The European Commission has ruled that all new cars operating in the EU must have daytime running lights from February 2011.
Daytime running lights make it easier to see vehicles and have been shown to improve road safety.
Daytime running lights are smaller than headlights. They are mounted on the front of the vehicle and switch on […]

A leading road safety campaigner has savaged a recently released list of safe and unsafe second hand vehicles. The study, compiled by Australia’s Monash University Accident Research Center, claims to have used actual crash data to determine whether a type of vehicle is safe or unsafe. A leaflet based on the study is being widely […]

A leading road safety campaigner has savaged a recently released list of safe and unsafe second hand vehicles. The study, compiled by Australia’s Monash University, claims to have used actual crash data to determine whether a type of vehicle is safe or unsafe. A leaflet based on the study is being widely distributed by the […]

Motorcycle riders are around 14 times more likely to be killed than a person driving a car.
The recent dramatic rise in motorscooter sales will inevitably mean a big increase in road deaths and injuries, says a leading road safety campaigner.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, warned today that motorcycle riders […]

Motorcycle riders are around 20 times more likely to be killed than a person driving a car.
The recent dramatic rise in motorscooter sales will inevitably mean a big increase in road deaths and injuries, says a leading road safety campaigner.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, warned today that motorcycle riders […]

The police should have the power to seize cellphones being used by drivers while a car is in motion, says a leading road safety expert.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, says that simply banning cellphones won’t work because many users are prepared to risk a fine rather than miss a […]

Holden should follow the example of its British sister company and recall the recent Vectra model because the handbrake may fail without warning, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide and Consumer NZ.
Dog & Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said today:
“We called on Holden to recall this car last year. They denied there was […]

Recent claims that daytime headlight use will not lower the road toll are completely out of tune with the best available research, says one of the country’s leading road safety experts.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide, says virtually all international research has shown that daytime running lights can significantly lower […]

There is credible scientific evidence linking lunar cycles and antisocial behaviour, according to a leading road safety researcher.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, who edits the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, said today:
“I’m not saying you can blame car accidents and crime solely on the full moon. I am saying that numerous scientific studies have shown a clear […]

There are a number of different surveys that look at all aspects of car ownership.
Because each survey asks different questions, it gets different answers. For example, in terms of customer satisfaction in Germany, Porsche comes tops. That’s because the survey asks: “Do you like owning and driving this vehicle?”
However, if you ask: was your Porsche […]

New Zealand should treat alcohol in the same way it treats other addictive drugs, according to a leading road safety campaigner.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, whose pioneering work on crash testing and seatbelts led to major changes in government policy, said today:
“It’s time to stop blaming the victims and start restricting the easy supply of alcohol, especially to […]

Land Transport New Zealand’s new $2million anti-speeding advertisement is an expensive waste of money and should be scrapped, according to one of New Zealand’s leading road safety campaigners.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, says that the new ad, which shows a middle-aged man flipping a Ford Falcon onto its roof, […]

Holden should recall their recent Vectra model because the handbrake may fail without warning, says the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide.
Dog & Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said today:
“There is clear evidence of a serious problem with these cars and Holden needs to take action now, before someone is killed or injured.”
There have been […]

Fines have little effect on curbing bad driver behaviour, and the government crackdown on unpaid fines will simply make a bad situation worse, according to the Dog & Lemon Guide. The largest study of fines (as a deterrent) ever conducted in Australia has shown that higher fines do not reduce the risk of […]

Suzuki four-wheel drives made before 1998 pose a serious risk to younger drivers, according to road safety experts.
The Dog & Lemon Guide issued the warning after 15 year old Auckland student Richelle Murphy died when she was partially thrown from a Suzuki Escudo four-wheel drive which rolled over.
Dog & Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson […]

Road safety campaigners say a South Canterbury doctor busted for reading while she was driving has got off far too lightly.
The 62-year-old was fined $400 after admitting she found her book just too good to put down on a trip from Timaru to Christchurch Airport.
The Timaru court heard Rosalind Allen-Narker had been reading a book […]

Road safety campaigners are calling for parents who supply alcohol to underage drivers to be penalised if something goes wrong.
Clive Matthew-Wilson of the Dog and Lemon Guide was commenting after a serious weekend crash in Manukau at the hands of a drunk 16-year-old.
The boy’s mother has admitted to regularly supplying him with alcohol.
Matthew-Wilson says if […]

The New Zealand Herald today published an article with commentary from various motor safety experts on ways that drivers can increase their chances of surviving an accident. Suggestions included avoiding "small car death traps", SUVs and ….
The Herald interviewed three motor safety experts, including the Dog and Lemon Guide's Clive Matthew-Wilson who commented,
"The real deadly […]