Hi-Viz for Kids

No, I didn't buy one for my lad for Christmas!

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Bollards

It has, occasionally, been said that I talk a load of bollards.

So, today, I am pleased to continue that long tradition, with pictures of one of the most weird bollards I've ever seen.

The pictures don't really do it justice, so some explanation, to give a sense of scale, is in order.  The bollard is placed to prevent vehicle access to a bridge.  The main platform of the bridge is about 8 feet across, and the side walls about 5 feet tall.  The 'normal' handrails show how much higher the bridge sides are!

It's not just the 'outline' shape that intrigued me, but the 'fluting' down one side.  It's a piece of art masquerading as a bollard, hidden down a footpath where (relatively) few people will see, and even less appreciate, it.

So, ladies and gentleman, the bollard!

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Timing - The Secret of Comedy

It's often said that good timing is the secret of great comedy. A similar principle applies while riding, careful timing helps the road work for you rather than against you.

 

On the road, Time = Distance = Space. Also, these factors are directly affected by, and influence, 'Speed'. Also, timing is an important part of 'positioning'.

 

'Space' is one of the keys to surviving on the road. Imagine if there were always huge spaces around you - you'd have removed any risk of conflict!

 

 

Adjusting your timing can improve your safety and give you greater safety margins from the same position on the lane width.

 

Adjusting your speed as you identify hazards will affect your thinking and braking distances. A small reduction in speed will give you more reaction time, and reduce your braking distance.

 

You can use careful timing to help you manage situations, by separating hazards which you would otherwise encounter together.

  

 

In the zone

 

The distance you can see ahead will affect how you plan your ride. Roughly, there are three 'zones':

• If anything happens 4 seconds ahead or closer is an immediate emergency - it needs instant reactions rather than planning
• 5 - 12 seconds gives you time to plan, prioritise, then act
• Over 12 seconds gives you plenty of time to consider all options and plan the optimum course of action

  

These time zones are only a guide - the actual time will vary according to your own reactions - they show the way in which planning ahead is limited by the time available, and that time depends on the speed you're using up the distance you can see ahead. They also show the potential benefits from looking significantly further ahead when it’s possible.

 

Your reactions can vary too, partly with your physical state - for example whether you're alert or tired - and whether you're mentally prepared to take action.

 

Remember, these timings are for your 'space' - there will be situations when that time and space can be 'invaded' or 'reduced' by other road users.

 

Two examples:

• On a narrow, winding, country lane, with limited forward visibility, 4 seconds ahead may be sufficient for your reactions and skill, but leaves no margin for any oncoming vehicles 

• In an urban situation you may be able to see some way ahead, but the situation closer to you can change quickly. A car waiting in a side road could emerge close to you - your planning must allow for that likelihood

 

 

Backwards' and Forwards

 

When dealing with hazards, there are two ways of using timing when planning: 'backwards' and 'forwards'.

 

'Backwards' involves deciding the amount of space you need to complete a manoeuvre. You decide time (and so distance) 'back' from the hazard to work out how much space you will need, and decide where to start the actions you'll need to complete.

 

For example, if you're approaching a corner you'll need time and space to change position in the lane, brake to an appropriate speed, select a gear for that speed, then start to open the throttle - all before you enter the corner. These actions need space - and that distance will vary with your initial speed and the speed you choose to go around the corner.

 

'Forwards' is planning for the circumstances you can't immediately control. You time your riding to arrive at a situation at the optimum time for you - when risk is the lowest you can manage.

 

Typically this might be as you approach a side turning, with one car waiting to turn out and another waiting to turn across in to the junction. Adjusting your speed could allow time for one of the cars to move, so you'll then only have to pass one car.

 

Either 'forwards' or 'backwards', it's managing the situation ahead of you.

 

But just to complicate matters, you might have to plan for a situation involving both aspects; for example:

 

You're riding along a busy dual-carriageway, and there's a junction where you'll need to cross to the right-hand lane to then enter a short right turn lane - but to do that you will have to plan twice':

 

'Backwards' to give enough time and space for signalling, moving across, and slowing;

 

'Forwards' for the other traffic which is closing from behind you, predicting where it will be while you're moving and slowing.

