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William Wadsworth

Dogs go mad for modelling  
The Mad Dog Motorcycle Club are in the running to be Hong Kong's next top models. The tattooed, road-gnarled riders with big bikes and big hearts for charitable causes recently revved up for their first photo shoot, for Wrangler Jeans USA.
'The Hong Kong advertising photography company LaLa Studios asked our club if we could provide custom bad-ass bikes and we complied,' says Mad Dog spokesman Doug Netzel. 
Some of the club's bikers are already talking model-speak,  a-la Tyra Banks.  
'The shoot was for the China market and possibly for Hong Kong,' says Netzel.
Professional photographers took 'thousands of shots' over two days, first in Sai Kung, near the golf course, and  then near Yuen Long. The snaps (right)  bring Foot Down a glimpse of the glamour on location.
'The female models were Czech and flown in from New York, with one male model from Australia, another from Brazil and another male model from Russia,' Netzel says. 'The  theme was Western, and Harley-Davidson bikes were used as props in all shots. We were paid well. We all hope to see the ads on billboards, buses and buildings, soon. Maybe some day we will be famous, if we're not already.'
You see, fame has not gone to the Dogs' heads. We shall start to worry whether they have become 'too sexy for my bike', however, when the club renames itself 'Mad D', in the initialised catwalk style, and its high-revving members begin to appear on the Society pages.   
Factory fitted    
Speaking of locations, we were shocked to see a South China Morning Post forklift truck hard up against the passenger door of Porsche Cayman S on the floor of our Tai Po factory. We wondered whether someone had left the truck's handbrake off and crunched a boss' ride. Worse, there was a girl lying on the Porsche's bonnet with her legs akimbo. But our rush to resuscitate her was soon dampened, literally, by  a bucket of water and bright lights. We had walked into a shoot for the Motoring issue of our glossy sister publication Style,  which comes free with the Post  next Friday.  The magazine features the Mercedes-Benz CLS, celebrates Audi's history and has a scream of a ride in a BMW Mini Cooper S. Enjoy.  
Driven to distraction 
British drivers only concentrate for two-thirds of their time behind the wheel, according to a new study commissioned by Continental Tyres. Six out of 10 people also admit to 'zoning out' while behind the wheel with a massive 59 per cent of drivers finding they forget parts of their journey. And over half  switch to 'auto-pilot mode' on their daily commute to and from work.
The survey of 4,000 motorists for Continental Tyres might also ring true in Southern China. The researchers found that British drivers were only fully concentrating on the road for 67 per cent of the time  at the wheel. And tuning the radio, talking to passengers and gawping at the scenery topped the list of everyday distractions.
'These statistics are really worrying,' says Continental Tyres spokesman Guy Frobisher.  'When driving, so much can happen in just a few seconds that you need to be able to react quickly so you can brake safely. If you're not fully paying attention you are less likely to anticipate the risks that emerge  and reactions are slowed.'
The research found the average British driver is on the road for 45 minutes a day and  in their own little world for 17 minutes of  that time.  
Some 27 per cent of respondents believe their short attention span is to blame for their poor driving - with more than four out of 10 being disinterested in the road ahead and not being able to concentrate for more than 37 minutes. It also emerged that 45 per cent have crashed or had a close call due to being distracted  at the wheel.
One quarter of respondents have scared others with their driving and one in five has feared for their own safety, the researchers say. 'Although 57 per cent admit their driving improves when children are in the car,' Continental says, '48 per cent admit to having knowingly broken the law - from talking on their mobile phone to skipping a  red light. Nine out of 10 admit to rubber-necking at accidents on the side of the road. Yet 86 per cent rate themselves as 'good drivers'.' 
The researchers also named the survey's top 20 driving distractions:  
1. Re-tuning the radio/inserting a CD into the player
2. Talking to a passenger
3. Looking at the scenery 
4. Eating
5. Listening to loud music
6. Reaching into the glovebox
7. Looking at houses
8. Drinking
9. Other drivers in cars next to you
10. Passengers asking questions
11. Texting
12. Trying to unwrap a sweet
13. Talking on the mobile phone
14. Looking at a hot girl/bloke  on the street/in another car
15. Shop windows
16. Kids in the back seat shouting  or playing up
17. Trying to read a map
18. Satnav
19. Looking at billboards
20. Singing   
Dashboard or switchboard? 
Finally, we thank the reader who kindly sent us this picture (below)  with the question: 'Could this be a record for the largest number of phones in a car?' Possibly, but let's hope that the driver wires up to keep both hands on the wheel during calls. Failure to do so could earn a maximum fine of HK$2,000.



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