I was a guest on Boulton & Company on Sky TV today. I managed a few snippets in the limited time available, but here's what I'd like to have said.

So the Office of Fair Trading reckons the public is not being ripped off at the pumps. I don’t know about you, but I feel ripped off. And the Petrol Retailers Association say they can't explain to their customers why prices are so high. That's worrying. (Click here to see PRA press release).
   I agree with them that the enquiry was too narrow, purely looking at whether the fuel companies were competing fiercely enough. But what if the prices for all these companies are being pushed up by commodities brokers betting on prices?
   And maybe it’s time for the Government to reduce the 60% tax they rake off the top.
   It would make sense if the tax was there to encourage people into greener habits, but rail and bus fares are sky high. In fact, those who thought they were being green by buying hybrids or small diesels are being slapped in the face – they’re losing their exemption to the congestion charge.
   It’s truely shocking to hear how high fuel prices are affecting people’s lives. Hyundai’s recent survey of driving habits found that six in 10 families had missed out on a Sunday lunch invitation because of fuel costs; 30% said they could not afford to visit mum and dad, and one in five families admitted to cancelling visits to their grandparents.
    A survey by the RAC and FairFuelUK found one in 16 people questioned had slept in their cars rather than commute, and 3% had camped near work to save on filling up.
   In some cases people can’t take a new job because it’s too expensive to get there. Small businesses offering a mobile service, window cleaners, maid service, or pet feeders having to put prices up so high their customers vanish.
   On a bigger scale, we’re all spending so much on fuel, we have less money to spend, while the cost of food, clothes, toys and anything that needs transporting are going up in price to cover the inceased costs of getting them to the shelves. Not good news if we’re hoping to avoid a triple-dip recsething when we’re trying the avoid a double-dip recession.
   And there’s no end in sight. Oil companies claim they are spending money on environmental projects, but these all seem to extend the life of the same basic engine cars have been using for more than 100 years.
   Wouldn’t it be great if the oil giants had the vision to create a new role for themselves in the future? Maybe they could spend some of their billions developing fuel cells or a super-efficient, light, safe battery – rather than leaving to the car companies.

If you can Drive Like a Girl, call 0330 022 0200
See www.drivelikeagirl.com

I'm amused by the launch of a new insurance company called Drive Like a Girl
   This smart bit of marketing offers a great way to get round the EU ruling that you can't offer better rates based on a driver's gender.
    Since this ruling on 21 December, female drivers of 17 and 18 have seen their premiums shoot up by 50% from an average of £1,307 to £1,965, while the boys have only seen their fall by 5% to a frightening £2,191.
   In order for DLaG to offer you a better rate, you have to prove you can drive like a girl - even if you're a boy.
   A hidden telematics box or 'spy in the cab' records how you drive and you'll be rewarded if you're gentle on the car.
   A number of other companies are also offering a variation on this idea. Click here to see their details and more advice in my Top Story, Women Lose Advantage.
 

So what's the seventh generation of the iconic Golf like? Click here to find out.

While trying out the new Golf, I had a go at its new self-parking system. You drive past the space to allow the car's sensors to size up the space, then take your hands off the wheel and obey the commands to accelerate or brake.
   I first tried a prototype of one of these systems with Continental in 2005. It felt weird then and it still does. It was downright spooky seeing the wheel whizzing round with such determination. It feels all wrong accelerating and braking without having your hands on the wheel, and I kept braking too hard so the system cancelled.
   I'm sure it would be great if I got used to it; it got the car into a tiny space - and out again. The best thing is that it can parallel park or reverse neatly into a space.
   Press Information Manager Allison Eden says her little girl loves it when they both wave their hands in the air while her car parks itself. Strangely, as we all chatted about it, quite a few people knew men who had this facility in larger cars, but refused to use it, insisting they can do better themselves.

Graphic shows the intention to reverse into the space, you just make the car move or stop as it tells you.

I met Samantha Williams when she was a PR for Mazda UK at PFPR Communications, and she helped me with information for my Essential Guide to the MX-5/Miata.
    These days, she has her own PR company, Revved Up Communications, and has not only got a pilot's licence, but has also taken up aerobatics.
    It shouldn't be a surprise that a female enjoys flying planes, there have been plenty of women pilots, including brave members of the ATA during WWII in the UK, as Sam mentions, and the WASPs in the US. Over her career, Sam has also met some excellent female drivers, pilots and even an engineer for the Toyota F1 team.
   Click here to read her amazing story of boats, cars and planes. As she says: "From my first solo flight 11 August 2010 at 19:15  I felt an overwhelming sense of freedom and seeing the world from a slightly different perspective."

January 12 2013: The Telegraph Motoring ran my story about Julie and Stuart Dalgetty looking for a vehicle to transport themselves, four beautiful blonde cherubs, baby kit times four - plus Benji the high-maintenance pooch.

Click here to see full page and read text.

Click here to read how Jo got interested in motoring journalism, and how she beat the boys to win the 2012 Phil Llewellin Student Journalist of the Year Award at the annual Guild of Motoring Writers' Awards.