Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, described the leaflet as “ a pack of lies without scientific basis.”

“What the researchers have done is to massage the facts to support an argument. For example, if this study is to be believed, the 1997-02 Mazda 121 is a very safe vehicle while the 1996-02 Range Rover is a very unsafe vehicle. This conclusion is flatly contradicted by the best scientific evidence.”

“When the Mazda 121 was crash tested, it scored just 3.13 out of a possible 16 in its simulated head-on collision. The passenger compartment was substantially deformed. Protection from serious chest and leg injury was poor for the driver. Yet this same vehicle is being recommended as ‘very safe’ to an unsuspecting public”

“By comparison, the 1996-02 Range Rover is a consistently good performer in road accidents and would annihilate a vehicle like the Mazda 121, yet the Range Rover gets listed as a ‘worst performer’.”

“What Monash has done is to massage the data in order to discourage car buyers from buying vehicles like the Range Rover. As a result, the so-called scientific survey has become an exercise in deceiving the public.”

Chris Coxon, the former technical head of the Australian New Car Assessment Program, which has crash tested most newer Australian cars, is equally horrified by the Monash study.

“Our job as scientists is to state the facts. It is not our job to massage the data to fit some political or social objective.”

“The cold, hard fact is that heavier, larger vehicles are generally safer than small, lightweight vehicles.”

“ The report that Monash has put out is totally untrustworthy from a car buyer’s point of view.”

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide, described the leaflet as “ a pack of lies without scientific basis.”

“What the researchers have done is to massage the facts to support an argument. For example, if this study is to be believed, the 1997-02 Mazda 121 is a very safe vehicle while the 1996-02 Range Rover is a very unsafe vehicle. This conclusion is flatly contradicted by the best scientific evidence.”

“When the Mazda 121 was crash tested, it scored just 3.13 out of a possible 16 in its simulated head-on collision. The passenger compartment was substantially deformed. Protection from serious chest and leg injury was poor for the driver. Yet this same vehicle is being recommended as ‘very safe’ to an unsuspecting public”

“What’s even more astonishing is that the Mazda 121’s dismal crash test is listed on the same website that promotes this same vehicle as a ‘best performer’ for safety.”

• http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/vehicles/ancap/mazda/121-2000.html

“By comparison, the 1996-02 Range Rover is a consistently good performer in road accidents and would annihilate a vehicle like the Mazda 121, yet the Range Rover gets listed as a ‘worst performer’.”

“What Monash has done is to massage the data in order to discourage car buyers from buying vehicles like the Range Rover. As a result, the so-called scientific survey has become an exercise in deceiving the public.”

Chris Coxon, the former technical head of the Australian New Car Assessment Program, which has crash tested most newer Australian cars, is equally horrified by the Monash study.

“Our job as scientists is to state the facts. It is not our job to massage the data to fit some political or social objective.”

“The cold, hard fact is that heavier, larger vehicles are generally safer than small, lightweight vehicles.”

“ The report that Monash has put out is totally untrustworthy from a car buyer’s point of view.”

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 were around 14 times as likely to be killed than a person driving a car.

“High fuel prices mean there’s a natural temptation to switch to two wheels, but people should be aware of the risks they are taking when they ride a motorbike.”

“Throughout the developed world, motorcyclists make up around 1% of traffic but suffer around 20% of deaths and serious injuries.”

• Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents - Motorcycling Safety Policy Statements

In 2006, 38 New Zealand motorcyclists were killed and a further 1017 were injured in road crashes. This was 10 percent of all New Zealand road deaths and 7% of all reported injuries on our roads.

• MOT Motorcycle Crash Statistics Factsheet 2007

Matthew-Wilson believes that the only realistic option is to discourage the use of motorcycles as everyday transport, especially for novice riders.

“In terms of road safety, we believe that motorcycles are simply too dangerous to be used for everyday transport in many places. The group most at risk are young riders, who are obviously attracted by the low price and fuel economy of a motorbike.”

