YOU know average-speed cameras are here to stay when they get their own special road markings. Drivers will soon start to see distinctive shapes appearing on main roads across the country indicating that cars are entering an average-speed measuring zone.
The white lines, which resemble an upside-down “L” in the centre of the lane, are part of a speed camera system called SafeZone, made by the German company Siemens. The technology is replacing traditional Gatso cameras and the telltale parallel white lines that they use for calibration.
The new markings have so far been appearing in Dorset and around London on the A2, A40 and North Circular. They indicate the point at which a vehicle’s average speed starts to be measured. Cameras take an image of the vehicle and the exact time that it passes the markings. Another is captured when the vehicle leaves the monitoring zone, which can be several miles up the road. The distance between the white markings and the timings are used to calculate the average speed, and to decide whether a speeding ticket should be issued.
Average-speed cameras are increasingly being installed on the road network as local authorities replace Gatso cameras that use film. Converting them to digital costs about £36,000 a camera. Average-speed cameras can be £10,000 cheaper per device.
Siemens said average-speed zones were typically being set up on faster roads with 40mph or 50mph speed limits, as these tended to have fewer junctions, which increase the number of cameras needed.
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Not all average-speed cameras need road markings. Vysionics, which makes the Specs cameras used on motorways, says its devices don’t need white lines. “Markings could encourage drivers to avoid that location or brake suddenly, which is exactly what you want to avoid,” it said.
Don’t forget your zoo squad: Evans to build Top Gear gang
THE BBC may ditch Top Gear’s familiar three-man line-up for a more informal “gang” of presenters when Chris Evans, the new host, takes over.
The format could consist of several presenters operating in rotation or all together. It is a technique used successfully by Evans during his days of hosting the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in the mid-1990s, when he became the leader of the so-called zoo squad: a gang of friends renowned for risqué banter and ad-libbing on air.
According to Suzi Perry, a BBC Formula One presenter who has been tipped to join Evans as one of the Top Gear hosts, the idea of several presenters has already been mooted. Writing in Driving today, Perry says she has had several discussions with the BBC about taking a presenting role, but has not yet been offered one.
She adds: “I know they are keeping some elements and bringing in other elements. They want to refresh it. It’s very much down to BBC2 and Chris Evans. I think they’re looking at a gang of people rather than two or three presenters.”
I had that feng shui expert in the back of my cab factory
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LONDON taxi drivers are not renowned for their holistic world-view or ability to harmonise their environment, but that may be about to change. A new Chinese-owned factory building London’s black cabs in Coventry has called in a feng shui expert to help design the workplace and “improve the flow of energy into the building” and “aid employee wellbeing”.
Work began this month on the £250m factory, which will be used to create the next generation of low-emission black cabs. The project is being financed by Geely, which bought the London Taxi Company (LTC) in 2012. The Chinese company, which also owns Volvo, says it will create 1,400 new jobs and eventually have the capacity to assemble up to 36,000 vehicles a year.
Sylvia Bennett, the feng shui expert called in to help design the factory, said: “I’ve worked to improve the flow of energy through the building, making sure that entrances are properly positioned. We’ve gained advantage of the water element of the nearby lake, boosted by a water feature installation.”
The new taxi will be launched in Britain in 2017 and in international markets in 2018. Production of the black cab began at the LTC’s Coventry site in 1948. Since then more than 130,000 have been built.