As reported by the Washington Post, a new traffic control program, known as “shared space,” is taking root throughout Europe. The goal of the program is to reduce traffic accidents, and to make the roads safer. This is not news. What is different about shared space is that all traditional traffic control devices are eliminated, leaving traffic up to the common sense of the drivers.

It is an intriguing idea, to say the least. The assumption is that drivers are used to owning the road and being guided by the various traffic devices in place. Removing these devices, the logic goes, will cause drivers to get nervous and thus slow down and be more aware of their surroundings.

In Haren, the Netherlands, traffic at one intersection dropped 95% from 200 accidents a year to only 10. The German town of Bohtme has already implemented the program in select areas of its downtown, and is hoping to achieve similar results. Only 2 laws remain the converted area: 1) the Germany-wide 30 mph city speed limit remains in force and 2) everyone must yield to the right, regardless of the vehicle or pedestrian.

While an intriguing idea, I definitely have my doubts about it. If the basic rationale for the program’s success is that drivers get nervous in the new environment, what happens when they become accustomed to having no traffic control devices? They will likely revert back to their old ways. This is not to say that shared spaces cannot work. Here in Boston, part of the Green Line T rides along a major street, completely overlapping with car lanes. Drivers yield, but then again, it doesn’t take a genius to learn to yield to a train. This might not apply when there are bicyclists or pedestrians also in the driving lane.

As reported by WBAY, police in Green Bay, Wisconsin will begin fingerprinting you if you are issued a traffic citation. The fingerprint will appear next to the fine on the ticket, and is apparently there to protect motorists. Green Bay police claim that they want to prevent the identity fraud problem that Milwaukee, 112 miles south of Green Bay is experiencing. Apparently 13 percent of Milwaukee drivers give a false name when pulled over.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I fail to see why the police can’t just check the driver’s license of the people they pull over. Even the bouncers in Boston can correctly spot a fake ID, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for the Police. Isn’t that, after wall, the ENTIRE point of a driver’s license in the first place?

Drivers are legally allowed to refuse to give a fingerprint and not be arrested, but I don’t see that scenario happening very often. Most will probably just give their finger willingly. For those that do refuse, they then cross the line into lawful non-compliance, which, to some cops, can be just as bad as unlawful non-compliance. Looking for a break, or just to leave the traffic stop quickly? That might not be so easy if you give the cop a hard time. Moreover, if you refuse to give your fingerprint and then appeal the ticket, the Judge in traffic court will see that you refused, since you fingerprint will be missing. Now the first thing they know about you is your non-compliance with the system (however lawful), and your chances of being let off just decreased drastically.

Of course, if rights to privacy and overbearing government arguments don’t interest you, there is logistical nightmare of being fingerprinted away from a sink that should ruffle anyone’s feathers. Fingerprinting is done by sticking your finger on an inkpad. Not all of the ink gets transferred to the paper, so now you have your index finger covered in ink, with nowhere to wipe it off. And you have drive, probably getting ink all over your car in the process. And your finger will now be black for the next day. Hope you weren’t going anywhere important…

As reported by the Miami Herald, Officer Jeffrey Janish was arrested yesterday morning for drunken driving. The kicker is that he was arrested while in uniform, in his patrol car. Witnesses have alleged that Janish was driving “erratically” and blew through a toll booth well above the posted speed limit. While you or I would rot in jail awaiting our arraignment, or lighten our wallets by posting bail, Janish’s status as police officer has earned him the special privilege of suspension with pay. Yes, he gets a paid vacation for driving his patrols completed hammered.

The Federal Bureau of Irony is reportedly investigating the incident as well.

Oh. My. God. City drivers in the snow are TERRIBLE! HORRIBLE!! Absolutely, completely atrocious beyond any sense of decency. They’re so bad, it’s not even funny how bad they are. And believe me, crappy drivers are hilarious. Usually.

Up here in New England, we are in the midst of our first major snowstorm. By all accounts, it’s really not that bad. 5-8 inches total predicted, with maybe 4 inches or so on the ground right now. Yes, it is coming down hard, but there is not very much on the GROUND.

I needed food, as our refrigerator is even more empty than usual. So I decided to drive to my local Shaw’s to pick up something tasty. Now, my local Shaw’s is VERY local. So local that if I wasn’t quite as averse to walking as I am, I’d probably just walk there on a regular basis. I really cannot stress how CLOSE and NOT FAR AT ALL this Shaw’s is from my house.

I turned down my street, and all looked well. My trusty Blizzaks didn’t bat an eye going up my driveway, despite the 4 inches of snow. Then I took a right. Bad choice. I should have taken a left, looped around the block, and gone home. You see, for some reason (I blame inept drivers), traffic was at a complete standstill on EVERY street between me and Shaw’s. Now, I’m new to city life, and in my naivety I figured that while it would take slightly longer than normal, I’d have no problem getting to Shaw’s as soon as I crossed the main street. WRONG! The next intersection would literally be a dead standstill for about 4 minutes, and then 1 car would be able to move. And in Massachusetts, we don’t believe in sensible laws like not blocking an intersection. So, despite the fact that the road on the opposite side of the intersection was completely stopped and had no indication of moving anytime soon, drivers would inch their way into the intersection and stop. COMPLETELY IN THE INTERSECTION. They didn’t even make and to attempt get out of the way, some of them leaving 4 feet of space between them and the car in front of them. Finally, I gave up, and decided to just head back to my apartment. This was much easier said than done, as now I had to deal with all of the same intersections again to head home.

