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Police in Paris are now using popular Internet social networks to locate witnesses to traffic accidents. However this development has been criticised by some as a move towards underhand spying. The police in Paris now offer Twitter and Facebook reporting capabilities that are being used to help solve hit-and-run cases in the city and its surrounding suburbs. Users can access a website and find details of an incident, with location, date, time and circumstances. Critics of the scheme say that it will result

Tourists in a South African game reserve got something of a fright when a lion tried to hitchhike in their vehicle. The animal grabbed a door handle of the Toyota using its teeth and succeeded in opening a rear door. The driver, unwilling to share his vehicle with a 136kg lioness, hit the accelerator and sped away. The lion pursued until it reached the gates of the enclosure and was finally discouraged from making another attempt to open the door when a warden launched a volley of stones at the animal. Visi

Oliver Carsten, Professor of Transport Safety at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds, UK, discusses Intelligent Speed Adaptation, looking at its safety potential

A US driver has lodged a contender for the world's most feeble excuse for an accident following an incident near to his home in Oklahoma. The 68-year-old was on his way home from church when he drove his pick-up truck into a 2tonne elephant, and then claimed that he had not initially seen it.

A UK council has built a new underpass that boosts safety by allowing cyclists to avoid having to cross a busy road. However, health and safety concerns within the council have resulted in signs also being posted requesting cyclists to dismount due to low headroom

A supermarket delivery driver in the UK abandoned common sense when he opted to follow the instructions of his GPS device, turning what appeared to a short cut into a long delay. As customers waited anxiously for their delivery, the van man listened with intent to the words of authority from his GPS system and following its directions, his 1.82m wide delivery van soon became stuck in a 0.9m wide footpath. Bemused cyclists and pedestrians watched in amazement as the driver took no notice of the diminutive si

A Swiss man has managed to achieve a national record by committing 15 major traffic violations in a space of 10 minutes. Police were alerted when the man raced past an unmarked patrol vehicle at a highly illegal 160km/h, oblivious to the fact that it was raining heavily at the time.

Pupils attending schools in an area of southern China now have another key rule to follow, thanks to zealous local officials. The children have been told to raise a salute to every passing car on their journey to and from school. The rule has been introduced in an attempt to cut traffic accidents by making pupils more aware of passing vehicles as well as to alert the drivers to the children. This has come in for some criticism however, with many locals commenting that more conventional road safety measures

ARussian has turned road rage into revenge by ramming other road users. The minibus driver grew so upset with the behaviour of other road users he decided to take matters into his own hands by deliberately failing to brake or swerve to avoid a collision. The impacts were comparatively minor and did not result in any injuries to any vehicle occupants. Police however were able to identify the driver as being the cause of the problem when video clips were posted on the Internet. The man had fitted a video came