The BMW and Opel Owners Car clubs decided to hold this yearly great event again and invite all to see how brave they are.
Gideon went along to see the talent.
Here's picture he took while he was there.
This is GC's own little space... yes... it might be small but he likes it.
Physicians should tell patients not to send text messages or use cellphones while driving, just as they advise them against smoking or to use seat belts, a doctor said in the influential New England Journal of Medicine last Wednesday.
"It's time for us to ask patients about driving and distraction," Dr. Amy Ship of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston wrote in a featured commentary in the journal.
Hours before the journal was published, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved the Distracted Driving Prevention Act, which would provide incentives to states with distracted driving regulations.
"It's a proven fact that distracted driving causes thousands of deaths and injuries every year," said New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, who co-sponsored the legislation.
The bill would offer federal grants to states that have restrictions on cellphone use and texting, and would require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations on the use of wireless devices by commercial vehicle drivers.
Ship said keeping people off cellphones while they are behind the wheel was an important public safety health measure. "Not to ask - and not to educate our patients and reduce their risk - is to place in harm's way those we hope to heal," Ship wrote.
Ship cited growing evidence of the dangers that cellphones posed to people on the road. The National Safety Council has estimated that 28% of U.S. traffic accidents - 1.6 million - involve use of cellphones.
State bans
The most obvious problem is texting, where people use the cellphone keypad to send email or similar messages. A 2009 study concluded that texting while driving raised the risk of an accident by 23 times.
At least 28 U.S. states now ban texting while driving.
But Ship also urged doctors to tell their patients not to talk on cellphones while driving, and to lock them in the trunk during their trip if that is what it took to avoid the impulse to use them.
She said a 2006 study found that talking on a cellphone posed the same risk as driving while intoxicated, even if the driver was not holding the phone. "Driving while distracted is roughly equivalent to driving drunk," she wrote.
"In 98% of people, reaction time suffers dramatically," Ship said in a telephone interview after making sure the reporter was not driving during the call.
Ship said talking with a hands-free unit was more dangerous than to talking to someone in the car. "You're more engaged with your environment than when someone is not present," she said.
Listening to the radio or music is not the same kind of distraction. "One cannot tune out someone on the phone the way you can the radio," Ship said. "You don't have to reply to the radio."
Ship said doctors could play a key role in reducing cellphone-related accidents, just as a patient was more likely to quit smoking if a doctor spent three minutes discussing the risks of tobacco use.
"Although there are many possible distractions for drivers, more than 275 million Americans own cell phones, and 81 percent of them talk on those phones while driving," Ship wrote.
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New Scooby takes 'Ring recordWith Toyota's massive unintended acceleration recall, you'd think 2009 would be the "Year of the Recall." Think again. Only 15,388,697 vehicles were recalled last year - a far cry from the 37,922,808 vehicles that were recalled in 2000.
So why the sudden surge of recall coverage? Short term memory, poorly designed vehicles or media hype? You could argue that when a car is recalled, it shows some bad engineering by an automaker. However, the reality is most recalled vehicles will never experience a problem. Cars are recalled for your safety - the 1 in a 1,000,000 chance that a seat belt could come undone during an evasive maneuver. Take Chrysler's latest recall, the wiring in the door of the Dodge Grand Caravan / Chrysler Town & Country could become stripped, short out, and cause a fire. It's unlikely to happen, but Chrysler's playing it safe and recalling every model that could be affected.
There's always been hype around recalls, but 'PedalGate' just amplified things. No one's really sure what caused the issue to happen, but the U.S. Government has already slapped Toyota with fines. Now every automaker is trying to play it safe and acknowledge any potential problem before an incident occurs. In the old days, there'd be a simple TSB (technical service bulletin) which consumers would rarely notice. Now with the threat of class action lawsuits, automakers don't want to been seen "hiding" defects. They simply recall the vehicle, take a PR hit, and hope for the best. Is it fair? Probably not, but what's the alternative?
Compiled by InsideLine.com, below is a chart of the number of recalls in the past 20 years. InsideLine heartily points out that despite some years clearly more active than others, there's no obvious trend of recalls on the rise. But perhaps the media taking the liberty to report more recalls is "the only real trend."
