MG won its class at...
MG won its class at Le Mans for the second year on the trot. The MG-Lola AER EX264 triumphed in the LMP2 category for lightweight prototypes, and featured Brits Andy Wallace and Mike Newton (image) on the driving force. It wasn’t without its problems, though. A couple of hours from the finish, it had to go into the garage for repairs after battery troubles. But it only lost four laps of its 16-lap advantage over the second-placed car and took an easy victory, finishing ninth. “I’m absolutely delighted,” said sportscar veteran Wallace
In Manchester last month...
In Manchester last month similar devices tore through a woman"s car, narrowly missing her nine-month-old daughter
The future of rising bollards - the UK"s most aggressive traffic-calming measure - is in doubt following new Government guidelines suggesting they breach official safety rules.
The poles, which allow through some vehicles - for example buses - but not others, have caused hundreds of write-offs and injuries since they were introduced into UK city centres 14 years ago.
Last May, a 63-year-old motorist in Nuneaton, Warks, died of "natural causes" after crashing into a metal rising bollard in Cambridge, and in Manchester last month similar devices tore through a woman"s car, narrowly missing her nine-month-old daughter.
That incident has caused officials in the city to consider scrapping the poles, after a Department for Transport (DfT) leaflet was issued to councils. It said the units should not be capable of rising underneath a passing vehicle, and that driver safety should take priority over traffic calming.
Some experts are now consulting makers to see whether their systems need to be modified. Cambridgeshire County Council has posted a warning on its website that motorists risk car damage by passing rising bollards illegally, but drivers have complained that in-situ warning signs do not spell out the dangers clearly enough.