Normal time to get Shaw’s: 3 minutes.
Time today to abort going to Shaws: 30 minutes.

Unbelievable.

You’re probably familiar with the concept of a ferry. You’re driving along, and come to a body of water. You’re car obviously can’t cross the water, so you drive onto a ferry which takes you to the other side and you continue your journey. While we naturally associate ferries with water, it isn’t really that there is water that must be crossed that necessitates a ferry as much as just an area which cannot be forded. This is the case in some parts of remote Russia.

As shown by these pictures from englishrussia.com, there are some stretches of road that are simply too muddy for normal vehicles to traverse. So, they have land ferries.
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As reported by autoblog, TriRod Motorcycles has introduced a new tricycle, the F3 Adrenaline. It uses a 2+1 configuration, using 2 wheels for steering and 1 massive rear wheel for power delivery. This setup is much more stable and infinitely more sportive than the more traditional wheel configuration.

The Adrenaline will be powered by a 120 cubic inch Harley-Davidson style V-Twin engine. This is good because this is one of the most popular motorcycle engines, and aftermarket support will be high. This is bad because that style of engine is terribly inefficient, and produces nowhere near the power of sport bike engines. Personally, I’d rather have less aftermarket support but an engine that is good to begin with and doesn’t need to be tweaked. Oh well.

The trike weighs around 750 pounds, which, funny enough, is actually less than many Harleys! Even with modest output from the engine, power-to-weight should still be very high.

I’m actually quite interested in this and similar trikes. They are quite similar, design-wise, to the T-Rex, which was able to pull almost 1.9 Gs lateral acceleration. That is better than most race-prepped cars. If these trikes can yield that level of performance, they would certainly be something I’d consider buying, especially if their price is reasonable.

As winter and the ice racing season approaches–and with the 4″ of snow we got in Boston a few days ago–all of us are switching to our snow tires. You know the Pansy Patrol has very strong opinions about snow tires. We think everyone who drives in a snowy climate should have them. Just yesterday I forced my mother to buy a set, and she drives so little that she goes a month between fill-ups on her Subaru.

In what is purely a matter of chance and coincidence, we’re going to have the opportunity to pit 3 of the best snow tires on the market against each other on the street and on the ice-racing course. Chris is bringing back his Green Diamond Icelanders from last year. Noah is sporting a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50s, long the standard-bearer. To be different (well, because I waited so long that Tire Rack ran out of the WS-50), I’m giving the new Blizzak WS-60 a shot. The WS-50 is being rotated out and replaced with the 60. We’re looking forward to some head to head comparisons. We’ll find out if the WS-60 really is a step backward (as some ice racers are predicting), and we’ll find out if, when it’s all over, the Icelander beats both Blizzaks. Some preliminary notes follow (all images are from The Tire Rack):

The Blizzak WS-50:
This is the standard, ubiquitous snow tire. Big, blocky tread, good siping, compound so soft your hand almost sinks into it. The majority of SL-class ice racers use the WS-50 because of its abilities on the ice. Around town in the snow, the WS-50 has great traction. Braking and acceleration are easy and the tire sheds snow superbly. While I hope that the WS-60 proves to be equal or better, it will be hard to outdo this tire.

The Blizzak WS-60:
We’ve yet to test these in the snow, but the tread certainly looks somewhat inferior to the WS-50. The blocks are closer together and the pattern more closely resembles an all-season tire. We expect that that will improve the WS-60’s performance in the dry (something that regular drivers care about but we do not), but at what cost to its abilities in snow and ice?

The Green Diamond Icelander:
Those of you who were reading us at the beginning of the year know how much we like these tires. In my opinion, braking and acceleration are a bit better with the Icelander than they are with the WS-50. The tread pattern is great: big blocks like the WS-50, soft rubber, excellent siping. If the WS-60 really turns out to be a step backward for Bridgestone, the Icelander is going to emerge as a clear leader among these three. If that happens, we’re going to have to spring for the Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi and see just how good the Icelander really is.

This is Part 3 of a series written by guest writer Ricky Nietubicz on his experience on the Formula SAE team at the University of Delaware. FSAE is a competition where students design, build, and compete with small formula-style racing cars. Ricky was President of his FSAE club, and his team went to the Nationals in Detroit during the 2006-2007 season.

Ok, so you have warm, interested bodies. Now you have to find a way to get them organized into a lean, mean, car-building machine. There are plenty of different ways to go about this, several of which our team tried, with varying success. In order for things to work smoothly, you need a degree of cooperation from the team members themselves, and you need a certain critical mass of individuals.

First, the basics. Above all else you need leadership. We had a group of officers who provided that leadership, consisting of a president, two vice presidents, treasurer, secretary and, due to some hilarious and exciting but not particularly kosher incidents, a safety officer, each with certain responsibilities. There wasn’t much of a “chain of command” within the officers, everybody was generally equal below the president. So, in reverse order (It makes the most sense that way. Really.):
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Last year in my more than you ever wanted to know about AWD systems article, I described the function of several types of passive all-wheel-drive arrangements. One of the most popular passive center differentials is the planetary differential. A planetary differential offers some advantages over the traditional bevel-gear differential, which is often used as the front or rear differential of a FWD, RWD, or AWD car — although some cars such as the DSM or manual transmission WRX use a bevel gear center diff.

Unlike a bevel gear differential which necessitates an equal torque split on both outputs, a planetary differential can be designed for completely symmetric through radically asymmetric output according to what the application requires. The 3000GT and Stealth AWD system has such a planetary differential, and I have an animation to help visualize it:

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