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November 2009
A PHYSICIST WRITES . . .
Welcome! This website contains the columns that I’ve produced since 2002 for the newsletter of the Thames Valley Group of Advanced Motorists. When I started, I had only a handful of topics in mind. I never guessed that more than seven years later I would still be writing on the oddities of motoring, as seen through a physicist’s eye.
The columns are of course personal opinion and not necessarily the views of either the Thames Valley Group or the IAM. I am happy for them to be reprinted in other newsletters and elsewhere, under my ‘trade-mark’ heading and over my name, and with a mention of the Thames Valley Group and the date of the column.
You might find you have to press the Refresh button to see the latest version of any page, particularly this one. And I have added a page that ought to be of interest to any air traveller. It contains vital advice (transcribed from a TV programme) on how to increase your chances of survival in the extremely unlikely event that you find yourself in an aircraft that has to make a crash-landing. Unless you ‘don’t want to know’, click here to read it.
If you are not an advanced driver yourself, take a look at the Information page (click here). Let me know if you would like me to email you when I add more columns, every two or three months. And do please pass on the address of this site (www.petersoul.co.uk) to anyone you think might enjoy it or benefit from it.
Click on one of the links below, or word-search the columns if you prefer.
Peter Soul
2009: blue m-way signs, cruise control, speed-limit silliness, deceleration sense...
2008: seven senses, seeing what’s ahead, mind-work, careless overtaking...
2007: other drivers, hazard and risk, safer steering, a new Highway Code...
2006: the great trunk roads, sliding about, all sorts of energy, failing eyesight...
2005: judging speeds, steering straight, driving habits, stopping-distances...
2004: blind spots, wheel-nuts, dozing off, roundabouts, long molecules...
2003: lighting, eye and brain, M4 queues, roads in Eire, acceleration sense...
2002: cat’s-eyes, tyre grip, listening to speed, M4 noise, driving for comfort...
Information on advanced driving
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2002
July (eyes in the dark)
September (tyre grip, acceleration, how to be a speed camera)
October (motorway noise)
November (travelling in comfort)
2003
January (over-working the brain)
February (lighting up)
March (lighting up — continued)
April (eye, brain and the road ahead)
May (tyres and mileages)
June (speedos and other meters)
July (eye, brain and the road ahead — continued)
September (doctors’ surgeries and motorway queues)
October (writing from Ireland)
November (position, speed, acceleration sense)
2004
January (door pillars, blind spots, rear-view mirrors)
February (shuttered lamps, black ice, invisible horses)
March (now you see it, now you don’t)
April (turning wheel-nuts and corners)
May (roundabouts, M4 sightings, signs in pairs)
June (John Dunlop, long molecules, astonishing adhesion)
July (lessons in staying awake)
September (headaches, Moiré patterns, road layouts)
October (what’s your speed?)
November (losing sleep — twice a year)
2005
January (questions, questions)
February (what’s your speed? — continued)
March (steering a straight line)
April (the force of habit)
May (from one car to the next)
June (reacting to amber)
July (road markings and surfaces)
September (stopping within the distance)
October (trouble with washer nozzles, tax discs, parking signs)
November (stopping within the distance — continued)
2006
January (filling to the brim, air-bag safety, spare specs in Spain)
February (the great trunk roads)
March (all sorts of energy)
April (all sorts of energy — continued)
May (ideas for your safety)
June (sliding hither and thither)
July (silliness and common sense)
September (potential energy, green cars, high technology)
October (don’t be blind to blindness)
November (anticipating the 2007 Highway Code)
2007
January (other drivers — oncoming, on roundabouts, on your tail)
February (Beirut traffic-lights, fading road-signs, the Highway Code still awaited)
March (looking behind you)
April (muddled mathematics, scattered sunlight)
May (wasteful headlights, doubtful percentages, unhelpful indicators)
June (anniversary thoughts)
July (hazard, risk and accident)
September (learning from Irish experience)
October (astronomical distances, safe steering)
November (cutting the new and bigger Highway Code down to size)
2008
January (seeing after dark, handling jump-leads, buying a starter-pack)
February (from 0 to 60, from sidelights to headlights, from England to Wales)
March (seven sorts of sense)
April (seeing clearly and not so clearly)
May (sheep, horses and nightmares)
June (a word beginning with m)
July (bottle-necks, pillow-humps, cat's-eyes, traffic-lights)
September (speeding up and slowing down)
October (all in the mind)
November (instant flashing, French thinking, careless overtaking)
2009
January (signs of blue)
February (light-emitting diodes, red-light discipline, upside-down arrows)
March (the keys to good driving)
April (old cars, new directions)
May (gearing up for the journey)
June (hatching, entering, exiting, escaping)
July (my next car could be cruise controlled...)
September (silly ideas about speed limits)
October (induced oscillations, overlooked hazards, a corrected sign)
November (deceleration sense, auditory nonsense)
Information on advanced driving
Escaping with your life...
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