A spring tune-up on cycling safety

Whether you are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle or gripping the handlebars of a bike, this can be a challenging time of year on the streets of cities and towns across the country.

The snow and the slush are largely gone, that's true, and roads are for the most part dry. But the arrival of those bike-friendly conditions means drivers and cyclists may need to relearn how to peaceably coexist. Seasonal cyclists and the four-season warriors will have to get used to each other again too.

The early part of the cycling season can see everyone a bit rusty on the ground rules for safe cycling and for sharing the road.

For more information please visit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/a-spring-tune-up-on-cycling-safety/article1509027/

“I think what we consistently find is that when there are more cyclists on the road, it's much safer for all cyclists,” says Zlatko Krstulich, president of the Ottawa-based advocacy group Citizens for Safe Biking.

“The big reason is that drivers see one or two and they start to get in their minds ‘Hey, look out for cyclists.' ”

Nancy Kendrew, a co-owner of Toronto's Urbane Cyclist, says the onus to be mindful of cyclists doesn't just rest with drivers.

Ms. Kendrew is a dedicated four-season cyclist, as are others who work at her store, a worker-owned cycle shop. She and her colleagues notice that at this time of year, the seasonal or recreational cyclists can be as much of a threat to their fellow cyclists as cars.

“There's a two-edged thing. We think the No. 1 danger is from motorists – I mean, it's true if you get hit by a car it's much bigger. But if you do something [and] you're clipped by a fast-moving cyclist, it can lead to a serious injury as well,” she says.

“There are cyclists who go all season long. And they're very wary and they're very safety-oriented because they've gone through icy conditions and whatnot.

“And it's sort of like the newbies that come along in the springtime and they're not predictable, they don't stop at lights, they're not obeying the rules, some of them.”

Predictable. That word comes up a lot when you're talking to people knowledgeable about cycling safety. Being predictable is the key weapon cyclists have to protect themselves and others, Ms. Kendrew and Mr. Krstulich suggest. That means:

Bike where you are supposed to bike. Don't weave in and out of traffic.

Signal your turns. Signalling allows drivers and other cyclists to anticipate the directional changes you are about to make.

Obey the rules of the road.

For more information please visit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/a-spring-tune-up-on-cycling-safety/article1509027/

Mandatory Bicycle Training for Children

Seoul's elementary schools will conduct mandatory courses on bicycle riding, with an emphasis on safety, officials said Wednesday. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has instructed the schools to introduce four hours of lessons on bicycle riding and safety tips a year.

"Many students ride bicycles to school or for physical exercise, but schools have been negligent in providing safety lessons," an official with the education office said. "This is one of the reasons for the rise in bicycle accidents."

According to police, there were a total of 10,915 bicycle-related traffic accidents in 2008. In particular, accidents involving children have been on the rise. In 2005, 257 elementary school students reported injuries from bicycle accidents. The figure rose to 388 in 2007.

With collaboration with the Seoul city administration, the education office has also distributed safety guidelines to schools. They are aimed at helping children dress properly for bicycle riding, abide by traffic signals and in how to deal with accidents.

According to a recent survey by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Management (KCDC), only three percent of children aged from three to 18 wear helmets while cycling.

The survey said 2.4 percent of children from 3 to 11 years old wore protective helmets in 2007 and 3.2 percent did so in 2008. In 2008, bicycle accidents accounted for 14 percent of traffic accident victims with 46 percent of them being under 20 years old.

In the United States, the helmet-wearing rate was 3.8 percent in 1991, but education and guidance campaigns raised the rate to 14.9 percent in 2007.

For more information please visit: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/03/117_62546.html

Society needs to help seniors who should stop driving

Society needs to do a better job helping seniors drive for as long as is safe and helping them adapt when the time comes to stop, says a new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The journal suggested the already pressing problem is going to become even more difficult in the coming decade or two as the massive baby boom generation hits this stage in life. By 2025, one in every four Canadians will be 65 or older, noted the editorial, published in Tuesday's issue of the journal.

In addition to finding ways to get seniors who can no longer drive safely off the roads, communities and governments need to put in place programs that help seniors who give up their licences to continue to live independently if they are able.

"Solutions to the dilemma of who will drive our seniors - and eventually us - must be found. The status quo leaves too many seniors isolated and puts too many people at risk," Dr. Paul Hebert, editor-in-chief, and Dr. Noni MacDonald, public health section editor, wrote in the editorial.

