A truck driver in New York has been praised by state police for protecting other road users from a suspected drunk driver. The driver slowed down to block traffic in both eastbound lanes of the New York highway to keep drivers out of harms way from the erratic driver. 

The driver was eventually pulled over by Police who discovered his blood alcohol levels to be three times the legal limit. Thankfully no one was injured in the incident thanks to the brave truck driver who shielded other vehicles until the police arrived.

New figures have shown that the lower levels of carbon emissions caused by the recession in 2009 will not last. As industry activity picks up again, so do the carbon emissions, with a 3.8% rise reported in 2010. Ed Davey, the replacement climate and energy secretary, attributed the rise to increased use of heating in the cold winter and technical problems at nuclear power stations.

When the financial crisis hit in 2009 the UK’s carbon emissions fell steeply by 8.7%. Since then as the economy has picked up, so have the carbon emissions. Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK, believes that this is a chance for the government to finally wake up to the reality of greenhouse gases. “It is alarming to see emissions from homes rising when people are struggling to pay their energy bills. The UK’s overreliance on gas has pushed up emissions along with people’s energy bills”. He believes that increased investment into renewable fuels will enable us to have our cake and eat it too; a thriving economy and reduced carbon emissions.

Another day another wacky scheme from Indonesia to stop ‘rail-surfers’. The latest in a series of inventive schemes to dislodge the fare dodgers and thrill seekers is to cover them in putrid goo to be administered by hard bristled brooms. Previous attempts have included spraying the climbers with paint guns, calling in sniffer dogs and asking for help from Muslim clerics, none of which proved successful.

The putrid brooms are an addition to last months successful scheme of hanging grapefruit-sized concrete balls from chains above the track. The ‘rail-surfers’ soon realised that they could be knocked in the head, or even killed, so quickly abandoned the roofs. Ahmad Sujadi, of the state-run railway, said “Some people say its inhumane, but that’s fine,” he said, “because letting them ride on the roofs is even more inhumane.” So next time you are stuck in commuter hell, be thankful that all you have to deal with is road rage and delays instead of giant concrete balls and brushes of goo.

The largest truck in the world is about to become the largest robotic vehicle in the world. Scientists from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robot to ‘sit behind the wheel’ and control the 700-tonne truck. The Caterpillar trucks were originally built to haul loads of up to 240 tonnes. The trucks will now be equipped with numerous high-tech gadgets and software to keep them on the road. Laser range finders and video equipment sweep the road ahead to find large objects. All of the information gathered is run through a computer program which tells the robotic driver to avoid the obstacle or not and by how much.

The technology was developed to reduce maintenance costs and increase productivity in the mining industry. “Mines are also dangerous, and removing humans from dangerous jobs will help save lives,” said Mark Campbell, a DARPA Urban Challenge participant from Cornell University. Unfortunately the technology will not be available on the common market any time soon, as the urban environment provides too many obstacles.

The Army have been put on stand-by to help the elderly and the vulnerable as Britain faces temperatures as low as -10C this week. The Met Office have set the alert status to amber, which is a level at which the emergency services and local councils will be able to cope unaided, but if the alert is changed to red, extra help will be needed. The alerts system was introduced last November to cut the number of winter deaths.

‘People should keep up to date with the forecast, wrap up warm and keep an eye on elderly and vulnerable neighbours,’ said Met  Office spokesman Alison Richards. Here are a few tips from the Met Office on how to stay safe in the harsh winter conditions.

• Avoid any unnecessary travel in severe weather.
• If you have to make a journey when snow is forecast, make sure you have warm clothes, food, water, boots, a torch and spade, and let someone know when you expect to arrive and your route. Try to wait until the roads have been gritted before travelling.
• Take care driving on snow, as it may have become compacted and turned to ice.
• Take care when shovelling snow. Cold air makes it harder to work and breathe, which adds some extra strain on the body and can be the cause of heart attacks in the vulnerable.

The icy blasts from Siberia will create the longest cold snap of the winter so far, so take care this week when travelling about the UK.

The European Commission have funded a project to develop technologies that will allow road trains to operate on normal public roads with substantial benefits to comfort, safety, and the environment. The SARTRE project has just seen the successful completion of the first test demonstrations, which included a lead truck followed by three cars driven entirely autonomously at speeds of up to 90 km/h – with no more than 6 metres gap between the vehicles. 

Although cars are the principal subject of the experiment at present, many believe that it is in the road haulage sector that the project might well prove most useful. Tom Robinson of Ricardo UK said: “The successful completion of the first multiple vehicle tests of the SARTRE system is a significant achievement. This has allowed us to demonstrate the operation of SARTRE road train technology to key industry experts and to capture their responses, all of which were very encouraging. The demonstration system provides us with a solid foundation for further consideration of the challenges of bringing road trains to reality”.