Forward Vision #97

The Newsletter of Chelmsford Advanced Motorists

www.iamchelmsford.org.uk Issue 97 December 2012 & January 2013 IAM Group 7223 Registered Charity No 1059372

Sorry mate, I didn’t see you

Page 2 Chelmsford Advanced Motorists Issue 97


Associates, Full Members & Guests Welcome

Forthcoming Group Meetings These are usually held on the 2nd Monday of each month

at the Essex Police Sports and Social Club, Which is through the Police vehicle park at the very end of St. Margarets Road,

Chelmsford.

Group Meetings start promptly at 8pm, so please arrive at around 7.45pm.

Make a note in your diary and please be there!

http://www.essexexplorer.co.uk/cam.kmz

Date Topic Speaker

Monday January 14th

Advanced driving from an ex-copper Bill Pirie

Monday February 11th

GEM motoring David Williams

Disclaimer—Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this Newsletter are those of the individual writers and they do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, nor those of the Chelmsford and District Group of Advanced Motorists. Their accuracy has not been verified.

Notice—Data Protection Act: records are held of members personal details submitted on their application form. The information will be used solely for the Group’s administration purposes and will not be passed to any third party.

CM2 6DS


to our new Associate and Full Members.

We look forward to seeing and talking to them at our monthly Group nights

Patrick Alexander Hullbridge Karun Chhokar Brentwood

Christopher Metcalf Maldon

We are a friendly bunch, so don’t be worried about coming to our Group nights if you are on your own.

Make yourself known to John who will greet you at the desk, he will find one of us to come and talk to you. John will also try to get you to part with some money for the raffle.

There will be Senior Observers, Observers and generally an Examiner at the evening and you will be able to get answers to any questions that you have.

Please come along, we’ll even give you tea or coffee and there is a bar - for light refreshments obviously!

Terry Joyce

Gift Aid and the Group

Recently a number of members will have received an email or letter asking any taxpayers among them to complete a Gift Aid Form. As a charity, the Group is eligible to claim £2.50 in every £10 as Gift Aid, which adds an extra 25% to each annual subscription: and it won’t cost you a penny!

If you have already responded to the email or letter, thank you; if you have not, please do so as a matter of urgency.

If you are unsure whether you can complete the form, or you have lost it, please contact me. Many thanks for your help,

John C Johnston - Group Treasurer.


Please remember: Do telephone both your Observer and Scott Bannister ( Associates Co-ordinator ) immediately after your test.

Congratulations to these latest Members of our Group who

have Passed

‘The Test’.

To all those people who have passed their test: It would be appreciated if you could write a few words thanking your Observer and maybe something about the process and your test, to give those New Associates an insight into the process of learning Advanced Driving.

Roll No Name Test Date Observer

981 Matthew Davies 22nd August Scott Bannister

982 Jenny Richards 5th November Scott Bannister

983 Margaret Cockwell 19th November George Locker


From the Chairman Well, another year rolls to a close with the usual short days and cold damp weather. It

gives me comfort in my doubts about global warming if nothing else.

On the positive side, my fingers are crossed for snow at some point. With me now

having a rear wheel drive vehicle a couple of inches to play on would be fine….for a

day or so. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a Mazda MX5. My son reliably informs

me that it’s a hairdresser’s car, but that doesn’t bother me. Suspension is a bit on the

firm side, but it takes corners beautifully.

In November I made my first visit to the Young Driver Scheme our Group set up a

number of years ago in Earl’s Colne. A very impressive set-up with well over two

hundred 15 and 16-year olds turning up during the day to have a driving lesson with

an ADI. I spent a bitterly cold day talking mainly to the parents, the theory

being that if we could get the parents to join the IAM then they just might end up

setting a good example for their children. We’ve had a few joining by this route, but

not as many as we would like. I was amused by how the attendees fell into two

camps. There were the mega-enthusiastic children who had that look on their face

that you don’t often see from teenagers that said “it’s my Christmas and birthday

rolled into one”. The other group were where the child looked as sullen as any

teenager does and it was the parents who were filled with enthusiasm. On speaking

to them it became clear why – this was the light at the end of their tunnel for being a

taxi service. Still, I don’t care what the motivation is as long as everybody is happy

and that seemed to be very much the case. I was very impressed with the organisa-

tional structure and efficiency of the operation. Keeping that number of people happy

is challenging but Nicola and her team managed to do it.

