KEY POINTS:
It's 2.30pm on a Saturday in Auckland and you have just had a puncture. You want it fixed straight away because you are driving to Rotorua early the next morning. But the tyre repair shops near you are shut. Who ya gonna call? This happened to a mate,
an AA member, last week. He phoned the AA who told him there was only one tyre repair shop open and that was at St Lukes, but it closed at 3pm. It was 2.43pm. Our man spent the next 90 minutes looking for a tyre shop. No luck. He borrowed a spare for the trip and had the puncture fixed on Monday.
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The female-focused Sheilas' Wheels insurance company in Britain is adding home and contents to its car portfolio. The company says its home insurance has been designed to "improve key elements of traditional home cover that are important to women but not always considered by men." This includes "expert assistance" in restoring women's credit records, a service free for the life of the policy.
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Motorcycle company Triumph is celebrating the life of movie star Steve McQueen by reissuing the T-shirt the "king of cool" wore when racing his first Triumph dirt bike. The old-style black or white T-shirt features the vintage Triumph logo print on the front, the words "Steve McQueen Special Edition" on the back, and the star's signature on the sleeve. It is available from www.triumphmotorcycles.com from March 24, when McQueen would have turned 78.
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French carmaker Citroen is on to a good thing with its people-mover, the C4 Picasso. The view from the driver's seat is about as good as it gets, thanks to quarter window glass around the front pillars and a windscreen that extends into the roof line above the front seats. The sun visors slide back and forth into the head lining to suit weather conditions. British consumer magazine What Car? has just named the C4 Picasso as its 2007 people-mover of the year. The same vehicle won in 2006.
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The Scottish Government is paying to put anti-drink-drive advertisements into video games. The trial project has ads appearing on virtual billboards within several games from Microsoft Xbox consoles, including Need for Speed and Project Gotham Racing 4. Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said the number of road accidents was rising and innovative approaches were needed to reach young drivers.
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A computer whizz from California's Silicon Valley absent-mindedly obeyed his hire car's satellite-navigation while driving in New York and ended up stuck on a railway crossing. He jumped out before a freight train trashed the car.
* Winners of tickets to the NZ Supercross event at Manukau City tonight are: John Bacon, of Manurewa, and Mellisa Phillips, of Glenfield.
alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz