Submitted by Cedric Hughes on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 10:32
Highways That Look Like a War Zone
At the time of writing, media coverage over the past 24 hours of local and international stories has included images of car crash wreckage that seem surreal. We are brutally reminded of the limitations of the latest safety features. We are seeing pulverized metal frames more or less wr
Submitted by Cedric Hughes on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 18:14
The Safest Vehicles for 2012
The
Submitted by Cedric Hughes on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 18:56
What is The Safest Colour for your Vehicle?
Over the years there has been much discussion about what might be the safest colour for a car, in terms of being conspicuous to other motorists, and thereby preventing a collision. Much of the information accumulated over time is anecdotal. One study stands out. The Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) in Melbourne, Australia reportedly analysed 850,000 Australian collisions occurring between 1982 and 2004.
The winning colour in the MUARC study was white, regardless of time of day or weather. From there the risk of crash escalated with grey, silver, red and blue. The worst bet was black with a 12% higher number of crashes than white.
In the MUARC study, black was also particularly bad in twilight conditions, reportedly resulting in a 47% higher risk than white.
Submitted by Cedric Hughes on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 10:21
The End of the Wrong Way Street?
Chances are that anyone who has been driving for a while has made the mistake, or almost made the mistake, of turning onto a one-way street, the wrong way. Embarrassing, frustrating, and costly if you get a ticket.
In the 1960’s, it appears to have been a tenet of belief among city planners that the one-way street would bring to the urban environment convenience and efficiency not achievable by a two-way road system. Whether founded on theory or science, one-way streets were introduced abundantly throughout many if not most major North American cities, and throughout many metropolises worldwide.
Submitted by Cedric Hughes on Fri, 01/06/2012 - 11:40
Return of the Pedestrian Scramble
In the Steveston Village area of Richmond, at the intersection of Number 1 Road and Moncton Street, in early December 2011 we saw the return to British Columbia of a pedestrian road crossing system long considered obsolete - called “the pedestrian scramble.”
The concept is that briefly, an intersection otherwise busy with vehicular traffic, is closed to vehicles from all directions, leaving an open square across which pedestrians can move in all directions. The modern version of this system includes parallel and diagonal white lines to guide pedestrians in their trip across the intersection, from any corner to any corner. A synthesized voice command broadcast at considerable volume further guides and controls the movement of pedestrians, with a message such as “the walk sign is on for all crossings.”