I’ll finish with an appeal. We are not exactly awash with new associates and our

observers are not over-worked, so if you know of anybody who could benefit from

joining up, please point them in our direction. Perhaps I should rephrase that – we all

know dozens of people who ‘need’ help – I’m after the ones who would be

responsive to receiving it !!

So, keep safe on the roads over the festive season. My own method is to restrict my

outings because the roads are cluttered by shoppers…and you don’t get any safer

than staying indoors !!

Scott


Please contact me

by email at

[email protected]

~~~~~~~~ Editorial ~~~~~~~~

Terry Joyce

Hello,

I hope the snow and ice haven’t caused too much hassle for you.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a crash free New Year.

If you didn’t spot it, on page 4 there is a request for any taxpaying member

of the group to fill in a gift aid form as we can claim 25% of your subscrip-

tion back from the taxman. See page 4 if you haven’t sent us your gift aid

form.

Please check out page 26 for our group nights next year.

Many Thanks to Sue Sweetland for her patient and educated

assistance in producing this Newsletter.

We are in need of an

Events organiser

Can YOU help

or can you suggest speakers or relevant subjects for our group nights.


Our Group Enquiry number: - 07757 399897

Chairman Associates Co-ordinator & Chief Observer

Scott Bannister

Secretary Colin Snow

Treasurer John Johnston

Membership Secretary Ken Carrington

Website Editor Jon Ward

Newsletter Editor Terry Joyce

Events Organiser Ivor Date

Publicity John Stone

Group Contact Susan Sweetland

Committee Member Dr Clifford Murira

Committee Member Steve Wright

Committee Member John Ockmore

Committee Member Anthony Marchant

Hon. Committee Member Ken Howard

Committee Member Pat Clements

Committee

Honorary Life Members Mr Mike Corbett, Mr Glyn Jarrett, Mrs Ruth Jarrett, Mr Dave Travers

Observer Examiner Gaynor Manthorpe

Group contact information


Microclimates A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. Microclimates exist, for example, near bodies of water which may cool the local atmosphere. Microclimates can cause frost, ice and wet patches to lin-ger in some areas after they have disappeared elsewhere.

As I write this the snow is falling and there is a thick blanket over the car. Microclimates can still be observed during snowy conditions. We usually associate a microclimate with patches of ice but the opposite can be the case. In heavily urban areas where brick, concrete, and asphalt absorb the sun's energy, heat up, and reradiate that heat to the ambient air, the result is what is known as an urban heat island. As advanced drivers, we are looking at microclimates which can possibly affect our driving, so as a general rule any road that has areas of shadow caused by trees or any other objects will generally be colder than the surrounding area. Another contributing factor to microclimate is the slope or aspect of an area. South facing slopes are warmer for longer. North facing banks, slopes and hedges are the most susceptible to patches of ice, frost and wetness that can surprise you if you are not paying attention. I'm not saying that you need to have a compass in the car, although I have seen one or two cars with them in. It does help if you have an idea of where north is. What direction is the sun coming from? Where is the shade? All these factors will help in determining whether there might be an ice patch around that next corner. The road surface on bridges is always likely to be affected as they are more often than not exposed on all sides and are almost certainly colder than the surrounding roads. When considering microclimates we don't often consider wind. Bridges and tall buildings create their own microclimate, both by overshadowing large areas and by channelling strong winds.

Fog is the most frightening type of microclimate as it cuts off the thing we most need as drivers: information/visibility. Fog is made up of condensed water droplets which are the result of the air being cooled to the point where it can no longer hold all of the water vapour it contains. The problem with humans is when we stare into the mist or fog our eyes get tired and we only focus a short distance in front of us. You must keep those eyes moving, looking for those little clues: cats eyes, kerbs, cars in front and behind. Remember that horn-it's there to let other drivers and pedestrians know we are there. Use all your senses, wind that window down a little and listen.

Terry Joyce


Changes in the New Highway Code (2007)

© Crown copyright 2007

Highway Code

281 Incidents

Warning signs or flashing lights. If you see or hear emergency or

