Parents 'risking kids' lives' on defective tyres

MORE THAN 30% of parents are ferrying their most precious cargo around on illegal tyres, a new study has found. Road safety charity TyreSafe has reported that one of its members carried out a study at a Shropshire primary school, where almost a third of the cars dropping children off at school were wearing tyres that were either past their wear markers, were incorrectly inflated, had bulges or cuts, or had foreign objects sticking out of them. “The start of the new academic year means that we will be experiencing many more cars on the roads, particularly at peak times of the day,” comments Stuart Jackson, chairman, TyreSafe.

Pininfarina Sintesi

By Guy Bird Motor Shows 10 March 2008 12:03 What’s new on Pininfarina’s Geneva Motor Show stand? Italian coachbuilder and design house Pininfarina showed another stunning concept at Geneva to follow the 2005 Maserati Birdcage and 2004 Nido. The 2008 Sintesi is strictly an ‘ideas concept’ imagining a future vehicle that can communicate with other cars to avoid traffic and accidents and thus reduce the need for current passive safety requirements – like longer and heavier front noses to meet pedestrian impact laws.

Ex-Morgan Chief Designer forms Matthew Humphries Design

The former chief designer at Morgan, has formed his own design consultancy, Matthew Humphries Design, in a bid to branch out into the worlds of bespoke cars and product design. Humphries will continue his relationship with Morgan in a partnership that will see the newly formed company help to develop future models for the independent British sports car manufacturer. The 28-year-old Coventry University graduate believes he can begin moving into the growing market for integrating automotive design elements into product design – such as furniture – and particularly British-themed products.