Year | # of Recalls | Potential # of Affected Vehicles |
1990 | 81 | 5,483,937 |
1991 | 92 | 5,006,827 |
1992 | 73 | 6,261,951 |
1993 | 80 | 7,473,235 |
1994 | 111 | 5,271,119 |
1995 | 101 | 16,151,571 |
1996 | 137 | 21,826,395 |
1997 | 122 | 13,744,386 |
1998 | 144 | 15,954,501 |
1999 | 149 | 22,657,262 |
2000 | 228 | 37,922,808 |
2001 | 159 | 28,630,709 |
2002 | 136 | 19,470,825 |
2003 | 167 | 18,575,862 |
2004 | 220 | 29,835,327 |
2005 | 152 | 17,948,511 |
2006 | 157 | 10,974,000 |
2007 | 144 | 13,499,501 |
2008 | 168 | 9,039,333 |
2009 | 175 | 15,388,697 |
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the driving test in Britain, the BBC's Top Gear program has a series of tips to offer in its Alternative Highway Code, which it refers to as a bible for the modern motorist.
The "rules" make fun of slow Peugeots (yes, they do tend to be underpowered) and hit upon other cliches of the road - poking fun at left-hand drive cars, of course. To wit: "You'd be amazed how many people in foreign countries insist on sitting on the PASSENGER side of the car - the bloody idiots. They drive on the WRONG side of the road, too."
And of course, there couldn't be decent set of driving jokes without a shot at elderly drivers. Their advice for drivers of a certain age: "Indicate at least 500 metres before turning. Change your mind at the last minute."
The rules were put together by the Top Gear team - which one should take to mean not by Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond themselves. Whatever one may think of them, their jokes are usually better than that.
Basic rules of the road
Get into the car. Do this BEFORE moving off. Trust us, we've tried the other way and it ruins your shoes, trousers and face.
Check your wing mirrors. Chances are your side mirrors are scratched, out of position, held on with gaffer tape and connected to the car by a spider's web.
Switch on the car. Again, it seems quite basic but many people forget. It's worth bearing in mind that forgetting to switch on the engine at the start of a journey can add up to FIVE hours to a journey that would otherwise take 20 minutes, so think on.
Before pulling away, take time to adjust your radio, air conditioning and (where applicable) testes. Go, go go!
Overtaking
Oh God, there's a Peugeot in the way.
This is a national-speed-limit road. Why is it doing 47mph? WHY?
Ah, there's a straight coming up!
POWEEEEER!
Ha! This car is BIBLICALLY FAST.
Do not try this in a car with ANYTHING less than 500 HORSEPOWERS.
On overtaking in a car with anything less than 500 horsepowers:
Floor the accelerator.
Feel entire car start to vibrate and rattle like the Space Shuttle on re-entry.
Feel gentle beads of perspiration gather on whitening knuckles.
Shout "Come on, you can do it!"
Notice huge lorry coming the other way.
Watch entire life flash before eyes.
Get past dithering Peugeot and pull back to correct side of road.
Stop to remove mess from underpants.
Watch Peugeot go past.
Rules for car drivers
Ask yourself the following questions:
Can you see? Do you have at least some arms and legs?
Do you have a driving licence/Are you seriously thinking about getting a licence at some point in the future?*
Okay, you're fit to drive. Away you go!
* Minicab drivers only.
Before setting off always remember the following tips:
Make sure you are sitting in the driving seat and facing the front. You'd be amazed how many people in foreign countries insist on sitting on the PASSENGER side of the car - the bloody idiots. They drive on the WRONG side of the road, too.
If you are a wittering simpleton, allow extra journey time for following your sat-nav instructions in an overly literal manner that causes you to drive into a canal/shopping centre/live firing-range/any other place that will generate a news story.
Rules for elderly drivers:
Maintain a speed of at least 20mph below the maximum speed limit.
Indicate at least 500 metres before turning. Change your mind at the last minute.
Try not to change gear more than once every 15 minutes, because it "wastes petrol" and "damages the engine".
Repeatedly say to your spouse: "I don't know why he's flashing me. I'm doing 23 as it is. This chap's a maniac!"
When a car approaches on the opposite side of the road, slow to a virtual halt.