incident support vehicles in the distance, be aware there may be an incident ahead (see Rule 219). Police Officers and Highways Agency Traffic Officers may be required to work in the carriageway, for example dealing with debris, collisions or conducting rolling road blocks. Police Officers will use rear-facing flashing red and blue lights and HA Traffic Officers will use rear-facing flashing red and amber lights in these situations. Watch out for such signals, slow down and be prepared to stop. You MUST follow any directions given by Police officers or Traffic officers as to whether you can safely pass the incident or blockage.

Laws RTA1988, sects 35 &163, and as amended by TMA 2004, sect 6

Breakdowns and incidents

Accidents has been replaced with Incidents. The rule has been expanded to include Police Officers and Highways Agency Traffic Officers.

219

Continued on Page 11

Emergency and Incident Support vehicles. You should look and listen for ambulances, fire engines, police, doctors or other emergency vehicles using flashing blue, red or green lights and sirens or flashing headlights, or Highways Agency Traffic Officer and Incident Support vehicles using flashing amber lights. When one approaches do not panic. Consider the route of such a vehicle and take appropriate action to let it pass, while complying with all traffic signs. If necessary, pull to the side of the road and stop, but try to avoid stopping before the brow of a hill, a bend or narrow section of road. Do not endanger yourself, other road users or pedestrians and avoid mounting the kerb. Do not brake harshly on approach to a junction or roundabout, as a following vehicle may not have the same view as you.

This rule has been expanded


Changes to the Highway Code, continued

When the ‘Road Works Ahead’ sign is displayed, you will need to be more watchful and look for additional signs providing more specific instructions. Observe all signs - they are there for your safety and the safety of road workers.

• You MUST NOT exceed any temporary maximum speed limit. • Use your mirrors and get into the correct lane for your vehicle in good

time and as signs direct. • Do not switch lanes to overtake queuing traffic. • Take extra care near cyclists and motorcyclists as they are vulnerable

to skidding on grit, mud or other debris at road works. • Where lanes are restricted due to road works, merge in turn (see Rule 134).

• Do not drive through an area marked off by traffic cones. • Watch out for traffic entering or leaving the works area, but do not be

distracted by what is going on there. Concentrate on the road ahead, not the road works.

• Bear in mind that the road ahead may be obstructed by the works or by slow moving or stationary traffic.

• Keep a safe distance - there could be queues in front. To obtain further information about road works, see Conversions and further reading on pages 134/135.

Law RTRA sect 16

This rule has been expanded.

288

134 Lane Discipline

You should follow the signs and road markings and get into the lane as directed. In congested road conditions do not change lanes unneces-sarily. Merging in turn is recommended but only if safe and appropriate when vehicles are travelling at a very low speed, e.g. when approaching road works or a road traffic incident. It is not recommended at high speed.

This rule has been expanded to include merging in turn.


Tiredness Kills! The Department for Transport finds that least 10% of accidents on UK roads are due to tiredness; an amount that can be doubled (20%) for motorways and other monoto-nous roads. Fall-asleep crashes are more likely to result in death or serious injury, due to the higher speed at impact. About half of these crashes are work-related. About 10 people a week die on our roads as a result of driver tiredness.

Driver sleepiness is responsible for around 300 deaths per year.

Tiredness impacts on our general wellbeing: it impairs performance, promotes mistakes and accidents and leads to ineffective communication and poor decision making.

Tiredness is thought to have contributed to some of the worst industrial disasters of the 20th Century including Chernobyl, Bhopal and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Driver tiredness is one of the biggest killers on our roads, particularly on motorways and other monotonous roads, where it causes one in five crashes. Research suggests that about 300 people are killed each year as a result of drivers falling asleep at the wheel. About 40% of sleep-related accidents involve commercial vehicles. [1]

Crashes caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel typically involve vehicles running off the road or into the back of another vehicle. They tend to be relatively high-speed crashes, because drivers do not brake before crashing, so the risk of death or serious injury occurring is greater than in other types of crashes. [1]

Too little sleep radically affects your ability to drive safely and after five hours’ sleep you only have a one in ten chance of staying fully awake on a lengthy journey. [2]

The most common times for drivers (with normal sleep patterns) to fall asleep are early morning (midnight-6am) and early afternoon (2pm-4pm) when the body clock ‘dips’.

Research shows that normal sleep does not occur without warning. You should know when you are starting to feel sleepy. [2] Warning signs include: increased difficulty concentrating, yawning, heavy eyelids, eyes starting to ‘roll’ and neck muscles relaxing, making the head droop. If you experience these symptoms, you should find somewhere safe to rest as soon as possible, rather than trying to fight off tiredness.

A ‘microsleep’ occurs when someone nods off to between two and 30 seconds without realising or remembering it, often recalled afterwards as ‘head-nodding’. This occurs when people are tired but are trying to stay awake, most common in monotonous situations. Nodding off for just a few seconds at the wheel can be fatal: if you are driving on a motorway at 70mph and nod off for six seconds you would travel nearly 200 metres, which could take you across three lanes of traffic and down an embank-ment onto another road or train track. [1]

Continued on page 13


Tiredness Kills! continued

The Driver Reviver is a scientifically researched CD designed to help tired drivers make the best use of a 30 minute break from driving.

Research conducted by the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre has shown that the most effective short term solution to driver tiredness is to stop in a safe place, drink a cup or two of strong coffee and to nap for about 15 minutes.

By using this strategy drivers get both the alerting effects of caffeine plus the benefits of sleep. A nap of about 15 minutes is suggested because longer naps can leave you feeling groggy.

Although good advice - it is not always easy to nap in a vehicle or to ensure that you only sleep for 15 minutes. For this reason Awake developed the Driver Reviver, a CD designed to be played during breaks from driving.

The Driver Reviver helps you relax and get a ‘short power nap’. A special blank-out sound blocks out external noise to help the driver nap and after 15 minutes the driver is gently woken up, feeling rested and able to more safely continue their journey. The Driver Reviver has been further (successfully) tested in a driving simulator at the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre.

I used the CD twice to test it out and was impressed. You are asked to drink about 120mg of caffeine, then you receive instructions and after that you hear what sounds like a hissing sound. I dozed off both times and at the end woke up as intended. Saying that I can generally sleep anywhere at anytime. I would like to hear what you think.

The hissing noise that you hear is in fact pink noise, a sound variant of white noise. White noise is a sound that contains every frequency within the range of human hearing. Pink noise is white noise that has been filtered to reduce the volume in each of the octaves present in the sound. It is a most effective way of blocking out external noise, whilst enveloping the listener in a ‘blanket’ of restful sound.

This can help if you do get to the point where you driving is affected by tiredness, but getting the right amount of sleep in the first place is the answer.

My thanks to Professor Jim Horne, Director of Sleep Research Laboratory at Loughborough University for supplying the Driver Reviver CD.

The CD is in our Library.

By Terry Joyce

1] Department for Transport, www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk [2] Loughborough University Sleep Research Centre,



Sorry mate, I didn’t see you Is this a driver being careless/dangerous or did the driver genuinely not see you? According to a report by John Sullivan of the RAF, the answer may have important repercussions for the way we train drivers and how we stay safe on the roads. John Sullivan is a Royal Air Force pilot with over 4,000 flight hours in his career, and a keen cyclist. He is a crash investigator and has contributed to multiple reports.

Our eyes were not designed for driving We are the result of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. Our eyes, and the way that our brain processes the images that they receive, are very well suited to creeping up on unsuspecting antelopes and spotting threats such as sabre-toothed tigers.

