Friday, March 9, 2012
The friendly woonerf
Apparently, in about ten years’ time, the UK government may begin using a traffic calming measure already in use in Amsterdam.
If I write ‘woonerfs’, you might think I didn’t check my blog through for typos, or perhaps you might think that I’m about to tell you about some strange woolly animal.
Well neither of those thoughts would be correct, because a woonerf is a type of road layout which is slowing motorists in Amsterdam down to about 12mph without much work.
Meaning ‘road for living’, or ‘living road’, a woonerf provides motorists, cyclists and pedestrians with a more equal amount of space.
Drivers are forced to slow down by strategically placed plants, play areas, buildings, and an unnerving lack of pavement kerb, making it difficult to tell where you should be driving and where pedestrians should be walking.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) undertook a survey and out of 4000 people, only 27% were against the appearance of woonerfs in Britain.
Unfortunately for the individuals who’d happily see them in the UK right now, it might not happen for a while yet. The executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety has explained that at the moment councils just haven’t got the money to be introducing these new road layouts.
However, he believes that when the UK starts building things again, as our economic situation improves, woonerfs may begin to help reduce the number of accidents on our roads.
Well we can’t wait to see these woonerfs, they sound friendly.
If I write ‘woonerfs’, you might think I didn’t check my blog through for typos, or perhaps you might think that I’m about to tell you about some strange woolly animal.
Well neither of those thoughts would be correct, because a woonerf is a type of road layout which is slowing motorists in Amsterdam down to about 12mph without much work.
Meaning ‘road for living’, or ‘living road’, a woonerf provides motorists, cyclists and pedestrians with a more equal amount of space.
Drivers are forced to slow down by strategically placed plants, play areas, buildings, and an unnerving lack of pavement kerb, making it difficult to tell where you should be driving and where pedestrians should be walking.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) undertook a survey and out of 4000 people, only 27% were against the appearance of woonerfs in Britain.
Unfortunately for the individuals who’d happily see them in the UK right now, it might not happen for a while yet. The executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety has explained that at the moment councils just haven’t got the money to be introducing these new road layouts.
However, he believes that when the UK starts building things again, as our economic situation improves, woonerfs may begin to help reduce the number of accidents on our roads.
Well we can’t wait to see these woonerfs, they sound friendly.
Photo © La Citta Vita via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: accident, Amsterdam, cyclists, drivers, government, IAM, Institute of Advanced Motorists, motorists, pedestrians, road layout, slow down, traffic calming, UK, woonerf
Friday, February 3, 2012
Image more important than cost for singing star Harry Styles
Obviously keener to impress the girls than save money, One Direction singer Harry Styles has splashed out on a luxury Range Rover Sport.
Having successfully passed his driving test, Styles was apparently eager to maintain the trend of young celebrities buying high status vehicles.
Perhaps unsurprisingly he ignored the warnings of his older and more experienced management team regarding the high cost of insuring such a plush vehicle.
A source said, “Harry was told by his management that it was his decision if he wanted to buy an expensive motor, but he would have a tough time insuring it.
“He still got a surprise when the quotes stated coming in. It was a big whack.”
However, the starlet probably had little trouble finding the money, having taken his fair share of profit from sales of the One Direction album Up All Night.
And he won't have to worry about the prospect of making a young persons car insurance claim, because the Range Rover will remain in a UK garage while he and his band mates tour America over the next few months.
Photo © donkeyjacket45 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: claim, driving test, garage, Harry Styles, insure, money, motor, One Direction, Range Rover Sport, UK, vehicle, young persons car insurance
Monday, December 12, 2011
Indoor positioning system
If you find sat-navs useful when you’re trying to make your way around the UK’s roads, a new gadget which technology companies have created could help you when you’re out of your car!
Such firms as Google and Nokia have developed an ‘indoor positioning system’ so that people walking around very large buildings, like shopping centres, can navigate the area easier.However, some people are worried that individuals using this system could be tracked, or that companies could collect information about which shops they went into and spam them with targeted advertising.
Nevertheless I think this gadget could be useful. Many huge shopping centres have maps scattered about for customers to look at – but they’re not always that easy to find.
My experience is that I walk past the shop I was looking for in an attempt to find a map!
Photo © Jeppestown via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: gadget, Google, indoor positioning system, map, Nokia, road, sat-nav, UK
Friday, July 15, 2011
The satellites which keep global order
It takes an eight-man team and a further 5,000 civilian employees to keep these objects 12,500 miles above Earth on course, while they travel at 4.5 miles a second, and “on a bad day there isn’t even time to go to the bathroom”.
What are we talking about? The GPS satellites, run by 2d Space Operations Squadron in America, which stop planes colliding with one another, keep ships on course, save the world from chaos – oh, and keep your sat-nav on track.
We don’t give a second thought to the fantastically clever little box on our dashboard – which guides us through the UK roads only occasionally telling us that we’re actually ploughing through buildings or driving in the sea – but we should.
It’s almost a miracle that the system works at all, and some of us would be very lost without it.
Maybe from now on, instead of shouting at it when it goes wrong we should take a deep breath and wait until our hard working GPS take a moment to sort itself out, it’s the least it deserves.
Photo by Lee Jordan via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: driving test, GPS, roads, sat-nav, satellites, UK