 

Timing also works with 'positioning' on a 'local' and immediate level too - how you place yourself relative to other road users can improve the separation you have, giving greater safety margins.

 

This space can be in front of you, behind, and to the sides. The amount of space you keep from other vehicles will vary with your speed, and the degree of risk that you judge the other road user to be.

 

 

More examples of using 'timing':

• On a dual carriageway or motorway, as you close on a slower vehicle ahead you may have to wait for another vehicle to pass before there's room for you in the right hand lane. Plan your move to the right hand lane so that the vehicle in the right hand lane is just passing the one ahead in the left lane - so you maintain the maximum clearance ahead.
• Approaching a roundabout, adjust your speed so that you can flow in to a suitable gap as you arrive at the 'give way' line. 
• Ahead you see a pedestrian approach a zebra crossing, slowing earlier could allow you to arrive at the crossing just as it's clear to continue.
• If you intend to turn at junction just after a bridge or crest, signal before the crest so that following drivers can react earlier, and don't lose sight of you - only to drive over the crest to find you slowing down . . .
• Make rear observations when there isn't a hazard immediately in front; 
• Give signals early enough to inform, but not to confuse.

 

'Timing' can enhance your safety - by maximising clearances from other vehicles, or make riding easier - by reducing the amount of work you have to do.

 

However, when planning for other road users' actions remember that you're not doing their driving for them - you must allow for unplanned actions.



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Ice on the Roads Easing Congestion

On the Welsh 'Daily Post' news web site:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2010/12/08/ice-causes-more-problems-on-north-wales-roads-55578-27786735/

BLACK ice caused traffic chaos on the A55 for the third day running.
North Wales’ busiest road was closed for more than five hours yesterday after an articulated lorry jack-knifed into crash barriers near Llangefni on Anglesey.
Until repairs are completed just one lane will be open in each direction for a short distance.
The crash, which also involved a black Renault Clio, happened at 6.50am and police were forced to close the carriageway in both directions while the wreckage was cleared.
The last pieces were removed shortly after midday and one lane in each direction was re-opened on the stretch between junction six at Llangefni and junction seven at Gaerwen.
One eye witness said: “It was a huge Boots lorry which had jack-knifed across the whole carriageway.
“I spoke to one of the traffic officers and he said it was suspected black ice. The lorry had obviously hit a patch of it and skidded. The roads are treacherous.”
The fire service and paramedics were also called to the scene, but no-one was hurt. A diversion was put in place on to the A5 at Pentre Berw.


Now have  a close look at the truck  . .

(Click to enlarge the image if necessary)

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Ice Preparation for the Car

Since I've recently given advice for cold-weather biking, it only seems fair to give you my tips for cold-weather car preparation.

My car has a diesel engine, and seems to take an age to warm up on cold mornings.  Also, it doesn't have the modern techno-luxury of heated door mirrors.

These two combined mean that de-icing can be a long process.

So I take the time to decorate the car in the evenings :)

First on: plastic sheet across the windscreen; it keeps the worst of the frost and snow off, with the added benefit that the screen doesn't mist so badly on the inside.

Next: 'protect' the wipers.  Windscreen wipers are easily damaged by trying to use them - even by accidentally knocking their switch - if they're frozen to the screen.  Worse still, the wiper motor and mechanism won't know they'r frozen, so will keep trying to move them.  The result can be a burnt-out motor.  SO rummage in the paper recycling tub, and get some cardboard - the 'waxy' type used in packaging works well - tear small pieces and tuck them under the wiper blade keeping it off the screen.  I find 3 pieces per blade, each piece about 3 or 4 cm long will do the trick.

Finally, the door mirrors.  They're always a pain to clean off, as teh scraper never quite fits into the mirror housing.  So avoid the problem by putting a plastic bag over the mirror.  For my Vauxhall's mirrors, the 'tie handle freezer bags' fit well!  Additional hint here: if it's just misted rather than iced or frosty, leave the bags on the mirrors until just before driving away, otherwise they're likely to mist up by the time the rest of the car's cleared.



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Have a Shay Day

Received by email a few moments ago:



Two Choices
What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?


At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its
He offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'



Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning..'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt.. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.  Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the Plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.  The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.  He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!



AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.
The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.
If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.
We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'
So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:
Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:

1. Delete
2. Forward
May your day, be a Shay Day.

Keeping Warm on a Bike

I hesitate to suggest that anyone should even consider riding a motorcycle when there's snow or ice on the roads, but the last few mornings have prompted my - while de-icing the car - to think about advice on keeping warm while riding your motorcycle.

There's a couple of things to consider, which can be make a big difference to how warm and cosy you are while riding - but as with many aspects of riding it's planning that's really important:

First: in really bad conditions is your journey really important?  You and your boss may have different views on this!  So perhaps consider alternative transport, even to walking and thumbing a lift, or using public transport.  Often it's side roads that are difficult to ride along, especially if untreated and with little traffic, but bus routes may be clearer (and falling off a bus is less likely).

Next, if the roads are icy - but you think you can cope - what's the route going to be like?  Can you phone ahead for 'inside information'?  Perhaps there's a security guard or recepptionist who can tell you what the roads near work are like.  Or use the Highways Agency 'Traffic England' web site and view the information provided; OK, it's mainly only for motorways, but it can still give weather and temperature information, and camera images to see how clear the roads are.

The, keeping warm.  There are two aspects to this: keeping heat in and cold out!  Seal any gaps - especially try to avoid a breeze up you trouser legs!  If you have a velcro'd storm flap over a zip, make sure it's fully pressed down flat as it'll help keep the cold air out.  A neck tube or similar covers up that vulnerable gap between your jacket and helmet.  If you have a jacket with 'storm' cuffs (where the inner part of the cuff goes inside your glove and the outer layer goes over the glove) thaey can great for keeping the wind (and rain) out.

But you only have a limited amount of 'heat', so manage it the best you can.  If possible - considering theft issues etc. - try to load your bike then go back inside to get warmed up before riding off.  Perhaps hang your jacket over a radiator to get the lining warmed up so it's not your body heat warming it.  usual caveats apply to potential damage to leather should you over-heat leathers or leather gloves.

Finally: add heat.  The two most common ways of achieving this are with heated grips fitted to the bike or from heated clothing such as gloves or waistcoats.

I've used all three.  Be aware that you're likely to get some mick-taking - but 20 miles later when you're the only one who can ondo their helmet strap because you still have warm fingers then it's all worthwhile.

A couple of years ago I bought an EXO2 heated waistcoat, and it was a revelation.  Partly because of how it transformed winter riding (after the first ride using it, 122 miles in 2C temperatures, through sleet, drizzle and winds, with just one T & P stop, I arrived home with cold toes - I'd even switched off the heated grips!) but also because of raised awareness that it's impossible for a person to create the amount of heat which the jacket can - heat which must be being lost as you ride.

Thoroughly recommended!

So put one on your Christmas present list!


http://www.exo2.co.uk/exo2.html#stormrider



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More On "Safety Is"

As an addendum to my recent 'Safety Is' post, Nikos said...


The UK CAA obviously have a better script writer - "Safety is no accident".

And quite right too :)


I was asked many years ago: "Is a 'good' rider a 'safe' rider?"  The knee-jerk instant answer qould be to blurt out "Yes, of course!".  But I didn't, I managed to restrain myself long enough to think about it first.

Of course, if safe is 'no accident', then you don't have to be particularly 'good' to achieve that.  Assuming that 'luck' plays no part, then it could quite simply be a case of recognising you're not a 'good' rider', and keeping with what you can achieve.

In fact, when I taught with the MSF on their Experienced RiderCourse they advised keeping within the limits of the road, your bike, and - most importantly - your own limits.

Sounds easy when you say it . . .

On one of the internet forums (yes, I know . . . 'fora' :) ), someone has a signature line which reads that 'advanced driving isn't just avoiding accidents, it's avoiding the situations where they might occur'.

This is similar to the idea of near miss recording, where a large number of near misses may eventually result in a few minor accidents but perhaps one serious accident.  I haven't explained that very well, if you want to know more about accident theory, Google 'swiss cheese accident theory' :)

One UK construction company (Balfour Beatty) has a variation on the '  . . . no accident' line, they demand 'Zero harm' from (and for) their staff, and adjust procedures to suit.

Perhaps I should do a third post 'Moron safety'?  :)





PS:  Nikos!  Why isn't this blog listed on your profile?



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