These threats are largely gone and they’ve been replaced by vehicles travelling towards us at high speeds. This, we’ve not yet adapted to deal with. Why? Light enters our eyes and falls upon the retina. It is then converted into electrical impulses that the brain perceives as images. Only a small part of your retina, the centre bit called the fovea, can generate a high-resolution image. This is why we need to look directly at something, to see detail. The rest of the retina lacks detail but it contributes by adding the peripheral vision. However, a mere 20 degrees away from your sightline, your visual acuity is about 1/10th of what it is at the centre. Try this scary test to see quite how much detail you lose in your peripheral vision

Stand 10 metres away from a car. Move your eyes and look just one car’s width to the right or left of that car. Without moving where you eyes are now looking, try and read the number plate of the car. Try the test again from 5metres. The test shows you quite how little detail you are able to truly capture from the side of your eyes. That’s not to say that we cannot see something in our peripheral vision – of course we can. As you approach a roundabout, you would be hard pressed not to see a huge lorry bearing down upon you, even out of the corner of your eye – obviously, the bigger the object, the more likely we are to see it. But would you see a motorbike, or a cyclist? Here’s when things get really interesting


Sorry mate, I didn’t see you continued

When you move your head and eyes to scan a scene, your eyes are incapable of moving smoothly across it and seeing everything. Instead, you see in the image in a series of very quick jumps (called saccades) with very short pauses (called fixations) and it is only during the pauses that an image is processed.

Your brain fills in the gaps with a combination of peripheral vision and an assumption that what is in the gaps must be the same as what you see during the pauses. This might sound crazy, but your brain actually blocks the image that is being received while your eyes are moving. This is why you do not see the sort of blurred image that you see when you look sideways out of a train window. The only exception to this is if you are tracking a moving object.

Another test to try If you are not convinced, try this test. Look in a mirror. Look repeatedly from your right eye to your left eye. Can you see your eyes moving? You can’t. Repeat the test with a friend and watch them. You will see their eyes moving quite markedly. You can’t see your own eyes move because your brain shuts down the im-age for the instant that your eyes are moving. This is called Saccadic masking.

I tried this test but I didn't have anyone around to watch, so I recorded it on my camera. When I watched the recording my eyes and at times my head were moving but I couldn't see that in the mirror. Scary!

In the past, this served us well. It meant we could creep up on antelopes without our brain being overloaded by unnecessary detail and a lot of useless, blurred images. However, what happens when this system is put to use in a modern day situation, such as a traffic junction? Why we miss motorbikes and bicycles At a traffic junction all but the worst of drivers will look in both directions to check for oncoming traffic. However, it is entirely possible for our eyes to “jump over” an oncoming bicycle or motorbike. The smaller the vehicle, the greater the chance it will fall within a saccade.

This isn’t really a case of a careless driver, it’s more of a human incapacity to see any-thing during a saccade. We are effectively seeing through solid objects, with our brain filling in the image.

This image represents a driver looking quickly left, and the approaching motorcyclist falls within a saccade and is never seen in high resolution - simulated by the toning down in this image.



Sorry mate, I didn’t see you continued

Additionally, we tend to avoid the edges of the windscreen. The door pillars on a car therefore create an even wider blind spot. This is called windscreen zoning.

Now that you’ve been warned. What can you do?

Slow down on the approach of a roundabout or junction. Even if the road seems empty. Changing speed will allow you to see vehicles that would otherwise be invisi-ble to you.

A glance is never enough. You need to be as methodical and deliberate as a fighter pilot would be. Focus on at least 3 different spots along the road to the right and left. Search close, middle-distance and far. With practise, this can be accomplished quickly, and each pause is only for a fraction of a second. Fighter pilots call this a “lookout scan” and it is vital to their survival.

