Get off your phones!

Alarmingly, this is something of a dangerous epidemic.

BOTTLED IT!: BMW X6

It's one of the most pointless cars ever made.

Barely Legal Drivers is awful

Cringeworthy show that paints a bad picture on young drivers. 

Enough of these Chinese copycats

THERE’S a saying that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’. With these carbon copies of well-known cars by Chinese manufacturers, I honestly think that they’re taking the biscuit here.

One example is this Jiangling Landwind. As you can see on the picture sourced from CarNewsChina.com; on what a shameless pirate copy it is of the highly successful Range Rover Evoque. A cheap and nasty knock off. Rather like those fake football shirts sold in market stalls in Greece, Turkey or Bulgaria.

It’s understandable on why the established cars manufacturers are annoyed with what the Chinese have done. They spend a lot of time, money and effort designing, developing, engineering and building their cars. Only to find out that their cars have been shamelessly ripped off. It's blatantly plagerism with the replica knock-offs they've made as their 'own', and sold to the general public.

The likes of Ford, BMW and Toyota have filed lawsuits against these Chinese firms infringing copyright. From stealing their designs, or to another extent their ideas. Some have won these court cases, and some sadly haven't.

There's nothing wrong with manufacturers making cars inspired from successful or even classic cars. For example, there's the Mazda MX-5. We can all see it was inspired from the likes of the MGB and the Triumph Spitfire.

The concepts and ideas behind the MX-5 wasn't an original one. But it's their own sports car which they designed and developed themselves. Not a carbon copy of a British classic - that's the difference. Making a photocopy of someone else's work is something else.

At the end of the day, no one likes a copycat.

Fog light drivers are idiots

IF you regularly drive your car at night. The chances are you have seen one too many idiots out on the roads, driving their cars with their fog lights ON. When the skies are clear and visibility is not restricted.

Driving your car at night with your fog lights on all the time is not big and it's not clever. Some young drivers in my age group, will think they'll look 'cool' driving their cars with their fog lights on. The reality is they're complete tools.

Car spotting - an enthusiasts hobby

SOME people will think I'm rather sad by doing this when they see me snap pictures of old or rare cars. That are seen parked outside on the street, or near a supermarket. But I do get a joy out of capturing the moment of cars that were once  common sight on the roads, that are now a rarity.

For example, if I post a picture of a Vauxhall Cavalier or a Ford Escort on Facebook or Twitter. There are chances that people will have like these pictures. With the responses, 'I can't remember the last time seeing one of these' or, 'My Mum or Dad had one of these and we had some great trips out in it'. It's the nostalgia factor that kicks in, and that gives them a warm feeling inside. 

If you're a car bore like me. This is probably why car spotting is such a great hobby - even if passers by see us snapping pictures of old bangers. Who are quite frankly, thinking we're sad bastards. Well, my response is let them think that, this is something that I enjoy doing. Rant over.

Stamp out abuse of disabled parking

What happened to having some common courtesy?

IF you are a disabled driver, you will probably have a blue badge to help you park your car for your convenience. 

Many able bodied people (mainly in supermarket car parks) in vans, 4x4s or executive cars that abuse these spaces. Without displaying a blue badge on the dashboards of their vehicles. This might be petty to some, but it really annoys me when they do it. There are other ways of how people abuse disabled parking spaces.

It's understandable that there will be some who will get annoyed with those who aren't in wheelchairs, or have a walking stick that happen to have a blue badge. Those that do, are likely to suffer mobility problems and can't walk a far distance. But you do also get some fat or morbidly obese people who have blue badges. Again, that will infuriate others because they'll believe their struggle to walk is self inflicted.

People who abuse disabled parking spaces are selfish and pig-ignorant. They don't realise how much inconvenience they cause for disabled people if they can't find anywhere to park. What disgusts me even more, is that they completely disregard and disrespect disabled people. These spaces should be reserved for those who genuinely need them.

Klapped out Ka

My Ford Ka has suffered a bit of a blow. What appeared to be a niggle is something a lot more serious.