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Does this mingling of pedestrians and motor vehicles really work ? I guess time will tell. Certainly there have been problems with undefined kerbs alongside Blackpool promenade. The pictures here are of the retail area around Bournville College, Longbridge.
Lots of cars now have "soft-touch" controls for the direction indicators. The feature works by bringing on the indicators when the control stalk is moved a few degrees off its neutral position—less than it takes to reach the click-stop where the stalk can be left in place until manually cancelled.
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND keeping a finger either side of the stalk, cradling it, when you cancel. If not, you easily risk giving the opposite signal ... with obviously dangerous consequences. Either because of what other road users might react to, or because its distracts you the driver from attending to things outside your car !
 Could the much-heralded "pair of clever specs" from the boffins at Google be used to enhance driver training? Perhaps. Imagine I could see exactly where YOU are looking, as you drive down the road. I'd know which hazards you've noticed, how far ahead you're concentrating, your speed of reaction, any tendency to stare, your general alertness to changes ahead. I could record the drive, discuss performance, and repeat the exercise this time with coaching. When we compared the two videos, we'd see if your ability to anticipate and respond had actually improved, in a quantifiable manner. I heard on the radio last week that the driving insurance industry cannot continue to pay more out in claims than it's receiving in premiums ... which has been the case lately.
Premiums for young men who've just passed their L-test might continue to fall for only another couple of months.  According to the Daily Mail (!), EU plans will require every new car sold in the UK from October 2015 to have a 'black box' device. The gadget contains a phone-like SIM card which tracks drivers' movements; these are designed to help emergency services find vehicles in the event of a crash. The Government believes the 'eCall' device will add at least £100 to the cost of new cars, and officials also fear it could be used by police to monitor motorists' movements. But ministers admit they are "powerless" to stop [such] "Big Brother technology".
A more balanced view, on the many positive aspects, is here. |
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