I learnt to look ahead for them because the automatic braking when dropping down from say 50mph to 30mph

“I learnt to look ahead for them, because the automatic braking when dropping down from, say, 50mph to 30mph was initially disconcerting.” He used the override about once a week on average. Professor Oliver Carsten, chair of transport safety at Leeds University, says: “We are finding that drivers make more use of the override where there are defined speed limits, for example, on motorways and 30mph roads. It then operates for four months, before being switched off again to show if and how behaviour has changed.Leicester is part of a two-centre project, with results just emerging from a prior trial in the more densely congested conditions of Leeds. (The VCU is programmed to take account of the amounts of throttle needed when on a steep gradient.)The volunteers are a mix of private motorists and local authority employees, who drive fleet cars. For the first month of the six-month trial, they drive with the ISA switched off, to allow the project team to monitor their normal behaviour. An extra jingle warns as these change, while a vibrator mounted on the accelerator pedal responds if the driver depresses it further than is needed to maintain the correct vehicle speed.

The internal kit is tucked away behind the glove compartment and in the boot’s spare-wheel well, to make the ISA seem standard equipment and avoid drivers feeling like guinea pigs. (A GPS aerial replaces the original FM one.)A digital display in the centre of the instrument panel keeps the driver informed of local speed limits. At the end of each journey, it automatically sends the project team an SMS message, to relay trip data and confirm that the system is working.The team chose the Fabia as a typical, small, family car with a throttle-by-wire engine system, on which the ISA software could act. When the speed drops back below the limit, the ISA automatically re-engages; alternatively, the driver can press a second button.The system is designed to read the road ahead, so that the car brakes gradually when moving from a 60mph zone to a 30mph one.

A second computer – the vehicle control unit (VCU) – compares the car’s speed with the maximum permissible at that point, and interacts automatically with the throttle and brakes to keep it within the limit.The driver can override the ISA – for example, to accelerate out of danger – by pressing a button on the steering wheel. Running the £1.9m trial for the Department for Transport (DfT) are the University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) and the Nuneaton-based Motor Industry Research Association (Mira). They have equipped a fleet of Skoda Fabia 1.4l estates with a speed-tracking kit.
A GPS receiver, combined with speed-derived dead reckoning, positions each car accurately on a digital road map, which is overlaid with speed limit data and stored in a navigation computer. Over the next few months, 20 volunteer motorists will be testing revolutionary speed-control technology as they drive around Leicester and south-west Leicestershire.

They are taking part in the UK’s first major trial of intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) technology, which aims to cut road accidents and could make speed cameras redundant. The effect can be maximised by using stress-relieving points such as LI4 (He Gu or “Union Valley”) on the back of the hand, or ST23 (Tai Yi or “Supreme Unity”) on the wall of the abdomen.. It is thought to encourage growth of new nerves and blood vessels.Psychological conditionsIt is recognised that acupuncture can cause a degree of sedation. Most acupuncturists will warn people about driving home, especially after a first treatment. This has been used to good effect in acutely stressful situations, even in anxiety attacks.

They can sometimes be treated by local acupuncture.Acute back and neck strain, including “whiplash” injuries.There is some evidence to show short-term benefit.WoundsSome practitioners have achieved good results in non-healing wounds (such as leg ulcers in the elderly). The technique of “fencing the dragon” – surrounding the affected area with needles – is usually employed. A paper in the BMJ this month suggests that acupuncture can also be useful in treating tension headaches.Elbow pain (tennis and golfer’s elbow) and Achilles tendonitisThese conditions, known as “enthesopathies”, occur where a tendon inserts into a bone. This may be due to “trigger points” in muscle some distance from where the pain is experienced Trigger points respond well to needling. Various acupuncture techniques are used in chronic-pain clinics.Headaches, and shoulder, neck and back painPeople often present to A&E with acute, or “semi-acute” pain.