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Spy in the hat Inflatable door pillars DIY justice takes another step forward
An innovation to prevent accidents rather than minimising their consequences!
Bad drivers are increasingly likely to have their antics caught on camera and posted online as more and more motorcyclists routinely use helmet cameras. Sales of the devices have doubled in two years and risen 40% in the last 12 months according to retailers.
The small cameras can be stuck to the side of helmets with suction cups and record up to two hours on a battery charge. One rider has created his own
YouTube ‘channel’ with over 1000 subscribers and uploaded a string of videos shot in London called ‘Near Miss Stupid Drivers’.
One shows a black cab almost knock the Suzuki DRZ400 rider off as he swerves into his lane while speaking on his mobile phone. Moments later, the cab driver leans out of the window,
It really ainʼt rocket science
After years during which the problem of uninsured driving has steadily grown an MP has finally noticed the blindingly obvious and put a question to the appropriate minister. Karl McCartney MP asked, “Is the Minister aware that the average fine in 2010 for people caught driving without motor insurance in Lincolnshire was £213, down from £233 in 2008; meanwhile the average cost of fully comprehensive motor insurance premiums for my constituents is around £650, having risen on average by 40% in the same two years? Does he agree that such fines do nothing to dissuade potential or existing offenders from driving without insurance?” Nick Herbert (Home Office) explained that he is going to talk to the Department for Transport about this. Though fines are an issue for magistrates, every honest road user pays an extra £30 on their premium to cover the cost of the uninsured.
10 The ROAD
phone still at his ear, and asks: “What did I do?” and the rider tells him his registration number is on film. Matt Taylor, Marketing Director at
ActionCameras.co.uk said: “Motorcyclists are now using helmet cameras a lot. "Sales of the devices have increased by over 100% in the last two years."
Mark Nelson, MD of
Dogcamsport.co.uk, said: “We’ve seen easily a 40% increase in helmet camera sales in the last 12 months alone and helmet suction mounts are the most popular accessory." Other videos show cars pulling across bus lanes, driving on the wrong side of the road, nearly sideswiping bikes on the motorway and even deliberately swerving towards riders. Road: Member input invited.
MAG regular radio slot
The biker radio station, Biker FM has offered MAG a regular slot for the group to promote issues and MAG policies. A series of interviews are planned to follow the inaugural one conducted earlier this year with MAG’s President Ian Mutch. The web-based station has 21 presenters and 20,000 regular listeners and growing. With DJ names like Slimbo, Chunky and Noz, the station might sound a little alternative but the music reflects a broad spectrum of tastes, it’s no heavy metal station.
bikerfm.co.uk
Road projects on ice
About one hundred major road projects are currently on hold for want of cash. Analysis by the consultancy firm Arup and the RAC Foundation identifies 96 different motorway and main road projects which have been assessed by officials to have high benefit/cost ratios but for which there is no cash to proceed. The funding shortfall is at least £12.8 billion.
Vehicle safety pioneers Autoliv inc. have come up with an invention that might just save bikers’ lives without imposing any restrictions on our enjoyment of motorcycling.
The Swedish/American company has responded to concerns that modern car door pillars are restricting peripheral vision by producing the inflatable pillar. A third of the thickness of conventional pillars before inflation, the Autoliv pillars have been designed to improve a driver's angle of vision by 25 percent.
Thick window pillars are the unwanted side effect of ever- stricter car safety laws aimed to protect occupants in the rare event of their vehicle rolling on to its roof in a serious accident. The peripheral vision issue, it is thought, may be behind the frequently heard excuse, “Sorry mate, I didn't see you”. Clearly no amount of dayglo or headlight use will help riders be seen if the drivers’ view of them is obscured. Autoliv's thin pillars are made of metal that's cleverly folded into an air-tight tube, with an airbag-style explosive charge attached. On sensing the car’s rolling over, the charge goes off, and the gas pressure it generates actually inflates the steel windscreen pillar in a fraction of
a second, making it thicker and 45 percent stiffer than in its normal folded state. So you get the benefit of thin pillars most of the time, improving vision, and thick ones only when you actually need them.
The firm reckons the same idea could be used elsewhere, for instance allowing parts of cars to be relatively 'soft' when they hit a pedestrian (or motorcyclist) but making them inflate and become more rigid when the car hits something harder. ROAD comment: This was all sounding good up until the last part. If motorists develop the idea that they can hit vulnerable parties and everything will be hunky dory then this might not be such a great idea. Stick with the door pillar idea please.
NB The number of “blind spot” accidents on Britain’s roads has nearly doubled over the last two years. A study using data compiled from more than 50,000 accidents, uncovered a 48 percent rise between 2009 and 2011 and revealed the majority of collisions occur when drivers pull out unaware that there is another vehicle in their blind spot. In 2005, the DSA banned the Mini Convertible from taking part in the driving test because the rear and rear-three quarter visibility was so poor.
Deadline on nominations for MAG Directors and National Officers
All nominations for national officers or directors must be received at Central Office by 31st December. All proposals for debate at the Annual Group Conference should arrive by the same date. Please send your nominations to Central Office P.O. Box 750, Warwick CV34 9FU Tel: 01926 844064
mag-hq@mag-uk.org www.mag-uk
Any MAG member can stand for a national officerʼs position.
NB regional reps are elected by the membership within their regions at their regional AGMs. Regional reps are the only people on the National Committee who hold voting powers except the chairman in the event of a tied vote.
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