OFFBEAT
A US man has aptly demonstrated why tyres, firearms and alcohol don’t make the most congenial bedfellows. Oregon-based publication the Statesman Journal reports the story of Brandon Butler, who late on the evening of 14 December inspected a set of tyres being sold by an acquaintance, Anthony Catullo. According to the Statesman Journal, rather than offering cash for the tyres, Butler suggested a barter arrangement.
As regular tyrepress.com readers know, used tyres are often a point of discussion in the UK. They’re also a talking point in Bahrain, but the island nation’s issues with used tyres differ somewhat from ours. The Gulf Daily News reported on 5 December that storage centres are being set up across Bahrain; the purpose of these is to house used tyres in order, as the newspaper writes, to “stop saboteurs from burning them on the street and to protect the environment from fumes and smoke.”
On 15th November a team of gym members from East Sussex smashed two Guinness World Records for the number of people inside both a classic Mini and a 2012 MINI.
28 flexible ladies crammed their way into the MINI Hatch at Potters Fields Park, London as part of the eighth annual Guinness World Records day. The team broke their own previous record of 27 people, which they set in Eastbourne last year.
France has long been associated with fashion, and the organiser of the upcoming Pneu Expo 2013, which takes place next March in Lyon, has ensured visitors to the tyre industry show don’t miss out on this French tradition. Organiser Editions VB says that on the exhibition’s opening night visitors will be able to attend a fashion show, in which “graceful models will parade in sexy outfits composed of…recycled inner tube.”
Yokohama Tire has taken part in a uniquely American promotion that ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records. The tyre maker sponsors the Los Angeles Angels baseball team, and at a game against a team from Texas in early June the team handed out Yokohama-branded cowboy hats to fans. During the fifth inning, the 39,013 fans in attendance were certified as the “largest gathering of people wearing cowboy hats,” topping the old Guinness record of 500.
Generations of Australians growing up in Sydney’s north have fond memories of the “tyre man” who sat perched on the hill above the beachside suburb of Manly. The tyre man, a dummy atop a pole ringed by close to 100 tyres, maintained his vigil over Manly for more than 80 years; local newspaper the Manly Daily reports that the tyre man is, alas, no more.
Yesterday the Mars Curiosity rover successfully went into action on the surface of the red planet, and the vehicle’s tyre tracks have gained a measure of notoriety. It turns out that Curiosity is ‘tagging’ the surface of Mars as it drives about.
Anyone who’s watched the 1955 film The Dam Busters – or even Star Wars Episode IV, whose climatic sequence is said to have been inspired by this British classic – will marvel in the Guy Gibson-like precision shown by a runaway tyre on the A1 yesterday. The tyre was witnessed bouncing along the main road before shooting 25 feet in the air and scoring a direct hit in the middle of a BP petrol station sign – an act we can see for ourselves thanks to our ever present friend, the surveillance video camera. Surprisingly, no motorist has contacted the police or come forward to claim a missing wheel or tyre.
While some in the tyre industry are rethinking the way they categorise and sell tyres following the introduction of labelling into the market, others have decided the clearest communication comes when the rubber hits the road. Perhaps that’s why Tyremen’s Hull depot has repainted the lines on its customer car park with a distinct labelling theme. Before they were simply a collection of parking bays, now Tyremen have transformed them into an illustration of how labelling works, with bays labelled from A – G and marked “wet grip.”
Road Safety Markings Association is set to carry out the UK’s biggest survey of the state of white lines. From 16 July and throughout August, more than 6,000 miles of roads in England, Scotland and Wales – including the UK’s ten most dangerous roads identified by the Road Safety Foundation – will be assessed for the quality of their central white lines.
Green Flag Breakdown Service wish to remind motorists that as of July 1st France is taking a new approach in battling drink driving by legally requiring every driver, including visitors from the UK and elsewhere, to carry a single-use breathalyser kit.
Nothing makes a statement like sliding through a tyre. This was perhaps the logic employed by two men protesting against garbage problems in the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The Hindu newspaper reports that the two-middle aged men ended up spending an “agonising hour” trapped inside a tyre after their “ill-conceived” acrobatic street demonstration went awry. What the pair attempted, it must be said, should not be tried at home.
The actions by Lancashire Police in fining drivers for flashing their headlights to warn of a speed trap are in direct contravention of a landmark legal decision in 2006, says the Association of Briitish Drivers (ABD).
World speed records for passenger cars may be approaching the 250mph or 400km/h range, but it is possible to be a record breaker at more modest speeds. Bridgestone reports a Volvo wheel loader fitted with its VHS tyres has broken 103 km/h, creating a new world speed record for this type of vehicle.
Since its launch in 1998, Ford Focus held the crown of overall UK sales leader for 10 consecutive years until 2008 when Fiesta took the number one spot. Sales reached a significant milestone earlier this month, when the 1,500,000th Ford Focus was delivered to 22-year-old Jaik Mickleburgh, a right-handed batsman playing for Essex Cricket first team and who has also played for the England U19s.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.