They suggested society should plan for driving retirement the way it plans for job retirement.

The aim, they and others said, is not to get all older drivers off the road, but to find a way to identify those who need to stop driving and put in place systems to help them cope once they do.

That goal is harder to meet than one might expect, said Jonathan King, program director for driving research at the U.S. National Institute of Aging.

For more information please visit: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hFGpCAVmribMdSCvAK0FV9_2chrg

Ban on using cell phones while driving vehicles

Driving and using a cell phone concurrently results in driving performance similar to that of drunk driving, according to a driving simulator study.

A study released by the IU Public Policy Institute found that simply prohibiting cell phone usage is not valuable in increasing traffic safety. The study says better law enforcement combined with media campaigns will effectively cut down on distracted driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that nearly 11 percent of all drivers are using a cell phone at any given time during the day. Another study conducted by The National Occupant Protection Use Survey found that this phone use was highest among drivers 16 to 24 years old.

The Indiana legislature passed a law in July 2009 effectively prohibiting cell phone usage while driving for individuals under 18. The law aims to help cut down on distracted driving, thereby helping to better traffic safety. The problem with the law is that it is difficult to put into effect. The law, which targets younger drivers, is only effective against individuals under the age of 18 that received their licenses before July 1, 2009.

For more information: http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74001

Firefighters battle traffic

FORT MYERS, Fla. - When you call 911, you want emergency responders to get to you as soon as possible. But some drivers can make getting there a real challenge.

It's a daily frustration from Law Enforcement to emergency responders. While most drivers know what to do when they hear sirens wailing, others test fate.

"I try to pull over as soon as I can and just try to get out of the way," Courtney Tincher.

"A lot of people just try to beat the sirens," said Johnny Ordonez.

For Iona-McGregor firefighters, every call is an emergency. But often, getting there is a challenge in itself. "People stop suddenly, or they'll move suddenly as we are about to pass them and that can be very dangerous for them and for us," said Lt. Martin Palijan.

Fore more information: http://www.winknews.com/news/local/84827667.html

Best and Worst Cities for Travelers

In these areas, urban sprawl and solo drivers are the difference between a hassle-free and a harrowing trek to work.

Last week a wave of bad weather buried Washington, D.C., and several Northeastern U.S. cities in snow, shutting down scores of schools, businesses and city agencies. Those unlucky enough to be summoned to work had to excavate their cars from several feet of powder or contend with stalled buses and slow trains.

While the weather was extreme, many Americans have miserable commutes year-round. In some cities, though, workers have it easy.

If you live in Salt Lake City, Utah, Buffalo, N.Y., or Rochester, N.Y., your ride to work is probably the smoothest of any big city in the country. Residents of Tampa, Fla., Detroit, Mich. and Atlanta, Ga., on the other hand, endure the most grueling slog to work.

For more information: http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/12/best-worst-commutes-lifestyle-mass-transit.html?boxes=lifestylechannellighttop

Solar Car Images

In 1997, UniSA, Seaton High School, Fremont-Elizabeth City High and Annesley College formed the South Australian Solar Car Consortium. The aim of the Consortium was to help students design, build and race solar cars in the World Solar Challenge.

It started out as a Taiwanese entry in the Australian World Solar Challenge and was scaled up.

This solar car came from an idea for a Mechanical Engineering senior project, to build a small remote-control solar-powered car. This mushroomed into the largest undergraduate engineering project ever undertaken at Auburn University.

CBS World News Roundup

The CBS World News Roundup is a radio newscast that airs weekday mornings and evenings on the CBS Radio Network.

It first went on-air on March 13, 1938 at 8 p.m. Eastern time as a one-time special in response to growing tensions in Europe -- specifically the Anschluss, during which Adolf Hitler annexed Austria.

The early years

When the show first went on the air it was hosted by veteran radio personality Robert Trout. The first show gave the world the voices of Edward R. Murrow and William L. Shirer. In fact, it was the first time Murrow had ever delivered a news report. During the early years of the war, Murrow's reports from London and Shirer's reports from Berlin were essential listening to anyone trying to keep informed on events unfolding in Europe.

The program was a 35-minute special report from multiple locations around the world as the pre-war crisis mounts. It was the first time that on-the-scene European field correspondents were linked with a central anchor in New York for a national broadcast.

