Can we beat allergies by getting behind the wheel?It's almost summertime, and along with unreliable sunshine, school holidays and the reappearance of Mr Whippy, many of us have a bout of seasonal allergic rhinitis (or 'hayfever' if you prefer) to look forward to. Hayfever affects about 9 million of us in the UK, and though we're all affected in subtly different ways the key symptoms - sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose and so on - are pretty much universal. It's caused, we are told, by the tiny particles of pollen that are released by trees like birch and oak, and by certain grasses. The resulting hayfever 'season' reaches its peak in June and July when pollen counts are at their highest, but many suffer its effects from as early as February right through to the onset of Autumn. Protecting against it is nigh-on impossible for most of us, and the average suburban home puts up precious little fight against the rampaging pollen. Tragically, a little good weather is all that's needed to send the pollen count soaring into the 50's (the point at which most people develop symptoms), and if by then you aren't out soaking-up particles in the garden, you can bet they're blowing in through the open windows and sabotaging you in the lounge or kitchen. It was whist in the depths of my own pollen-induced misery one year that I began wondering if I wouldn't be better off taking up residence in my car. After all, a car with air conditioning is about as close to a sealed air system as you can get (on a domestic basis anyway), if the controls are set a certain way. Presumably for the benefit of allergy sufferers, mine even has an option to recycle just the air that's in the cabin, without letting any fresh (i.e. pollinated) stuff in from outside the vehicle. Sadly, breathing the same air for a period of two hours or more is bad for your health in a whole new set of ways (so living in the car is out), but for short trips in the summer it's a godsend. It's hard to say whether or not suffering from hayfever can affect your car insurance premium, but crashing because of a particularly violent sneeze certainly will. It's partly out of concern for this crash risk, and partly because they know it'll appeal to the many thousands of affected drivers out there, that Ford has gone out of its way to produce what's heralded as an 'allergy-free' vehicle. That car, the soon-to-be-released 2008 Ford Mondeo, looks like a dream come true for the average hayfever sufferer.
For starters, it's put together using low-emission adhesives, and all the upholstery is allergen-tested. Commonly allergic metals like chrome and nickel have been outlawed from the cockpit. On top of that - and this is the news most hayfever victims have been waiting to hear - the new Mondeo boasts a sophisticated filtration system that can remove any trace of pollen from the outside air. So does this mean I'm free to live a healthy, allergy-free existence in the back of one of these cars? Well, probably not - but it is excellent news for British allergy sufferers and their motor insurance firms. Until the new Mondeo goes on sale, however, there are a few things you can do to make your regular old (air conditioned) car less pollen-y and reduce your chance of a costly claim on your car insurance policy. For starters, try running the air con for about ten minutes before you get in, preferably with the windows open. This should rid the car's circulation system of any resident moulds or other irritating particles, so that it's nice and fresh when you set off. Secondly, try to avoid making journeys in the middle of the day, as pollen counts are at their highest then. This tip is particularly crucial on sunny weekends and Bank Holidays, when setting off around lunchtime also means you'll sit in queuing traffic for hours, upping your spore exposure-time. Lastly, when renting a car or buying one secondhand, try to make sure the previous driver didn't smoke in it. The particles left behind by cigarette smoking will play havoc with your respiratory system, whatever allergies you suffer from.
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