Overdrive

Way back in the early 60s in an outer suburb of Sydney they erected a large structure to put up signposts and traffic signals on a wide intersection. It was built for its function not its looks and was basic and solid in its design. It became known affectionately as the Maccano Set. When it came time for it to be replaced the road authority displayed a number of modern plans. But the community hated the idea. They had their affection for their Maccano Set and so it has been replaced with a similar looking structure. Graham Patterson is a traffic engineer who has been looking into the history and the impact of this structure. He joins David Brown for a chat.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that broods over the world of cars and transport

I’m David Brown

In this program we have news stories with David Campbell

1. Safety prioritised with 5 stars for Toyota HiAce and Nissan Leaf EV, yet the opposite for Jeep Wrangler at 1 star (1:37)

2. Jaguar and Chargefox agreement sparks Australia’s EV interest (2:15)

3. Tesla reveals Model 3 Australian prices (3:07)

4. Pricing for Swedish mid-sized S60 sedan and V60 wagon well below Germans (4:48)

5. UTSA engineers develop inexpensive smart stop sign to improve rural road safety (5:58)

6. TU Graz developing ‘predictive’ pedestrian crossing signals for Vienna (7:10)

7. And Alan Zurvas has just witnessed a crash test. We find out what it was like and what is happening in the future (8:35)

8. Rob, Alan and David discuss some news snippets (16:28)

9. In Sydney they have a land mark called the Meccano set it’s an ancient structure to hold signs at traffic lights at a major intersection. They had to replace it and they chose to replicate the old, brutalist design from 1952. We find out why (20:06)

10. Two motoring minutes

• Jeep’s problems with brash tests (15:25)

• VW Toureg (25:15)

11. Remembering Dorothy Rowe and a new program to use car clubs to help those with depression (26:38)

12. More discussion of motoring news (29:13)

13. Rob Roads tests the BMW Z4 (33:26)

14. Alan has been driving the Range Rover PHEV (38:55)

15. And some quirky news with Brian Smith (42:14)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 8 June 2019

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that broods over the world of cars and transport

I’m David Brown

In this program we have news stories with David Campbell

1. Safety prioritised with 5 stars for Toyota HiAce and Nissan Leaf EV, yet the opposite for Jeep Wrangler at 1 star (1:42)

2. Jaguar and Chargefox agreement sparks Australia’s EV interest (2:20)

3. Tesla reveals Model 3 Australian prices (3:12)

4. Pricing for Swedish mid-sized S60 sedan and V60 wagon well below Germans (4:53)

5. UTSA engineers develop inexpensive smart stop sign to improve rural road safety (6:03)

6. TU Graz developing ‘predictive’ pedestrian crossing signals for Vienna (7:15)

7. In Sydney they have a land mark called the Meccano set it’s an ancient structure to hold signs at traffic lights at a major intersection. They had to replace it and they chose to replicate the old, brutalist design from 1952. We find out why (8:41)

8. And Alan Zurvas has just witnessed a crash test. We find out what it was like and what is happening in the future (14:45)

9. Two motoring minutes

• Jeep’s problems with brash tests (13:49)

• VW Toureg (21:54)

10. And some quirky news with Brian Smith (22:46)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

Originally broadcast 25 May 2019

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that samples and savors the world of cars and transport

I’m David Brown

In this program we have news stories with David Campbell

1. Fiat Chrysler proposes merger with Renault to create car making powerhouse (1:28)

2. Toyota hits back over Trump signaling Japanese investments 'not welcomed' (2:33)

3. ACE-EV inks landmark deal with Adelaide’s Aldom to build electric cars (3:31)

4. Voters demand safer roads and less congestion: AAA survey (4:05)

5. Airbus to partner with SAS on hybrid and electric aircraft research (4:56)

6. BMW posts a smart send-off for long-time Mercedes chief (6:04)

7. We have a road test of the Volkswagen Polo GTi (8:14)

8. There is two motoring minutes

9. Range Rover (15:32)

10. SsangYong brings back the Musso (7:02)

11. And some quirky news with Brian Smith (16:48)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 1st June 2019

Hello and welcome to Overdrive where we climb the hills, tackle the bends and endure the potholes of issues to do with motoring and transport.

I’m David Brown

In this program we have news stories with David Campbell

1. Audi introducing its traffic signal information system in Europe

2. Highways England s three supercabs capture over 3500 traffic offences

3. End of the line for two on demand bus trials in Sydney amid cost concerns

4. Hyundai NEXO Fuel Cell named a ‘game changer’

5. Nissan to equip new Skyline with world’s first next-gen driver assistance system

6. Wall Street's love affair with Tesla is over

7. A professor of economics from the UK on how we might pay for transport

8. A road test of the Ford Mustang

9. Two motoring minutes

• Maserati Levante

• Nissan Pathfinder

10. And some quirky news with Brian Smith

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 25 May 2019

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that bounces through the world of cars and transport

I’m David Brown

In this program

1. Uber float takes on water (1:34)

2. Toyota takes the plunge on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (2:20)

3. Tesla is the most loved car company by its owners (3:45)

4. But Tesla CEO has to face court (4:23)

5. Four-cylinder Honda beats Falcon GTHO (5:06)

6. LA the land of the freeway goes for green public transport (6:22)

7. Pink made the car more valuable (7:07)

8. We talk to the Museum Director from the National Motor Museum on the history of video driving games (8:00)

9. We have two motoring minutes

• The BMW X5 (13:20)

• Kia Carnival (21:27)

10. We put the cat amongst the pigeons with our expose last week on billboard advertising – we give you an update (14:21)

11. We road test the hottest version of the BMW X2 (15:11)

12. And we finish our series on odd car design. (22:30)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 18 May 2019

Interview of Paul Murrell on “Is outdoor advertising a distraction to drivers?” with David Brown

DB: The Australian Road Research Board has just done some research on whether outdoor advertising distracts drivers. Their press release has the heading "outdoor ads can improve driver performance".