Most broadcast references credit either CBS President William S. Paley or News Director Paul White as coming up with the idea for the show, as a way to trump Max Jordan's NBC coverage of the Anschluss. The previous day, Shirer had fled from Vienna to London at the request of Murrow (the CBS European chief) to give the first uncensored eyewitness account of Germany's takeover of Austria.

Innovative solar car radiant in Glasurit white

The first good thing was HansGo! back in 2003, followed by SolarWorld No. 1 four years later. Now, the Bochum University of Applied Sciences is presenting a new solar car, the BOcruiser. It's no surprise that BASF Coatings, supplier of the paint for the ultra modern vehicle, is pleased to be on board again with its Glasurit brand. After all, the model's predecessor SolarWorld No. 1 captured the design title of "World's most beautiful solar car" - and was also clad in a finish of Glasurit paint from Münster.

After the luminescent yellow used for SolarWorld No. 1, the BOcruiser is dazzling in white, a color that symbolizes sustainability and is increasingly present on the roads. Rainer Lennartz, who lives in the German town of Lünen-Brambauer and is a member of the Lennartz spraypainting team, was responsible for painting both Solarworld No. 1 and the BOcruiser. A team of around 30 engineering students are presenting a brand new concept with the BOcruiser. The most striking change is the fact that this latest solar car drives on four wheels rather than three, as was the case for Solar World No. 1.

For Lennartz, the requirements for the finish were even tougher than last time. For instance, in order to reduce weight, only the bare minimum of paint was to be applied, a demand not unlike those posed for Formula 1 racers, for which every gram counts. For this project, Lennartz chose Glasurit 22 Line HS 2K Topcoat. "No more than one and one-half layers of paint, but nevertheless fulfill the basic functions of the paint finish, like protection, durability and design," Lennartz said. In comparison, a new car is generally finished with four coats of paint (e-coat, primer, basecoat, clearcoat). Lennartz applied the primer to only some parts of the vehicle's exterior before topcoating it with 22 Line, which has a high degree of hiding power, allowing him to dispense with a clearcoat. The sponsors' logos were painted on with a stencil and sealed with clearcoat, and the surface was subsequently sanded and polished. "Bochum University and I agreed on this version of applying the logos, which prevents the edges of the decals from causing air swirl," Lennartz explained. The driving force for the Lennartz team involves fulfilling a dream. "If the BOcruiser wins the title of 'World's most beautiful solar car' the way its predecessor, SolarWorld No. 1, did, it will be a dream come true."



Every aspect of the BOcruiser is a technical masterpiece. The body is streamlined, with energy efficiency the car designers' top development goal. In addition to the car's proven prize-winning technology, such as its battery management system, innovative components were used as well. For instance, the workshops and labs at the Bochum University of Applied Sciences engineered an in-wheel motor that will power both the BOcruiser and other vehicles in the pipeline. This involved solving a whole range of problems, because the new vehicle is propelled by two motors. For weight and efficiency-related reasons, it was not possible to use a mechanical differential transmission. Instead, electronics and software are to determine the variability of the wheels' peripheral speed in curves. As with SolarWorld No. 1, six square meters of solar cells provide electric power. In this area too, the technology used is becoming more viable for everyday use. Silicon has replaced the costly gallium arsenide in the solar generator.

The BOcruiser will have its first real-life test in October at the World Solar Challenge, cruising 3,000 kilometers through the Australian outback. Project manager Prof. Friedbert Pautzke commented, "Our motivation for building this car was not to be first to cross the finish line at the race. The BOcruiser is part of our series of solar vehicles that is consistently taking the next innovative step toward everyday use. It will be proving its ability to take to the roads for the first time in the race Down Under."

For the team of electromobility pioneers from Bochum University, this journey will not be over once the race in Australia has been completed. Its next project is the Sustainable Individual Mobility Car, or SIMCar for short, an electric car for everyday use. Plans for the three-seater version have already been completed. The car is scheduled to be built in 2010.

Legal car cruise event is held

World leading sports car maker Lotus Cars teamed up with Norfolk Police for one of the UK's first legal off the road cruise events on Sunday.

More than 3,000 people have turned up to the event at Great Yarmouth.

Norfolk Police hope to make it an annual event to stop huge numbers of cruisers causing problems on the roads.

Lotus has sponsored the event by providing a Lotus Elise, a sports car that has won over 50 awards around the world and has a top speed of 125 mph.

The meeting at the Caister Road sports stadium in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, aimed to finish at 2000 BST on Sunday.