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INCIDENTS OF MOTORISTS putting the wrong type of fuel into their vehicles increases during this year, according to the AA’s annual breakdown review.
More motorists were found to have put petrol in a diesel engine that the other way around, which the AA says is due to the size of nozzles.
The AA’s 2012 breakdown records suggest that men are more inclined to make the mistake than women.
“This slight increase we’re seeing is not wholly unsurprising given the growing preference for diesel cars in this country,” said Conor Faughnan, Director of Consumer Affairs, AA Ireland. “Most often its drivers who have switched from a petrol to a diesel car who miss-fuel. Recently we even had one motorist miss-fuel twice in the one week; we also have customers who have called us out on four and even five occasions.”
Although the error is common, the AA says that drivers are often quite embarrassed about it – with some opting to pay in cash so their partner doesn’t discover their mistake.
“People are very embarrassed by it but you are not alone. Every time someone calls they feel as if they are the only idiot who could possibly make this mistake,” Stephen Kavanagh, AA Fuel Assist Technician: “In fact we will deal with about a hundred calls a month. We even had a case recently where a husband and wife both called us quite separately. Both had made the same mistake and both were very anxious not to let the other one find out what they had done. We also had customers go to put the wrong nozzle in again immediately after we’ve drained their tanks they’ve been so flustered.”
Locking keys inside vehicle
Another common reason that AA Patrols are called out is because a driver has locked keys inside their vehicle – something which women seem to do more often than men, according to the review. Over the last year the AA has been called to an average of one member per hour who has accidentally locked their keys inside their car.
Approximately once a fortnight, a young child or dog is locked inside with the keys.
“A parent might step out of the car leaving the keys in the ignition to chat to someone and the child or pet in the back leans on the door lock and hey presto they’ve got a situation on their hands,” Faughnan explained. “A quick call to us however and we’ll send someone out straightaway. We of course always prioritise incidents involving children or more vulnerable motorists.”
Meanwhile, the annual breakdown also shows that flat batteries and punctures remain the most common cause of breakdowns on Irish roads, with battery trouble the reason for 24 per cent of call outs received by AA Patrols over the last 12 months.
The AA warned that some subtle differences have emerged this year which would coincide with the older profile of vehicles on Irish roads; the percentage of breakdowns relating to steering, suspension and brake issues for example grew slightly this year in tandem with the age profile of vehicles on our roads.
According to the 2011 Irish Bulletin of Vehicle and Driver Statistics, 79 per cent of private cars in Ireland were four years and older while 60 per cent were six years and older. These figures compares to 71 per cent and 53 per cent in 2009.
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“Keep the recovery going”
TDs: Wahey, we get a €5k pay rise!
Health workers: Where’s our pay rise?
Fine Gael: Well, we haven’t recovered that much now…
@Franklin Roosevelt: the economy has recovered very significantly since the 2007 implosion , I know that’s not popular acknowledge here but it is true
@Franklin Roosevelt: apologies hadn’t read comment properly
Maybe a.silly statement but ” voluntary organisations” funded by hse . What makes it voluntary if the workers are being paid ?
@Chris Tobin: as far as i know that title entitles them to legally receive charitable donations. So the HSE funding isn’t 100% of their income.
@Stephen Foster: voluntary only in name for tax reasons so
@Chris Tobin: They are service providers to the HSE who would have to do the support and rehab work they do. Section 39 groups as is mentioned in the article.
Please check out the difference before statements that quiet simply are wrong and uninformed.
The HSE pay for the staffing of them to do the work, the charitable donations are used directly to help the clients more than they could if only relying on HSE funding
I honestly wish people would learn more about the section 39 groups before commenting . The misunderstanding above are frightening.
Funding was cut, wages were cut, so as not to affect the clients IE me and other disabled people who rely on these groups.
The charitable donations go in special activities or training for the clients.
The group that help me received a 64% increase in requests for support and had a 15% cut in funding.
DO THE MATH.
Are these people employees of the HSE though? It doesn’t sound like it as they are section 39 companies who receive funding from the HSE as they are effectively charities or do charity classified work. SIPTU are looking for the HSE to increase grants to these designated charity organisations it seems so that they can be used to fund salary increases. This is comparing apples with oranges surely. I’m not sure how this is comparable with PS pay increases.
@Sean @114: hse funded ” voluntary organisations” so
@Chris Tobin: they are providing funds. They are not the employer and there is no obligation on HSE to provide more funds for salaries as it is not the employer. SIPTU comparing apples to oranges here. The gripe is with the employer surely.
@Sean @114: No you have it wrong completely. Not surprising as a lot of people do. It would take too long to explain. Section 39 groups do work for the HSE and they are paid like any other service provider. The wages were cut in line with the PS wages and what they are asking for is parity.
@Gary Kearney: The HSE provide recurring grants for these agencies but are not a direct employer of their employees. You will find none of them on the HSE payroll.
@Alan McCartney: But this came up in 2014 relating to top-up payments.
The HSE engaged with “section 39 organisations regarding their obligations under their service agreements with it not to pay or subsidise salaries, expenses or other benefits which exceeded those normally paid in the public service.”
If their pay was capped then, they’re saying it would be fair to match it with HSE wages now.
@Alan McCartney: correct, not the employer. They may ‘subsidise’ section 39 agencies but they do not employ these staff. At least that was always my understanding. If they were let go would they receive a P45 from the HSE employer registered company? I don’t believe so.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: yes obligations under an agreement which sees funding received from the HSE. They set guidelines that certain payments should not exceed those in line with their own. It makes sense to do so. Nowhere would it make sense to agree to pay ‘increases’ for non employees.
@Alan McCartney: and they can match it all they want from current funding levels.
When the inefficiencies are gone from the health service and some savings made, review pay and apply where possible.
The amount of €uros wasted on administration for administration sake is what cripples the guys of the budget.
SIPTU won’t hear tell of it because our affects their income.
You’d cringe at the salaries the top table are paid in these unions. Jack O’ Connor is on €149k folks.
@Murph: examples please.
Sack them all and get the army to take over.
@Peter Barlow: What, march into nursing homes and help them all into clean uniforms? Shout out their medication in relays?
@Peter Barlow: I hope none of your family ever need these services.
have your say