August 5th, 2008 Administrator
Motorists who dread navigating their way around labyrinthine multi-storey car parks should have a much more enjoyable time in this tower block.
Huge signs exploit perspective to give clear directions to drivers in particular lanes, while appearing abstract and unreadable to other car users. The huge coloured markings – which read Up, Down, In and Out – were installed in the 92-floor Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia, the world’s tallest residential building.
The lower 10 floors of the building house a private car park for 800 vehicles. The signs are intended to convey clear information to motorists at key decision-making points, meaning drivers will no longer have to crane their necks looking for the directions that are meant for them.
Their size – covering the full height of the car park walls – and bold primary colours are also intended to help engage drivers. The signs were created by a graphic design team including Australian Garry Emery and German Axel Peemoeller, and inspired by the work of Swiss artist Felice Varini, who uses perspective to create 3D illusions in public spaces.
The lettering was arranged by painting over text projected onto the walls from the perspective of drivers. The car park directions have been honoured at several international design awards, including the 2007 SEGD Awards and the 2006 Good Design awards.
The Eureka Tower is 300 metres tall and houses 560 apartments, 13 lifts and an observation deck on the 88th storey that claims to be the highest viewing platform in the southern hemisphere.
From : Telegraph website
This certainly looks like an attractive car park for all drivers and seems a bit more interesting than the average car park. Txt-Drive would like to hear the views from any new drivers in Bedford, people taking driving lessons in Bedford or anyone who has used this car park in Melbourne! Would learner drivers like to use this car park or would it be confusing? Should Bedford Council use this design in their car parks?
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August 2nd, 2008 Administrator
Britain’s drivers are opposed to the introduction of metric road signs, a poll has shown.
Around two-thirds of 18,500 AA members said they did not want distances to be shown in kilometres. About the same number also said they did not want speed limits to be measured metrically. Greatest hostility to metrication came from drivers in Yorkshire and Humberside. Young motorists also proved most resistant to suggestions that speed and distance should be measured in kilometers, wth 83 per cent of those polled in the 18-24 age group, saying they would oppose such a change.
Despite petrol and diesel now being sold in litres, more motorists wanted fuel to be distributed in gallons. While 34 per cent said they now accepted metric measurements on fuel pumps, 37 per cent called for the restoration of the gallon.
“Not only would going fully metric cost a fortune to implement in Britain it would also not go down well with a majority of the motoring public,” said Edmund King, president of the AA. “As a result of keeping an eye on increasing prices, motorists now seem to understand the fuel price in litres. It does seem odd that we buy our fuel in litres but think about fuel efficiency in miles per gallon. We appear to be an imperial-metric nation.”
But with foreign drivers entering the UK a year, he sounded a note of caution. However, when it comes to the safety of UK drivers and travellers we have to remember that with more than one million metric-minded drivers coming into UK each year many would benefit from having the metric measurements put up alongside our yards, miles, feet and inches, especially those driving large lorries under bridges.”
From : Telegraph website
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July 31st, 2008 Administrator
Txt-Drive asked a former pupil to give us some information regarding his car insurance as a ‘real life’ case study.
Dan learnt to drive in Bedford with the driving school Txt-Drive. He recently passed his driving test in Bedford (passed his driving test at the Bedford Test Centre on his first attempt, gaining only got 2 minor faults).
Before Dan passed his driving test, he started to look for car insurance. After numerous phone calls and hours online searching for the best quote, Dan found Direct Line was cheapest at £1450.
Shortly after passing his driving test in Bedford, Dan booked the Pass Plus course with Txt-Drive. Having completed the Pass Plus course, Dan’s insurance was discounted by 28% to just £1050, giving him a saving of £400!!!
The Pass Plus course is a driver training scheme for new drivers. It has been specially designed by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), with the help of insurers and the driving instruction industry. Only registered driving instructors, such as Txt-Drive, can offer the Pass Plus course.
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July 31st, 2008 Administrator
Spain will lower its speed limit outside major cities as part of a string of measures unveiled by the government Tuesday aimed at slashing its oil imports by 10 percent per year.
“Every time we lift our feet off the accelerator, we are improving GDP and employment,” Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian told parliament as he outlined the 31 measures. “The era of cheap energy has passed.” The speed limit will be reduced by 20 percent in line with rules already in place in Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest city, where it is set at 80 kilometres (50 miles) an hour.
Greater use of energy-saving light bulbs, reduced lighting on roads and restrictions on the use of air-conditioning in summer and heating systems in winter in public buildings are among the other government measures. The plan for 2008-14 has a budget of 245 million euros (385 million dollars) and the government hopes it will reduce annual oil consumption by 44 million barrels. The government will distribute 49 million energy-saving light bulbs — two for each household — to encourage their use and will require all government vehicles to meet at least 20 percent of their energy needs through biofuels. It will also launch a pilot project for the manufacture of one million electric or hybrid vehicles.
Fossil fuels currently meet 84 percent of Spain’s energy needs and the rising price of oil has led to inflationary pressures and caused the country’s trade deficit to balloon.
From : Yahoo
Could this be the future for Bedford or the entire country? With a new Eco-Safe driving section on the driving test from September 2008, who knows?
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July 30th, 2008 Administrator
A sportscar that folds in half to allow drivers to park on cramped city streets has been invented by a British designer.
The BRB Evolution jacks up on its nose with its back wheels sliding underneath on two rollers, allowing it to use 50 per cent less parking space. Motorists would have to step out of the car before it morphs into its “upright” parking pose, which has been compared to that of a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
The car will run on electricity or hydrogen fuel, but 22-year-old designer Daniel Bailey hopes it will be more “sexy, sleek and mean” than other eco-cars. It is inspired by the Lamborghini Murcielago and Peugeot 908. “I figured two of the main problems of future cities would be pollution and over population,” he said. “With more vehicles needing more places to be stored, I came up with the concept of a folding car. The car folds up to 50% of its original size, and uses the negative vertical space, usually disregarded. This potentially doubles the amount of parking spaces.”
Mr Bailey has submitted his concept to Peugeot as part of a design competition.
From : Telegraph website
This seems like the perfect answer for people who finding parallel parking rather tricky – especially in cities where spaces are very limited. Unfortunately Txt-Drive doesn’t use the ‘BRB Evolution’ – we only use a BMW Mini for driving lessons……they’re small and easy to parallel park!!
Parallel parking is covered in your Txt-Drive driving lessons and you may be required to parallel park on your driving test.
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