one fact -  a well maintained car is cheaper, safer and more reliable to run and if you’re a member of FOXY Lady Drivers Club we do at least remind you to go for a free car fitness check every so often c/o a FOXY Choice approved, female friendly garage near you. Which is when they’d check your oil, water, tyres and lights of course and spot anything that needs major attention before we’d spot it.

FOXY Steph

According to Sheilas Wheels women are calmer, safer and better drivers than men in the summer.

Yet another provocative headline designed to wind men up .

This because, apparently, men get more distracted and irritable than women in the heat. As the temperature starts to rise so does their temper and their testosterone, when the temptation of totty talent proves irresistible.

After all, men are not famous for their multi-tasking abilities…

Perhaps scantily clad females are equally to blame and should carry a health warning during summer months; something like ‘Look at me and you might crash.’

But what I’d really like to know is whether women aren’t the better drivers in the winter as well?

Could it be that the cold weather slows male drivers down?

In which case turn the air conditioning up to its maximum guys during the summer months and let’s see if it keeps us all safer on the roads no matter the season.

FOXY Steph

“A lot of guys think the larger a woman’s breasts are, the less intelligent she is.  I don’t think it works like that.  I think it’s the opposite.  I think the larger a woman’s breasts are, the less intelligent the men become.”
Anita Wise

We all know we are different, so what is there that’s new to tell us about each other?

Well, a recent survey says women don’t clean their darling cars as often as men.

Shock horror – what sort of sluts are we females?

Let me suggest three reasons why this might be the case.

1 We are too busy doing everything else

2 We have asked someone else to do this for us (a man probably – they are very good at this I find)

3 We are talking about a car to take us from A to B, not live in…

And another survey in the same week says that men feel unsafe when the car is driven by their wife or girlfriend. But not if she is driving sober so he can down a few pints I suspect.

The fact is that these sorts of survey get published and businesses who sponsor them get mentioned, especially online or as fillers in male magazines and motoring publications.

The reason they get published (and then read by people like me) is to do with the differences between the two genders.

Whereas if women drivers were to publish ‘I feel frightened when my husband drives’ (and there must be many of us who do feel that way) there’d be a savage outcry from men whose pride had been dented and because they are fed up reading that women are doing well in all areas of their lives, especially the ones that used to be ‘male domain’.

Whereas we women are the peacemakers (yes, dear, you are the best…), we have a vital sense of humour (…yawn…), realise that none of this trivia matters very much and have more important things to do anyway; family, children, homes, career, community, leisure, holidays, fashion and so on.

Finally we know we are better drivers because insurance companies keep on telling us and they should know.

No contest men – get used to it! Or dig out that sense of humour (you’ll find it below the sense of indignation you feel when anyone challenges your male preserves…).

And it’s perfectly normal for you to feel this way – it’s how we are hard wired respectively.

FOXY Steph