We all know the drill. You see a speed camera, you slow down, you look at the camera, you check your speedometer and look for the camera again. But in the UK at least, reports now indicate that nearly half of the 1,000 speed cameras installed are entirely inactive. Because many of the cameras installed in the UK during the 1990s failed to meet transportation department criteria for deployment, some 40% were immediately decommissioned. However, the boxes that house them are still there, even though many of them are empty altogether. Motorist groups are lobbying to have the inactive devices removed, citing them as a dangerous roadside distraction, but the government insists that whether they're in use or not, the visible presence of the camera boxes keep drivers' speeds in check.
More government regulation to protect people from themselves...whee! The UK's camera-infested roads haven't been the most blissful place for driving enthusiasts in the last few years, and now there's a push to fit speed limiters to cars. Proposed by the exhaustively-named Commission for Integrated Transport and the Motorists' Forum, the limiter concept is being touted as a way to cut emissions and save lives. The idea is that the technology would integrate with a vehicle's systems to slow the car down - including intervening by automatically applying the brakes to bring a vehicle down to the speed limit. Satellites will be used to determine where a vehicle is, and drivers are reported to appreciate having the burden of actually paying attention lifted from their shoulders. Hmmm. Given how many local governments rely on speed camera revenue, we're not altogether sure what kind of legs this plan has, but consider us concerned all the same.
Back in September of 2007, Steven Tyler, best known as the lead singer for Aerosmith, launched a custom motorcycle company along with his cousin, Stephen Talarico, and cycle designer Mark Dirico. The trio called the company Red Wing Motorcycles. That high-flying moniker may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it turns out that the name was already taken. In fact, it's been taken a few times. This being the case, Tyler used the New England International Auto Show, which is running this weekend, to announce that the company has been renamed Dirico Custom Motorcycles.
Yeah, so it may not be as catchy as Red Wing, but at least it's available. As far as the bikes go, these "factory custom" machines seem like quality pieces and use mostly stock V-Twin powerplants from The Motor Company. While this means they should be pretty reliable, there's not much here to separate Red Wing Dirico Custom Motorcycles from those of the the hundreds of other "custom" manufacturers. So, what's the hook? Each bike comes pre-signed by none other than... Steven Tyler, of course.
We all know that Formula One pilots drive their cars to the very edge of their limits. What separates the godlike from the rest of the field of extremely talented drivers, however, is how close they can get to the edge without going over it. Go too far and you crash. Don't go far enough and lose. Michael Schumacher certainly falls into that rare category – tops it, even – of the exceedingly talented and accomplished, but lately, we've begun to wonder if the unprecedented seven-time world champion hasn't lost it.
Following the rumors from just a couple of days ago that Schumacher had totaled a Ferrari 430 Scuderia prototype on the Nurburgring (turns out it could have been another test driver) comes word that Shumi was involved in a traffic collision on public roads in England. A car dealer in Kent, England, reports to have been hit by a Fiat van, only to discover that it was the champion himself driving. Sound incredible? Both local police and Schumacher's spokesperson confirmed it was him. Michael reportedly cooperated with police who turned up at the scene, handed over his insurance information and was then picked up and disappeared.
Motorists in London had high hopes when they elected Boris Johnson as their mayor. The former Conservative party leader is a well-known gearhead, and even moonlights as an automotive journalist. And those hopes may just yet be vindicated, as Mayor Johnson begins rolling back the Congestion Charges instituted by his reviled predecessor "Red" Ken Livingstone.
For starters, Boris has stated publicly and on the record, "I am not going to be having any more congestion charges." Although he has not yet dismantled the entire system, the Mayor has indicated that he is considering canceling its most recent extension into the Kensington and Chelsea neighborhoods, narrowing down the zone to the downtown core between Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge. At the same time, Johnson is launching a half-million-pound public consultation into the entire C-Zone network, while campaigning for a "modal shift towards bicycling and walking, not just in inner London but also in outer London." We hope to hear good things soon.
America's two most popular spectator sports – football and stock-car racing – are about to cross paths as the New England Patriots' star wide receiver Randy Moss has announced plans to launch his own NASCAR team. Perhaps after losing Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants back in January, Moss is really starting to think about what to do with his time after this whole football thing runs its course.
His new team named Moss Motorsports will begin competing at select races in this year's Craftsman Truck series in preparation for a full-on assault in the 2009 season at the same level. Details like drivers, sponsors and an engine supplier have yet to be announced, but Moss, who has long been involved with urban youth programs, plans to incorporate his racing team into his social projects.
Ford and Tata are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover in late February or early March. Ford has reportedly agreed to continue supplying engines and components, and Tata to accept the pension arrangements. The final issue is Ford's discussions with British auto workers unions. The unions don't have any problems with the deal between Ford and Tata, nor anything that they have agreed to with Ford so far. The sticking point appears to be that Ford has only given verbal guarantees, and the unions want those guarantees locked in for "the next few years", presumably in writing. Until then, the unions won't recommend accepting the deal. Aside from all of that, the best news is that Tata has signed off on both Land Rover and Jaguar's business plans through 2012, which means the F-Type we've been waiting eight years for could finally be on the way. And if that happens, then Tata is tops in our book.
As some of us are pretty sharp with a wrench, we loathe taking our cars elsewhere for repairs. Most of the time, we want to watch the guy doing the work, and that's usually not possible so we end up chain-drinking burnt coffee in the waiting room. HiQ, a new automotive service chain in the UK, is revamping its brand and has decided to allow customers to get in on the action. To prove their new concept, cooked up by branding wizards Fitch, HiQ has opened a new facility in Nottingham. The design is clean and more retail chic than a greasy-fingernailed muffler shop. Our favorite feature, by far, is the glass wall that allows you to stare down the monkey lad as he applies several hundred pound-feet of torque to your wheel lugs with an impact wrench.
The Twingo still won't take you to mythical Silene, but the UK gets its own specially pimped version of the entry-level Twingo called the "Extreme." Think of it as a Tercel Blackhawk en français, s'il vous plaît. The Twingo Extreme consists of mostly graphics for the exterior, though there's a few extra bits of gear thrown in, too.
Power is provided by a 1.2-liter engine, and Renault throws in specially trimmed wheels, a tachometer, and foglights.
Rather than spend your day looking up "gonnectigizoink" at Wikipedia, a better use of the internet might be to find a job. The problem is that it's just so hard to find anything that matches our niche skillset. Bentley is looking for more global candidates to fill their open positions, and has launched a website in hopes of snagging applicants. Currently, there's only opportunities if you want to locate yourself in Crewe, but there's 40-plus openings for everything from Logistics and IS to student programs. Bentley's hoping that opening up positions to the world at large, rather than relying solely on the old guard of newspaper adverts and recruitment firms will bring in more potential candidates. We'll be watching it like a hawk for the high performance test driver position to open up. In the meantime, we'll be compiling a fanciful delusion of a curriculum vitae.