“The young man who loses control in a car is likely to walk away, if he’s lucky. The young man who loses control on a motorbike stands a good chance of death or serious injuries.”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault the accident is, death is death, and the easiest way to prevent such deaths is to discourage young people and novice riders from using motorbikes for everyday transport.”

“Until recently, most people riding motorbikes were enthusiasts who were experienced riders. I have no problem with them. However, many of the people who are thinking of switching to motorbikes are young, inexperienced riders with little understanding of the risks they are taking.”

Motorcycle enthusiast Mark King agrees:

“I’m glad that I took up riding at 25 and not 17, or I might not be around to tell the tale. I ride every day, but even for a trip down to the supermarket I put on a helmet and a full set of leathers. The fact is, every car driver has a layer of steel of steel around him. The best I can do is wear leather to protect me. The right gear may be the difference between walking away and riding away in the back of an ambulance.”

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 were around 20 times as likely to be killed than a person driving a car.

“High fuel prices mean there’s a natural temptation to switch to two wheels, but people should be aware of the risks they are taking when they ride a motorbike.”

“Throughout the developed world, motorcyclists make up around 1% of traffic but suffer around 20% of deaths and serious injuries.”

Motorcycling Safety Policy Statements from Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents

Motorcyclists account for up to 15 per cent of the Australian road toll.

Last year 240 motorcycle riders were killed and 5,000 hospitalised.

The Australian Transport Commission is currently working on a strategy to lower the high fatality rate of motorcyclists, but Matthew-Wilson believes that the only realistic option is to discourage the use of motorcycles as everyday transport, especially for novice riders.

“In terms of road safety, we believe that motorcycles are simply too dangerous to be used for everyday transport in many places. The group most at risk are young riders, who are obviously attracted by the low price and fuel economy of a motorbike.”

“The young man who loses control in a car is likely to walk away, if he’s lucky. The young man who loses control on a motorbike stands a good chance of death or serious injuries.”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault the accident is, death is death, and the easiest way to prevent such deaths is to discourage young people and novice riders from using motorbikes for everyday transport.”

“Until recently, most people riding motorbikes were enthusiasts who were experienced riders. I have no problem with them. However, many of the people who are thinking of switching to motorbikes are young, inexperienced riders with little understanding of the risks they are taking.”

Sydney motorcycle enthusiast Mark King agrees:

“I’m glad that I took up riding at 25 and not 17, or I might not be around to tell the tale. I ride every day, but even for a trip down to the supermarket I put on a helmet and a full set of leathers. The fact is, every car driver has a layer of steel of steel around him. The best I can do is wear leather to protect me. The right gear may be the difference between walking away and riding away in the back of an ambulance.”

“The Minister of Energy wants electric vehicles to gain a 5% market share by 2020, rising to 60 percent by 2040. If that many electric vehicles were in use today, then New Zealand would probably not have enough energy to power them. Worse, we would probably be forced to burn fossil fuels in order to power these cars”

• NZ’s CO2 War Uses Electric Cars - MSNBC Article
  

Matthew-Wilson added that although alternative forms of electricity generation – such as wind power – were coming on stream, the supply was barely keeping up with demand.

“The fact remains that one third of New Zealand’s electricity is currently generated from non-renewable resourses, such as coal and other fossil fuels. To call electric cars ‘green’ is a gross misrepresentation.”

• NZ’s Energy Composition and Future Needs - Ministry of Economic Development

“Electric cars look good on paper, but they simply don’t make economic or environmental sense. They’re plagued by the same problems that have dogged them since the early days of motoring: high cost, limited range and the constant need for recharging.”

“The planet faces a grievous energy shortage. Whether you power cars by electricity or petrol, you’re still using up precious energy. Switching cars from petrol to electricity is like an alcoholic switching from whisky to vodka ¬ the real problem remains unchanged.”