DB: The important point is that from a technical point of view it was a measurement of only two locations, both similar traffic lights I believe in inner city areas. They only measured two things which was whether people went across the stop line or didn't stop fully and went partially across the stop line or whether they wandered in the lane. They then measured it for a while and then they put up some advertising. My point is that that is a very limited number of situations and measurements. And so what might have worked in that situation might have nothing to do with, to my mind, 110 kilometres an hour on a country road.

PM: said “I think you're exactly correct. I think it's very dangerous to base conclusions like these on limited data. I mean the ordinary possibilities of statistical error start to come into play here. There are only two locations, they're only testing really two reactions to a distraction. I just question the whole methodology to be honest.

DB: They linked to the press release and a summary but they did not put the full report on the internet.

DB: ARRB did say "can" improve drive distraction. But the summary, the technical background was, I believe, written by the client who are the Outdoor Media Association and while they do have the general heading to this information leaflet "can outdoor advertising make roads safer" they have a subheading in there that says "Research shows outdoor advertising helps".

PM: Yeah.

DB: They do have an interesting point that sometimes that advertising can be road safety and so that might flag a memory of a road safety issue and the other point they make is that a lot of distraction is within the car. People either texting or children interrupting them and something to get your eyes up and on the road may have a direction there but my big point still goes down too, we have not looked at that across the board. Now Paul you've been in marketing and advertising, not all outside ads are equal in terms of their distraction, are they?

PM: Oh of course they're not. And not all outdoor advertising is distracting to all people. I mean you and I for example may be well distracted by a very attractive woman on a billboard whereas my wife wouldn't look twice at it. She'd probably be looking at the Fashion poster across the road.

PM: I have to question what is the what's the motivation behind this research? Why are they doing this research. What's their long-term goal in doing research about outdoor advertising not being distracting? I can only assume it's justified the fact that outdoor advertising should be allowed along freeways or next to roads. I can't think of any other reason why they would do research to say that advertising isn't distracting. Therefore, there's a whole element of self-interest here or self-justification. I find the whole thing a little strange.

DB: I think we have to be very careful given the media will read a headline and run with that.

PM: As we know of course you and I depend on if people read headlines and never read the text reading. It’s amazing what you can get away with a clever headline. But it goes back to it goes back to my point. What is the fundamental purpose of doing this research unless it is to convince people that yes it's quite okay to have lots of signs up all around our roads?

DB: Paul lovely to talk to as always thank you very much for your time.

PM: Thank you David.

Paul Murrell is a motoring journalist and writer who previously worked in the advertising industry. His web site is http://www.seniordriveraus.com/

The full interview is on the audio file.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that looks at cars and transport from a variety of angles.

I’m David Brown

And in this week’s program

1. Are commuter car parks worth it? (1:39)

2. Via brings micro-transit service in Seattle (2:31)

3. Warn fellow road users about potholes and earn cryptocurrency as you drive (3:03)

4. How the world's first flying car racing league was born (3:59)

5. Ford's self-braking shopping cart will stop your kids ramming strangers' shins (4:45)

6. Does the Ford Mustang has an unfair advantage (5:45)

7. There are two motoring minutes from Rob Fraser both about Isuzu products

The DMAX X Runner (6:51)

MUX Update (14:19)

8. We hear again from rally driver Molly Taylor and what she went through in travelling to England to prove her credentials as a driver. (7:48)

9. We hear Alan Zurvas’ report on a historical event for Citroen (15:17)

10. And we get our resident artist Dean Oliver and Brian Smith to talk about the changing outward appear of cars in the light of the Shanghai Motor Show (20:52)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

Originally broadcast 5 May 2019

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that looks at all forms of transport from the humble bike through to rocket powered space travel.

I’m David Brown

In this week’s program

1. Speed limiters mandatory in all European cars by 2022 (1:33)

2. Canadian government invests in zero-emission vehicles (3:03)

3. PROTON looks set to relaunch in Australia (3:51)

4. Scottish safety initiative combats speeding and tailgating (4:36)

5. Could Hawaii Be Paradise For Hydrogen-Powered Public Transit? (5:28)

6. Jimny World urban Car winner (6:09)

7. We talk to Rob Fraser about the things cars try to do for you that are meant to be helpful but are not. (6:44)

8. What new on our FaceBook site OverdriveCity (13:59)

9. Alan Zurvas Road test the base model Kia Picanto (14:22)

10. And Brian Smith and I talk about new ways to deliver your parcels and how much it costs to advertise on a formula 1 car. (20:18)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 27 April 2019

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that looks at a range of different ways we get around, from cars, buses, trains, and planes.

I’m David Brown

In this week’s program, we have news stories with David Campbell

1. Labor wants 50% electric cars by 2030 (1:22)

2. Uber unveils IPO with a warning it may never make a profit (2:24)

3. Ford, Uber dial back expectations for self-driving cars (3:38)

4. Ford rolls out new key fob technology to stop hackers (4:19)

5. This City's New Bike Lane Law is ‘Bikelash’-Proof (5:38)

6. Genesis announces its launch day in Australia (6:20)

We talk to Alan Zurvas about the new Mazda 3 which bucks the latest styling trends (7:05)

What's on the OverdriveCity Facebook site (13:13)

Rob Fraser talks about the new Citroen (13:55)

And Brian Smith and I talk about whether autonomous vehicles will reduce crashes. (19:25)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. OR our Facebook site OverdriveCity

Originally broadcast 20 April 2019