Always look right and left at least twice. This doubles your chance of seeing a vehicle.

Make a point of looking next to the windscreen pillars. Better still, lean forward slightly as you look right and left so that you are looking around the door pillars. Be aware that the pillar nearest to you blocks more of your vision. Fighter pilots say ‘Move your head – or you’re dead’.

Clear your flight path! When changing lanes, check your mirrors and as a last check, look over your shoulder.

Drive with your lights on. Bright vehicles or clothing are always easier to spot than dark colours that don’t contrast with a scene.

It is especially difficult to spot bicycles, motorbikes and pedestrians during low sun conditions as contrast is reduced.

Keep your windscreen clean – seeing other vehicles is enough of a challenge without a dirty windscreen. You never see a fighter jet with a dirty canopy.

Finally, don’t be a clown – if you are looking at your mobile telephone then you are in-capable of seeing much else. Not only are you probably looking down into your lap, but your eyes are focused at less then one metre and every object at distance will be out of focus. Even when you look up and out, it takes a fraction of a second for your eyes to adjust – this is time you may not have.

Original article by John Sullivan. This is an edited version from a brilliant website called London Cyclist. See the article here: http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/ also there is a link to the original article.

What an interesting and thought provoking article. It is good to know what our shortcomings are, whether it is the way our body works or some other aspect, so this can be factored into our driving plan.

Terry Joyce


Our Observers Ron Adams

Scott Bannister

Pat Clements

Philip Cooper

Paul Crosby

Jamie Drummond

Max Ford

Tony Hawes

Helen Jeffries

Terry Joyce

Rob Laird

George Locker

Graham Lowe

Gaynor Manthorpe

John May

Janet Miller

Dr Clifford Murira

John Ockmore

Roger Spall

Lawrence Tattersall

John Tullett

David Wall

Brian Williams

Rob Wise

This is one of my aerial pictures. Another is included on page 28.


The ‘red beauty’ pictured on the back page of the last copy of ‘Forward Vi-

sion’ is a 1937 Alfa Romeo 8c 2900A (straight 8 cylinders 2.9 litre super-charged) – part of the amazing Schlumph Collection in Mulhouse in the

Alsace region of France.

This car, chassis no 412004 did not, however, first appear in this form, and

was built with racing ‘Botticella’ bodywork - (meaning cask or keg in Ital-ian), and won the famous Mille Miglia road race in April 1937, driven by

Carlo Pintacuda with his riding mechanic Paride Mambelli.

It was subsequently sold to Count Selvi del Pero, this Botticella was raced well into the 1938 season, before the chassis was lengthened and had an

elegant cabriolet body built by Pinin Farina in 1938/39 with many

advanced features, such as pop-up headlights – believed to be the first

Italian car to have them.

Appearing at the Nice ‘Concours d’Elegance’ in May 1939, the car caused a

sensation and won the Concours.

Continued on Page 19


Alfa Romeo 2900 A continued

Changing hands twice more, the car was imported into Switzerland in

1947, (Swiss customs records showing the car as painted light blue),

where the owner Alfred Senften had a hard top added, built by coach-

builder Martin. Crossing the French border and purchased in 1963 by the Schlumph brothers who were wealthy textile industrialists, it did not see

the light of day again until the late 1970s when the incredible Schlumph

Collection was first opened to the public.

Fewer than 40 0f these fabulous cars were built – the ‘Supercars’ of the

day – beautiful coachbuilt bodies powered by a grand prix engine. Now

some of the most collectable and sought after pre-war sports cars,

changing hands for seven figure sums.

Ken Carrington

Photos:

1. Pintacuda and Mambelli storm through Bologna on their way to victory

in the 1937 Mille Miglia

2. The elegant cabriolet coachwork by Pinin Farina

The photos are copies of historic archive material, and are included by kind

permission of Simon Moore – author of ‘The Immortal 2.9’.


JACKSON ENGINEERING

STATION GARAGE HIGH STREET. ONGAR. CM5 9HH

Telephone: 01277 363707

SERVICING & REPAIRS

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WE NOW TEST MOTORCYCLES AND 3 WHEELERS

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A lot of things, not all complimentary, have been said about Essex but as I've watched the News in the last week or so, I've realised that it could be much worse. My brother lives in Somerset and there, flood avoidance has become an art form as everyone is finding alternative routes for their everyday errands. In total contrast, I'm writing this on the day after the first real frost and for the first time in a while I've been able to get to the bottom of the garden to feed the birds without having to paddle! Everything has a good side - so I'm told.... Happy Christmas and all the best for 2013,