“The whole electric car movement is based around the myth that it’s possible to live a 1950s lifestyle in the 21st century. If New Zealand’s motorways were full of electric cars, there’d still be gridlock and we’d probably be forced to burn fossil fuels in order to power these vehicles.”

• The Age of Uncertainty (Dog and Lemon article - PDF)

“Cars are the perfect form of transport on empty roads and the worst form of transport on busy roads. Any energy strategy that uses private cars for mass transport is like a fat person who thinks they can lose weight without dieting. It’s not going to happen.”

In an article titled “Reality killed the electric car”, Matthew-Wilson dismissed most of the claims made by electric car enthusiasts.

• Reality Killed the Electric Car (Dog and Lemon article - PDF)
  

Speaking in Hungary this week, Ban Ki-moon said:

“We need to be concerned about the possibility of taking land or replacing arable land because of these biofuels.”

Ki-Moon also said recently:

“Clearly, biofuels have great potential for good and, perhaps, also for harm.”

Until recently, Ki-Moon has favoured biofuels as a way around the global energy crisis. However, Jean Ziegler, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, called biofuels “a crime against humanity” because they raised the price of food and caused starvation in poor countries.

Achim Steiner of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) also recently warned that biofuels may be adding to the problem of climate change rather than alleviating it. Speaking recently on BBC Radio Four, Steiner said that increased demand for fuel crops had led to vast swathes of rain forest being destroyed and that international standards should be drawn up to protect them.

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7096819.stm

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide, has also been a vocal critic of biofuels.

“Every man and his dog is currently coming up with quick fix solutions to the energy crisis and global warming. However, there’s no quick fix to either problem. In the longer term, we’re all going to have to use less energy, and that means smaller houses, less plastic junk that we don’t really need and less wasted trips in our cars.”

“Biofuels currently offer a feelgood factor, and little else. Biofuels globally are driving food prices so high that poor people in developing countries can no longer afford to feed their families. People are currently starving to death so that Western motorists can sit in traffic jams on their way home from work.”

“The fantasy behind biofuels says that it’s going to be possible to continue the Western lifestyle of the twentieth century by changing the fuel used to power it. That’s a bit like a fat person trying to lose weight by switching from hamburgers to french fries. The basic problem is never addressed.”

“Cars are the perfect transport for empty roads and the worst transport for busy roads. The problem is not the private car; the problem is the private car sitting in traffic jams while empty trains roll by.”

“Electric cars and biofuels are like the emperor’s new clothes; they seem great until you look closely. When you check the facts, you’ll find that most of this so-called alternative technology either isn’t economic, isn’t green, doesn’t work, or simply doesn’t exist and isn’t going to exist anytime soon.”

See also: Biofuels Fact Sheet

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says yesterday’s EECA Biofuels and Electric Vehicles Conference in Wellington appeared to be a thinly disguised promotion for energy wastage.

Matthew-Wilson – who was not invited to the conference – said the event’s website made it very clear that the purpose of the conference was to promote the use of energy using fuels that appeared to be ‘green’ but were in fact often worse for the environment than the fossil fuels they replaced.

“If there was an easy way of powering the world’s cars on some alternative energy source, I’d be all for it. However, the current hard reality is that most of the world’s alternative energy industry is based on quick fixes to the current system, and many of them are an outright scam.”

“Electric cars and biofuels are like the emperor’s new clothes; they seem great until you look closely. When you check the facts, you’ll find that most of this so-called alternative technology either isn’t economic, isn’t green, doesn’t work, or simply doesn’t exist and isn’t going to exist anytime soon.”

“The energy shortage & global warming are real problems, but the hype surrounding these problems is not real. Many people have the impression that the world is going to run out of oil in 2015, but that hydrogen, hybrid, electric and biofuel powered cars are going to save us. Most of those assumptions are pure rubbish, but few people seem to have actually checked their facts.”

