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Photo of the month September 2015, Don’t encourage bad driving – image courtesy of World Highways reader Albert Muloiti

A driver in China had a very close call in an incident that resembled something from an action film. The man was driving his pickup truck along a major highway when a 1.5m diameter circular saw blade burst from the undergrowth and slammed head-on into his vehicle. Luckily for the driver the saw blade collided with a major structural element of the pickup truck, halting its progress. He was able to bring his vehicle to a halt in the emergency lane, with the huge saw embedded in the radiator of the pickup, di

Different road rules are in place in many parts of the world, with some proving rather peculiar. In the US state of Kentucky, women are permitted to drive while wearing a bikini, as long as they either have a weapon to hand for self-defence or are sitting alongside two police officers. Meanwhile in Germany, driving in the nude is permitted as a car is regarded legally as a private space. Should the driver be at the wheel barefoot however, making insurance claims in the event of a crash would be difficult. I

In the UK, Hungerford Common has a bylaw allowing cows to wander freely. But it was recently suggested that cows should be dressed in reflective jackets with luminous detailing and flashing lights so as to boost safety. Apparently there is concern from the local authorities that cows could be hard to see and that they could present a hazard to passing motorists. The herders commented that it might make more sense to lower the speed of vehicles in the area and also suggested that any motorists unable to s

The driver of a stretch limousine in the US found out that his vehicle should stay on the right side of the tracks. The long wheelbase car had been rented by teenagers, celebrating a birthday in the US state of Indiana. However when the driver attempted to cross the rail tracks, the car became stranded on top with both axles clear of the ground. The teenagers and the driver got out of the vehicle safely and attempted to warn the driver of an oncoming goods train. However the heavily laden train was unable t

Circus elephants took out their anger and frustration on parked cars recently in Denmark. One of the animals was wading in the sea and was hit by a trainer for not following his instructions. The animal reacted by breaking free along with two others, chasing tourists and battering a number of cars. A woman was knocked to the ground and suffered slight injuries. The circus said however that the tourists should not have been so close to the elephants and claimed that as the cars should not have been parked th

A number of visitors to South Africa’s famous Kruger National Park had a rather close-up view of a lion attacking an antelope recently. The drivers were sitting in their cars when a lion sprang at an antelope, tearing at its throat and killing the unfortunate animal almost instantly. This was photographed in graphic detail by the visitors, although some rather rashly opened their car windows so as to get a better view. Only a short time previously a visitor to the park was killed when a lion pounced through

A woman in the UK was spotted by a cyclist eating her breakfast cereal while driving her children to school. The cyclist remonstrated with the woman for her behaviour, receiving insults in reply. Infuriated at her attitude, the cyclist then posted footage online of the incident that he had filmed with his helmet-mounted camera. This attracted thousands of views and numerous comments, before the incident was reported in the press. The woman subsequently handed herself in to the police and was charged for mot

Major highway projects are commencing in Indonesia at present. One of the most important is for the Trans-Papua Highway. Work on this is being carried out by the Papua and West Papua Highway Centre. The new highway will be able to link key urban areas including Wondama, Sorong, Manokwari and Enarotali in Pania, Elelim, Jayapura, Ilu, Sinak and Karubaga in Tolikara, Ilaga, Sugapa, Bioga, Nabire and Mulia in Pucak Jaya. Some 827km of the 4,325km highway will pass through jungle area. The construction team has

A series of major highway infrastructure projects are planned for the Philippines. Plans are in hand for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project, with MPCALA Holdings calling on the authorities to give final approval so that construction can commence before 2017. MPCALA Holdings is a subsidiary of conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments (MPIC) and won the 35-year contract to build, operate and maintain the CALAX in June 2015. The CALAX project is worth US$754.6 million. At present, the company is lookin