01/06/2012
Mobile phones and driving
When we were children we imagined that the technology of the future would revolutionise motoring. We’d be flying round in our hover cars like the Jetsons or be sitting back and kicking our feet up as our chauffeur robots drove us from place to place.
As it is technology, although playing an important role in developing safer cars and novel and interesting in-car devices, has perhaps affected the motoring experience in more oblique ways.
Take the smartphone, it could be argued that this single piece of fundamentally external technology, is right now as relevant to the 2012 driving experience as anything internal.
Drivers use them as satnavs, to field in-car (hand’s free) calls and as vehicle entertainment systems. All of which, provided it is done correctly and in keeping with the law, should not be a problem. Smartphones have even become so relevant to the driving experience that we use them to find car insurance quotes.
But there is a problem – there has been a worrying rise in the number of 25 to 44-year-olds who use their smartphones behind the wheel in dangerously distracting ways.
The RAC has branded this behaviour as a "new breed of motoring offence".
David Bizley, the organisation’s technical director comments, "These offences don't yet have the same social taboo that drink-driving now holds, which thanks to years of concerted campaigns has continued to decrease as a problem."
Perhaps one day smartphones will be so smart that they don’t actually let drivers use them in dangerous ways – now that would be smart.
As it is technology, although playing an important role in developing safer cars and novel and interesting in-car devices, has perhaps affected the motoring experience in more oblique ways.
Take the smartphone, it could be argued that this single piece of fundamentally external technology, is right now as relevant to the 2012 driving experience as anything internal.
Drivers use them as satnavs, to field in-car (hand’s free) calls and as vehicle entertainment systems. All of which, provided it is done correctly and in keeping with the law, should not be a problem. Smartphones have even become so relevant to the driving experience that we use them to find car insurance quotes.
But there is a problem – there has been a worrying rise in the number of 25 to 44-year-olds who use their smartphones behind the wheel in dangerously distracting ways.
The RAC has branded this behaviour as a "new breed of motoring offence".
David Bizley, the organisation’s technical director comments, "These offences don't yet have the same social taboo that drink-driving now holds, which thanks to years of concerted campaigns has continued to decrease as a problem."
Perhaps one day smartphones will be so smart that they don’t actually let drivers use them in dangerous ways – now that would be smart.
Photo © SuperlativeQuip via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance quotes, drivers, future, technology, the jetsons
30/03/2012
Hybrid truck may power to world record
Hybrid vehicle technology has come a long way since over the last few years – from the eco-friendly engineering of the Toyota Prius to the development of the Ford Fusion, and now a giant beast by the name of 'Mean Green'.
This impressive vehicle has been designed with one goal in mind, to smash the record as the world's fastest hybrid truck. There can't be many people who would argue against the merits of a machine which can produce 6,800 rpm of torque and reach speeds in excess of 160mph.
The firmest believer in the capabilities of the Volvo-manufactured Mean Green is undoubtedly the experienced Scandinavian trucker Boije Overbrink. As one of the biggest names in truck racing he is relishing the opportunity to speed around the track in his new favourite vehicle.
In a discussion of the challenge ahead he said that the truck is “like a champagne cork, but without the sound effects. For the first couple of seconds the truck just makes a slight whistle until the diesel engine which runs on renewable liquid rosin diesel, starts delivering with an explosive force.”
It is expected that the competing hybrid manufacturers will have their scouts out in force to watch the performance of the monster truck at the Wendover Airport in Utah on the 27th April.
This impressive vehicle has been designed with one goal in mind, to smash the record as the world's fastest hybrid truck. There can't be many people who would argue against the merits of a machine which can produce 6,800 rpm of torque and reach speeds in excess of 160mph.The firmest believer in the capabilities of the Volvo-manufactured Mean Green is undoubtedly the experienced Scandinavian trucker Boije Overbrink. As one of the biggest names in truck racing he is relishing the opportunity to speed around the track in his new favourite vehicle.
In a discussion of the challenge ahead he said that the truck is “like a champagne cork, but without the sound effects. For the first couple of seconds the truck just makes a slight whistle until the diesel engine which runs on renewable liquid rosin diesel, starts delivering with an explosive force.”
It is expected that the competing hybrid manufacturers will have their scouts out in force to watch the performance of the monster truck at the Wendover Airport in Utah on the 27th April.
Photo © tonylanciabeta via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: eco-friendly, Ford Fusion, hybrid, Mean Green, technology, Toyotal Prius, truck, vehicle, Volvo
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]