“It disturbs me to see politicians and business leaders promoting fantasy technology using fantasy economics.”

“There’s no quick fix to either the energy shortage or global warming. In the longer term, we’re all going to have to use less energy, and that means smaller houses, less plastic junk that we don’t really need and less wasted trips in our cars.”

“If we make decisions based on the wrong assumptions, we’re just going to make things worse.”

See also: Biofuels Fact Sheet

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says most ‘green’ cars are worse for the environment than the technologies they replaced.

“If there was an easy way of powering the world’s cars on some alternative energy source, we’d be all for it. However, the current hard reality is that most of the world’s alternative energy industry is based on quick fixes to the current system, and many of them are an outright scam.”

“Electric cars and biofuels are like the emperor’s new clothes; they seem great until you look closely. When you check the facts, you’ll find that most of this so-called alternative technology either isn’t economic, isn’t green, doesn’t work, or simply doesn’t exist and isn’t going to exist anytime soon.”

“The energy shortage & global warming are real problems, but the hype surrounding these problems is not real. Many people have the impression that the world is going to run out of oil in 2015, but that hydrogen, hybrid, electric and biofuel powered cars are going to save us. Most of those assumptions are pure rubbish, but few people seem to have actually checked their facts.”

“It disturbs me to see politicians and business leaders promoting fantasy technology using fantasy economics.”

“There’s no quick fix to either the energy shortage or global warming. In the longer term, we’re all going to have to use less energy, and that means smaller houses, less plastic junk that we don’t really need and less wasted trips in our cars.”

“If we make decisions based on the wrong assumptions, we’re just going to make things worse.”

See also: Biofuels Fact Sheet

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 call. However, says Matthew-Wilson, most cellphone users would hate to lose their cellphone and this fear would eventually modify their behaviour.

“Cellphone use by drivers is banned in about fifty countries, yet drivers continue to use their cellphones regardless. Clearly, we need to move beyond simply giving drivers tickets to taking their cellphones away.”

Under Matthew-Wilson’s proposal, the police would have the discretion to return the cellphone after a certain amount of time, such as a week. Repeat offenders would lose their cellphones altogether.

“What cars and cellphones have in common is that they give us freedom. Take away that freedom and you give drivers a powerful incentive to modify their behaviour.”

Dog & Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said today:

“We called on Holden to recall this car last year. They denied there was a problem. Now its clear there is a problem and something must be done about it.”

Consumer New Zealand spokesman Hamish Wilson agrees:

“There is clear evidence of a problem with these cars and Holden needs to take action now, before someone is killed or injured.”

There have been large numbers of overseas reports of Vectra owners parking their cars securely on a slope, only to have the vehicle roll away a short time later. In a typical example, Caroline Pearce from Northern Ireland wrote off a neighbour’s car when her eight-week-old Vectra rolled away.

“My driveway is at a steep 45 degree angle so I was careful to put on the handbrake. From the time of my setting the handbrake to the stage when it rolled down my drive was about 15 minutes,” she said.

‘When I got to the car the handbrake was disengaged. There are lots of young children who live around my home and it was lucky that most were in their own houses having their tea. If this had happened any later there would surely have been terrible results. This thought has haunted me ever since.”

Hamish Wilson said Holden had the opportunity to do the right thing and voluntarily recall the Vectra.

“If Holden acts now, they will retain their credibility with motorists.”

Vauxhall, Holden’s British sister company, still maintains that the Vectra handbrakes are safe, but says it will modify the vehicles to ‘reduce the possibility of a partial release when incorrectly setting the handbrake’.

Matthew-Wilson added:

“The Government has the power to force the recall of a vehicle with a known safety defect. If Holden does not take immediate action then the government must.”

• Which? Magazine - Vauxhall under fire over “roll-away” incidents
• CarSurvey.org owner comments
• Consumer Action Group UK Forums - Handbrake failure