Travel insurance needed for TT
Drones to spy on motorists
Unmanned military-style spy drones are to be used to monitor antisocial motorists under police plans.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) similar to those used to assist reconnaissance and airstrikes in Afghanistan could be in use by the 2012 Olympics.
A Home Office-backed partnership led by Kent Police aims to use them for “monitoring antisocial driving” as well as fly-tippers and protesters, according to a report in The Guardian.
A prototype equipped with high-powered cameras will begin test flights later this year, the paper says.
The scheme is a pilot for country-wide use of the technology for “surveillance, monitoring and evidence gathering,” documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.
UAV’s can fly for 15 hours and reach altitudes of 20,000 feet, making them invisible from the ground.
DVLA finally ends licence debacle
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will now be returning original driving licences (with an invalidating hole punched through the photo) to motorcyclists who request a replacement licence. But not automatically. You have to request that your old licence is returned.
The new procedure has been introduced because a number of motorcyclists had been issued with replacement licences (after moving house or applying for a photo licence) that had ‘lost’ their motorcycle entitlement resulting in them having to retake their bike test simply because they were unable to prove they’d previously held entitlements.
In one case highlighted on the BBC’s Watchdog programme, a long-serving police motorcycle mechanic found that he’d had his entitlement for a category A motorcycle licence removed. Despite having held a licence for 28 years and written support from his police superiors, he still had to take a new driving test. The decision to return the defaced original licence follows months of lobbying by the BMF and others over the issuing of replacement driving licences to motorcyclists applying for a replacement licence due to change of address, loss, renewal etc, who have then found that their replacement licence has not included the all-important ‘Category A’ motorcycle entitlement.
Previously photocopies or other written evidence of entitlements were unacceptable to the DVLA, but the BMF’s solution, similar to passport renewal, provides proof of entitlement.
BMF Government Relations Executive, Chris Hodder said: “This is a practical and low-cost solution to a persistent problem and we are pleased that the DVLA has responded to our lobbying in such a positive way.”
MotoGP Pedrosa to focus on 2010 after op
Thursday, 24 December 2009
MotoGP
Pedrosa to focus on 2010 after op
Dani Pedrosa leaves hospital after having surgery to
remove a screw from his left hand and will step up
his training for 2010 in a fortnight.
The 24-year-old Spaniard had the screw inserted to
aid his recovery from a fracture sustained during the
season. The Repsol Honda rider ended the 2009 campaign
in third place behind champion Valentino Rossi and Jorge
Lorenzo. Pedrosa, who won the final race of the season
in Valencia, suffered an injury-plagued season, also
damaging his knee.
. bones the brack-man. well done. 
. l8er M8.
