Only In ______ *

* In the Olden Days pre- political correctness I would have named a country parked just West of Wales.

Mind you, Hazel Blears MP was on the Radio 4 'Today' programme saying "Britain needs to become a "little less anxious and a little more robust" in its approach to religion and culture, communities secretary Hazel Blears will say in a speech at the LSE. She discusses if the era of political correctness should come to an end"

So this leads me to a news story which you may have missed last week.

I refer to the tale of Prawo Jazdy - offically Ireland's worst driver.

He had been wanted from counties Cork to Cavan after racking up scores of speeding tickets and parking fines.

However, each time the serial offender was stopped he managed to evade justice by giving a different address.

But then his cover was blown.

It was discovered that the man every member of the Irish police's rank and file had been looking for - a Mr Prawo Jazdy - wasn't exactly the sort of prized villain whose apprehension leads to an officer winning an award.

In fact he wasn't even human.

"Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence," read a letter from June 2007 from an officer working within the Garda's traffic division.

"Having noticed this, I decided to check and see how many times officers have made this mistake.

"It is quite embarrassing to see that the system has created Prawo Jazdy as a person with over 50 identities."

The officer added that the "mistake" needed to be rectified immediately and asked that a memo be circulated throughout the force.

In a bid to avoid similar mistakes being made in future relevant guidelines were also amended.

And if nothing else is learnt from this driving-related debacle, Irish police officers should now know at least two words of Polish.

As for the seemingly elusive Mr Prawo Jazdy, he has presumably become a cult hero among Ireland's second largest immigrant population.



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Great Rides - Gets better?

About two years ago the Highways Agency produced a very good - especially for a freebie - DVD called 'Great Roads Great Rides', which was given away free with Bike magazine. In total, over 600,000 copies were given away!

They've now followed it up with the carefully-named 'Great Roads Great Rides 2'.

HA

"Great Roads Great Rides 2" is a new resource to help riders 'read the road' successfully and stay safe while enjoying their biking experience. It will be launched on Wednesday, February 25 at the annual RoSPA Road Safety Congress in Blackpool.

The package includes a DVD film and interactive package. With clever filming techniques, it puts the viewer on the bike, inside the helmet and close to the road, and features a 14-minute ride-out from motorway on to urban and countryside roads.

Riders can then use the second section offering an interactive challenge when the disc is used with a computer. Here the ride-out section freezes at specific points so the viewer can have a go at identifying the clues that they would use when reading the road ahead. When the viewer gets a highlighted clue right they score a point. There is also an option to display all useful hints and tips throughout the journey.

Watch the 'riding' section here (along with other HA videos).



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A Better Hole?

A review of Dr Graham Hole's The Psychology of Driving


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Frixo!

I'm a fan of the various on-line route planning and information servies.

Another to add to the list is Frixo. It's a road / motorway traffic reporting site and think it may be a useful resource for your readers. It gives users up to date information as the site gets updated every 3 minutes via feeds from various sources including the government's official Highways Agency site.

Add it to your favourites/bookmarks - if it saves you from one jam it'll have 'paid' for itself.


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Risk Compensation

Not everyone agrees that risk compensation 'exists'.

Very simply, the suggestion is that if someone feels safer, they'll take bigger risks.

What, a few years ago, was called 'The Volvo Syndrome'.

And what I posted about recently with a traffic cop suggesting cars should be fitted with big spikes in place of airbags. Which car would you drive more carefully?

And it was some amusement, mixed with exasperation, that I read this:

"It is generally acknowledged that current tungsten-halogen low beams do not provide enough illumination for normal driving speeds."

Errr, no. It's generally acknowledged that if you can't see enough then you should slow down!


Here if anyone wants to see it in context


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Greatness, with Fearful Skill

. . . Is how it's described.





(Ta Ian)

Oh My Word . . .

http://www.mv-motorrad.de/lshop,showdetail,13737,e,1233576261-14222,003,10170,,Tshowrub--003,.htm

A new twist on an old idea.

Pilots of the old open cockpit planes knew all too well that being tucked in behind a propeller saved them from the winds forces. Why not try that idea on a BMW...after all, BMW did start as an airplane engine manufacturer.

The force of the wind, sends the propeller in motion. The wind turbulances are then sent elsewhere. As with planes, once the propeller is in motion (starting at about 30 km/hr) it is no longer visible.

EUR 97,46 inc. taxes plus delivery costs

Glowing Ideas?

Regular readers may recall teh flashing waistcoat I mentioned earlier.

Had an email today from a company that I - apparently - met and talked to at the London Bike Show. That I didn't attend. Never mind.

They too, sell electro-luminescent garments.

There's an interesting story to the development of the gear:

Exelite Industries Limited was formed in late 2003, to develop and bring to the market high-visibility, self-illuminating personal safety devices. Today, Exelite's electro-luminescence (EL) technology and innovative design principles represent a revolutionary step forward in the field of personal safety. Exelite's use of such technology has its origins in the space industry over fifty years ago.

In the early 1940's, NASA identified a need to backlight specific onboard equipment within its spacecraft. Such a backlight would need to: be lightweight; not generate heat; have very low power consumption and yet contain no gas or filament. . NASA met these needs by developing a transparent plastic filmstrip comprising a light-emitting material placed between insulating layers and conducting electrodes made from indium tin oxide (ITO). Known as the EL (electro-luminescent) light, this technology has proved to be reliable and durable.

Years later, a fire in a plane in a British Airport caused the death of 54 passengers. This despite all doors being opened in good time to enable a safe exit. An investigation discovered that smoke had diffused the light from the doors and exit signs, leaving passengers unable to find their way out. A light source that could be visible through smoke was needed, and the aviation industry took up NASA's suggestion to use the EL light. Just one year later, lights on aeroplane floors became mandatory throughout the world.

The EL light that originated in spacecraft and that now improves safety on today's aircraft , has been redesigned, made portable and refined into the personal safety-wear range by Exelite Industries Limited.

They are now producing a rnage of garments, including a waistcoat.



Interestingly, they mention: Complies to: BS EN 471:2003 - Day / Night Use

It's my understanding that BS EN471 significantly limits the angles at which reflective stripes can be positioned (See here at 3M ) so if you're buying with the necessity of BS EN471 in mind you may wish to specify the 'squared' version.

You may also wish to ask yourself "What does an approaching driver see and understand that they won't 'get' from the retro-reflective material?"

Motorcycle Video Site

Ever thought it'd be a great idea to have all the good motorcycle videos on one site?

Without the dross, etc.?

No. Oh . . . OK :(

Well I did :)

And if I'd had more time I'd have set up a blog site to do so.

Now look what's happened: this site is doing just that!

Wellm it will do when I get down to being more careful about which ones I select! PsuedoTube allows video viewing without the hosting, or significant copying of code etc. It also has the great advantage that you the viewer can suggest a vid to be featured (subject to approval).

What you see from the link took not much more than half an hour to set up - including watching the 8 minute intro video!

As time allows, I'll gradually add more 'training' related videos - those on there at the moment were selected by simple searches which are automated by PsuedoTube.