A road safety course with a difference!

Are you feeling brave? Then why not sign up for a road safety session. 10 to 14 November is road safety week at CERN and the Touring Club Suisse (TCS) will be in the Main Building, 500, with several hair-raising activities to try.

If you walk into the foyer of building 500 between 10 and 14 November you might, at first glance, think that you have walked into a fairground. But the machines designed to spin you upside down and slide you also are actually part of CERN’s road safety week.

Every day during the week there will six sessions each lasting about an hour where you can try out a series of exhilarating activities. If you are feeling brave enough you could try and get yourself out of the crash simulator. Not as easy as it sounds - after being spun over several times you can experience what it’s like to try and escape from an overturned car - dangling upside down attached only by your seatbelt!

During the course instructors from the Touring Club Suisse (TCS) will take you through four main activities to demonstrate various aspects of road safety. As well as escaping from an overturned car you can also test your reaction times whilst talking on a mobile phone. Or try the seatbelt slide to see how important wearing your seatbelt actually is. Finally find out what alcohol does to your coordination by trying various tasks whilst wearing glasses that simulate a few too many glasses of wine!

To sign up for a course contact your DSO, or e-mail Isabelle Cusato at mailto:Isabelle.Cusato@cern.ch. Every lunchtime between 12:00 and 14:00 there will also be open sessions for anyone to drop in and try some of the activities.

Throughout road safety week you can also get a free eyesight test at the CERN Medical Service. Both the road safety course and the eye exams are open to everyone. If you take part in the course will even get a free fluorescent safety jacket.