Thursday, July 19, 2012
Cooling off in the car
The modifications some people subject their poor cars to are pretty unnecessary and very likely to increase the price of their car insurance – or make their vehicle completely uninsurable.
One man from the Zhejiang province in China has taken car modifications to a new extreme – by converting the rear of his people-carrier into a paddling pool for his six-year-old son. The temperatures over there have apparently been approaching 40 degrees Centigrade – sort of makes you envious with the summer we’ve been having.
Anyway, so that his son could cool off and have fun, the man removed the seats from the rear of the family car and lined the back of his vehicle with plastic sheeting; filling it up with water until it was only about 30cm from the bottom of the windows.
I’ve found that since reading this news story, I’m looking at my car in a different light.
Now we just need some hot and sunny weather and I’ll probably be off to buy some plastic sheets and a small wave machine.
Photo © Dave Haygarth via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, cars, China, family car, modifications, paddling pool, people-carrier, son, temperatures, uninsurable, van, vehicle, water
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Hot Wheels loop-the-loop
Remember Hot Wheels? It was a brilliant game that you or your brother or a friend of yours is likely to have owned at some point during their childhood. It might even still have a place in your heart and under your bed, secretly.
Well, two drivers in America have recently got into the Guinness Book of World Records for performing a double Hot Wheels loop-the-loop.
What’s so impressive about that you might ask? Me and Dave had our little cars going round those loops all the time!
Well, the thing is that in this case the loops were more than 60 feet high and the drivers went round them in real vehicles.
One of the men who performed the stunt said that he experienced extreme G-force on his way round the giant section of Hot Wheels track, and struggled to avoid blacking out.
The other driver involved is reported as having said, “I tell you what, I'm at a loss for words. That was absolutely the coolest thing I've ever done.”
The previous holder of this record was a Chinese driver who drove round a 42ft loop in September 2011.
The Hot Wheels set that I have in the attic doesn’t seem so exciting anymore…
Photo © dougww via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cars, drivers, Guinness Book of World Records, Hot Wheels, loop, stunt, vehicles
Friday, September 30, 2011
A beautiful ending to a rubbish summer
The heat-wave spreading over the UK the past week brings a brilliant and unexpected close to our somewhat disappointing summer. Contrary to recent reports of early snow set for October, we can relax and bask in the sun.It’s not just sun-worshippers who are enjoying the benefits either. Apparently supermarkets are stocking up on burger baps and rosé wine to keep up with eager shoppers who are jumping in their cars in the pursuit of items for the barbeque.
The supermarkets may be onto something as temperatures are predicted to rise as high as 28 degrees Celsius on Saturday, which will give workers with the weekend off the opportunity to dig out their summer clothes again.
Even flowers have been making the most of the sunshine by blooming for the second time in a year – experts believe that they have been fooled into thinking spring has already returned!
It is thought that thousands of Brits will be driving down to the beach over the weekend to make the most of the glorious rays, and I am definitely considering joining in. Now, if only my car was a convertible!
Photo © schreiblockade via flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: barbeque, beach, blooming, cars, convertible, flowers, rays, spring, summer, sun, supermarkets
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Village of the damned bollards
Parents of children in Plymouth are up in arms about a planned traffic-calming scheme near their children’s school.
This may seem odd – after all, what parent wouldn’t want better road safety exercised near their children – however, they had their reasons. Simply cast your eye over the photo and you may see eye to eye with adults who called these strange child-shaped bollards “pretty scary” - saying they were like “something out of Doctor Who”.
Another creeped-out parent said, "In the middle of the night you'll see these weird-looking things.”
However, we think that these little polyurethane pupils may be just the ticket for slowing down motorists.
The very fact that they are painted to look like children, and appear a little out of place along the pavement, is probably guaranteed to make drivers lighten their tread on the accelerator. Plus, as the bollard maker explained, “If you see a child next to the road there is a natural reaction to slow the vehicle down.”
Yes, they do cost £350 each and “they might frighten the children”, but really, we think they’re ideal.
The bollard makers remain rightfully “proud” of their creations and we secretly hope to see their eerie rows near schools all over UK very soon.
Image by SteveR- via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: accelerator, bollards, cars, pavement, traffic, vehicle