Sunday, June 27, 2010

Good solution or all wet?

From Britain's Orange:
A bus company in China has launched a new 'drive safely' campaign - by hanging big bowls of water next to their drivers.

The Longxiang Public Bus Company in Changsha, Hunan province, says drivers must drive gently to avoid spilling any water.

Bus drivers are expected to ensure the bowls are still full when they finish their shift, reports the Xiaoxiang Morning Post.

And the company warns drivers that CCTV footage will be studied to make sure they do not top up the bowls with water.

"Passengers often complain that sudden braking and bad driving makes them really uncomfortable on the buses," said a spokesman of the company.

"Hanging bowls of water in the driver's cab will discourage them from making any jolting starts, sudden braking or bad turns."
Is this a clever application of inertia and fluid dynamics? Or is it more show than go? (Notice the bowl is arranged as a pendulum rather than being fixed to the body of the bus. Curious.)

3 comments:

rallain said...

That is awesome. As long as the water pan is far enough from the walls, it shouldn't spill at all (no matter what).

Just like this demo.

Inaie said...

I hope it does not hit the driver on the head, while he is driving...


www.inaier.blogspot.com

stevie ray said...

Hell - the water would stay in the bowl even if you did a loop-the-loop (assuming you had the correct Vmin).