Susan Sweetland


Motoring Milestones

1919 First Caravan The first production caravan was the ‘Eccles’, built in Birmingham by J M Riley. Within just six years caravanning had become so popular that the RAC had a caravan de-partment.

1920 First petrol filling station The first purpose built, drive-in petrol station was opened at Aldermaston in Berkshire by the Automobile Association. The hose from the pump passed through the window of the wooden building and the service was only available to AA members.

1923 By-pass The by-pass at Eltham was the first to be built in this country. Many others were built in quick succession and the adjoining land, which was cheap and offered good ac-cess, proved very attractive to builders. As concerns grew about the number of new buildings, the government responded with the ‘Restriction of Ribbon Development act’ in 1935 to control the development.

1923 One Million Motorists Less than thirty years after the first car appeared on Britain’s roads, the number of motor vehicles in use exceeded one million. This figure included motorcycles, which were very popular and it was to be another seven years before there were one million cars on our roads.

Selected by Terry Joyce, Courtesy of Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon. Photo courtesy of www.petroliana.co.uk


Crash Test Not Such A Dummy A technology collaboration between innovITS ADVANCE and The Transport Research Laboratory has led to the creation of an advanced form of pedestrian detection target which will help those specifying and developing automotive safety systems based on pedestrian recognition to test and certify their products in a more flexible, accurate and repeatable manner. “Pedestrian detection systems are al-ready increasingly being incorporated into new vehicles,” said innovITS ADVANCE business development man-ager Steven Warner, “ the automotive in-dustry is largely lacking in dummy sys-tems providing a realistic representation of human form and gait to the vehicle’s on-board sensor systems.” The new TRL-innovITS ADVANCE mobile pedestrian target is based around a robust, free standing dummy that provides a realistic human aspect and moves under remote control with a programmable range of speed and acceleration settings. The dummy emulates the leg motion associated with a normal walking or running gait and can currently be configured for three body sizes: An adult male, adult female and a 6 year old child. Each of these body options is fully detachable and designed to minimize vehicle damage should the pedestrian detection system fail to operate, and the unit moves on an extremely low profile base unit which is invisible to vehicle systems. When combined with the unique ground truth positioning system installed at innovITS ADVANCE, the new pedestrian detection target system provides a fast, highly accurate and repeatable testing capability for this important category of automotive safety system. “The Transport Research Laboratory has a strong history in the field of vehicle safety and understands the real world accident scenarios that are most relevant to protect against,” said Richard Cuerden, TRL technical director, vehicle safety. “By collaborat-ing with innovITS ADVANCE we have been able to create a packaged solution that is likely to be highly attractive to those researching and developing pedestrian detection technologies, innovations and products.” Many thank to John Stone for acquiring this information from Dr Helen Viner of the Transport Research Laboratory


CHELMSFORD ADVANCED MOTORISTS

LIBRARY LIST

DVDs

Drive Smarter, Essential know-how for your driving career (2 copies) By Gem Motoring Assist

Roadcraft, The Police Driver’s Course on Advanced Driving By The Police Foundation

PC CD-ROMs

The Interactive Highway Code HMSO/ Interactive Driving Systems

Hazard Perception Test HMSO/Oasis

BOOKS

Roadcraft TSO Human Aspects of Police Driving Scottish Police College The Tyre Digest (2 copies) Michelin

Driving Abroad Robert Davies

The Official Highway Code Rev. 2007 Edition HMSO

The Official Guide to Accompanying L-Drivers DSA

Sideways to Victory Roger Clark

The Myway Code Ian Vince/Dan Kieran

Paul Ripley’s Expert Driving Daily Telegraph

The Inner Game of Tennis W Timothy Gallwey

Mind Driving Stephen Haley

Older Drivers – Safe or Unsafe? IAM Traffic– Why we drive the way we do Tom Vanderbilt

CDs

Awake, Driver Reviver THINK

