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Projects to reduce motorcycle fatalities

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Edwina Hart: ‘There is significant scope for further improvements’

Edwina Hart: ‘There is significant scope for further improvements’

FOUR projects which aim to improve road safety and reduce the number of motorcycle casualties on Welsh roads are to benefit from Welsh Government research funding Transport and Science Minister, Edwina Hart, announced last week.

The news comes after three motorcycle fatalities on the roads of Pembrokeshire in recent months, the most recent on Sunday (Jul 19). In Carmarthenshire, a biker was seriously injured in a collision with a lorry on Friday (Jul 17) on the A483 near Sugarloaf.

The projects were selected from forty-seven bids after the Minister issued a challenge to companies, other public bodies and the voluntary sector earlier this year to submit creative ideas to help improve road safety for motorcyclists.

The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Innovation Challenge required companies to identify pioneering approaches to reduce motorcycle casualties in Wales – a priority target for the Welsh Government.

Funding will now be given to the four selected companies to run feasibility studies as part of the first stage of the challenge.

Announcing the successful projects, Mrs Hart said: “We can all take pride in the fact that Welsh roads are amongst the safest in the world. However, we must avoid complacency and recognise that there is significant scope for further improvements.

“The Welsh Government is committed to reducing casualties through a combination of measures including education, engineering and enforcement.

“This challenge is about harnessing potential to find tangible solutions which address key issues. I look forward to seeing how the successful projects develop.”

The selected projects are:

An advanced helmet liner from Armourgel Ltd, which will incorporate Armourgel material into motorcycle helmets with the aim of protecting motorcyclists from rotational acceleration brain injuries; a flexible use energy absorption and dissipation material from Tecosim Technical Simulations Ltd that can be cut to size and fitted to street furniture; a junction alert system from Fusion Processing Ltd which will use a combination of radar and cameras to identify when a motorcyclist is approaching, and a side view light for motorcycles from Style Eyes Ltd that appears to flicker in peripheral vision, making it more noticeable to drivers at junctions.

Each project will receive up to £15,000 until December 2015 to develop their proposal. Following this, the two most promising will share funding of up to £450,000 to develop their product to a point where it can be marketed.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. sjb

    August 8, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    I often travel from Pembs towards Chester and for the last 5 years we have had one lane shut at several places on the A40 and A483 . They have NO money to repair the roads but I guess the £1,500 quid a week per roadworks comes from a different pot so that’s something completely different. (1500 X 52 weeksXnumber of years X number of roadworks etc ….)
    Look for the signs “Lane closed for your safety” – honestly If they cannot afford to repair roads so that main roads are SINGLE TRACK how on earth can we take the senedd seriously

  2. sjb

    August 12, 2015 at 11:05 pm

    ooops missed the £1,500 a week was for each set of traffic lights

  3. anon

    August 17, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    Has anybody thought of educating motorcyclist to ride properly!
    not cut cars up at junctions, not ride down lines of stationery traffic!
    and ride at excessive speed, these do not help motorists.

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Shakespeare’s Globe presents Othello on the Torch Theatre Screen

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CELEBRATED by many, Othello has risen through the ranks of the Met police. But can his hard-won reputation, his marriage to his new wife Desdemona, and his own subconscious survive the toxic systems that surround him?  Answers to these questions can be discovered at the Torch Theatre on Tuesday 12 November as the critically-acclaimed Shakespeare’s Globe production of Othello is brought to the Torch Theatre cinema screen.

Sixteenth-century Venice becomes modern-day London’s Docklands, as the Moorish general Othello grapples with many of the same issues that successful Black people have faced for centuries.

Experience Shakespeare’s confronting look at the destructive impact of institutional racism, toxicmasculinity, and a justice system locked in a vicious cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy, set within a hostile modern police force.

In her review in the Guardian, Arifa Akbar awards the drama four stars.

She noted: “There is great musicality too, with songs and a score that is jazzy at times, foreboding at others. Ultimately, the concepts lead to a surfeit of ideas, pushing against each other. At over three hours, the tension drops, although the play never loses its potency and offers a genuinely new, exciting experience.”

Director Ola Ince debuted in the intimate, candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse with this ‘inspired’ (The Guardian), and ‘profound’ (Evening Standard) and ‘masterfully redefined’ (West End Best Friend) take on Shakespeare’s blistering tragedy.

Cinema audiences will also be treated to bonus content with a behind-the-scenes interviews and a Globe Theatre tour (during intermission).

Othello will be screened at the Torch Theatre on Tuesday 12 November at 7pm. Ticket prices: Full: £15.00. Concessions: £13.00 and U26: £8.50.To book your tickets or for further information, contact the Box Office on01646 695267 or visit torchtheatre.co.uk.

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Large fire at Bramble Hall Farm – Arson suspected

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FIREFIGHTERS have brought a large blaze under control at Bramble Hall Farm in Pembroke Dock.

The fire broke out in a portacabin filled with tyres and scrap materials late on Tuesday night (Nov 5).

The alarm was raised at 11:34pm by the farm owner, who reported being woken by loud bangs.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service crews from Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock Fire Stations were dispatched to the scene.

Firefighters at Bramble Hall Farm (Image: Herald)

On arrival, firefighters found a shipping container with mixed scrap and around 100 tyres fully alight. The crews used four breathing apparatus sets, a ground monitor, a 45mm jet, two hose reel jets, and a water bowser to tackle the fire.

The blaze was fully extinguished by 5:07am on Wednesday morning (Nov 6), after crews worked through the night to contain the flames and dampen down remaining hotspots.

A local resident, Sean Burns, who was present at the scene, suspects the fire may have been started deliberately and has provided information to authorities, who are investigating the cause.

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Fire strikes popular Pembrokeshire pub – no staff or customers hurt

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A FIRE broke out at The Bristol Trader pub on Quay Street, Haverfordwest, today (Wednesday, Nov 6), impacting two floors and the roof space of the popular establishment.

Firefighters from Haverfordwest and Milford Haven stations responded to the scene at 11:38am, spending around two hours battling the blaze. Smoke was seen billowing from the building as Dyfed-Powys Police closed Quay Street, advising drivers to avoid the area and seek alternative routes.

A spokesperson for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “Crews responded to a commercial fire in a two-storey building, measuring approximately 50m by 30m. The fire began on the first floor, spread to the second floor and roof space. Crews utilised eight breathing apparatus sets, four hose reel jets, one 45mm main jet, small gear, and a turntable ladder.”

Fire crews departed the scene at 1:58pm, and the police reopened Quay Street at 2:15pm.

No injuries were reported, and in a Facebook post, The Bristol Trader reassured customers that all staff members were safe.

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