Media Releases



  • Another needless death on killer highway

    Today’s fatal crash on a notorious stretch of State Highway 1 near Paraparaumu could have been easily prevented if wire rope barriers had been installed, says a leading road safety campaigner.

    Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, was commenting after a head-on collision killed one person and seriously injured another.

    Matthew-Wilson predicted last month that further fatalities would occur on this highway after the New Zealand Transport Agency delayed plans to install two further wire rope median barriers on the Kapiti coast highway.

  • Call to limit police car chases

    The Police should limit car chases to ‘extreme emergencies’ says a leading road safety campaigner.

    Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, was commenting after the latest serious accident that occurred during a police pursuit.

    “Fatalities after police car chases are often preventable. I know that police hate to let offenders escape, but the fact remains that police chases often end in serious accidents involving innocent people.”

  • Many elderly drivers should not be on the road

    The government needs to make it harder for older people to get driver’s licenses, but also to provide old people with alternatives to driving cars, says a leading road safety expert.

    Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, was commenting after two elderly women were killed after driving the wrong way down a highway.

    “After teenage males, old people are one of the highest risk groups on our roads. Old people drive because cars give them a sense of independence, but also, they drive because they have little choice.”

  • Unprotected roads are killing motorists

    Motorists are dying needlessly due to a lack of simple road barriers, says a leading road safety campaigner.

    Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, was commenting after the latest in a series of fatal crashes caused by cars crossing the centre line into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

  • Road safety ads a waste of time

    The government’s new advertising campaign – aimed at improving the poor safety record of teenage drivers – is an expensive waste of money, according to a leading road safety expert.

    Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, says:

    The best scientific evidence suggests that road safety advertising campaigns don’t work at all.

    The highly respected American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently surveyed 20 years of road safety education campaigns and concluded:

  • Speed camera proposal ‘misguided’

    A proposal to increase the number of speed cameras and issue demerit points in place of fines is misguided, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.

    Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:

    “However much the government tries to massage the figures, the reality is that most fatalities occur at speeds below the legal limit. Therefore, to make a big song and dance about drivers who break the legal speed limit is simply a distraction from far more serious issues.”

  • Fuel economy figures ‘wildly inaccurate’

    Fuel consumption figures quoted by the government are often both inaccurate and unreliable, says the car review website dogandlemon.com. Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:

    “Our actual road tests show that it’s rare to find a vehicle where the claimed fuel consumption figures match reality.”

  • Government roading plans "insane"

    Increasing spending on roading projects during a global oil crisis is like attempting to put out a fire with petrol, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide.

    Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said today:

    “All the experts agree: the cheap oil is gone and isn’t coming back, yet our government is acting as if nothing has changed.”

    The Government intends to increase spending on new state highways but cut or freeze funding for alternatives like rail or public transport. 1

  • Time to prepare for oil crisis

    The government needs to prepare for sudden, severe and ongoing oil shortages, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide.

    Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:

    “For the last 100 years our world has run on cheap oil. This cheap oil is running out fast, yet most governments are largely ignoring this fact.”

  • BMW limousine purchase “appalling value for money”

     

    Claims by the prime minister that the purchase of 34 new BMW luxury limousines is a good deal for the taxpayer are laughable, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide.

    Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says the government could have saved millions by simply buying mainstream models for the majority of the ministerial vehicle fleet.

    “Ministers used to ride around in mainstream Australian cars, and did just fine.”

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