Advanced Road Craft Bespoke Driving Training

The Driving Test – Your Licence to Drive IAM/Safety on the Move


Notification of Events

There has been a lot of positive feedback from events organised by the Group. If you would like to be kept informed of any up and coming events please make sure that l has your current email address.

Young Driver Scheme

Do you know of anyone who is not 17 years of age, but wants to learn how to drive?

Chelmsford IAM group supports a road safety scheme to give people the opportunity to learn basic car control skills in Driving School Dual Controlled cars on private land before they go on the public Highway.

getting behind the wheel (again, or for the first time).

Full details of the scheme, a letter from Essex Police and a map may be viewed, and the application Form can be downloaded, from

www.youngdriverscheme.org

Lessons, lasting for one hour, are run on the third Sunday of most months at Earls Colne (near Coggeshall). There is an initial Registration Fee of £30 which covers registration and the first one hour lesson. Subsequent lessons cost £25. Lessons must be booked in advance.

The scheme is intended primarily for 16 year-olds but, if vacancies permit, places may be offered to 15 year-olds or even to older people who are nervous about

Alternatively, forms may be obtained from the YDS Organiser.

Nicola Hyland, 67 Main Road,

St Lawrence Bay, Southminster,

CM0 7NA

Dedicated Mobile number

07847 645632 or

[email protected]



Group Nights & Events 2013

Please make a note in your diary

Monday January 14th

Advanced driving from an ex-copper Bill Pirie

Monday February 11th

GEM motoring David Williams

Monday March 11th

How a racing driver works George Murrells

Monday November 11th

TBA

Monday December 9th

Christmas Quiz Night & Buffet

Monday October 14th

TBA

Monday September 9th

TBA

Monday August 12th

TBA

Monday July 8th

How the police identify body parts Gary Silver

Monday June 10th

Manoeuvring test Scott Bannister

+ others

Monday May 13th

First responder Gordon Wren

Monday April 8th

The work of a Probation officer


Congratulations

Here are some of our successful members receiving their certificate from our new Chairman Scott Bannister

Having taken nearly two years to

pluck up the courage to take the course I'm really glad I did. I am

a more confident driver now.

Thank you to John Tullett for all

his patience and help.

Regards

Dena Metcalf

“Roger, Scott and Ken had to

correct 50 years of ‘bad driving habits to ensure that I passed my

test. I’m very glad they did and

am enjoying my driving more

than ever!”

Keith Lovell

Ian Studd


The links below are to websites that you may have an interest in. Please let me know if

any of them are not working. Email me if you think of any websites that may be of interest.

IAM DrivingAdvice & Tips

http://www.iam.org.uk/media-and-research/media-centre/driving-and-riding-tips

Online Highway Code

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/index.htm

Know your traffic signs

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_191955.pdf

Tyresafe

http://www.tyresafe.org

Drive Alive

http://www.drive-alive.co.uk

Heritage Motor Centre http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/

London Cyclist http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/

Chelmsford-Army & Navy roundabout

Photo by T.Joyce

Know Your Traffic Signs The ‘Know Your Traffic Signs’ book has 143 pages, 144 if you include the acknowledgements page. Do we need all these signs? Sometimes there seems to be too many signs as we drive along the road. With the technology available to drivers some newer signs are starting to appear that aren’t in the book. The sign below was sent to me by Patrick Alexander, one of our new associates. He came across it in Mid Wales, When he asked local people as to it's meaning they explained that it was to try to prevent the heavy commercial drivers from using their satellite navigation devices in the mountainous area as the suggested roads were totally unsuitable for large vehicles. Apparently, owing to the hairpin bends steep gradients and very narrow roads many of them end up blocking the roads unable to reverse the many miles back to a point where they can turn around and retrace their route.

Blue rectangles are used for information

signs except on motorways where blue is used for

direction signs

https://www.gov.uk/traffic-signs

The sign to the left is in Brentwood and the type of sign that is usually erected when there are issues with ‘sat nav’s’ directing drivers through unsuitable roads. The one above in Wales was probably the first to use visual symbols.

Terry Joyce

Documents

Forward Vision #97