Sideswipe: January 7: Pop-ping good name

Bronwen passed a group of young guys towing this trailer.

Another notch on the guilt-meter

In another timely story to give us the guilts about seasonal over-eating, news of Belty, a new belt that automatically adjusts as your waist expands, has hit the wires. The French company Emiota says it made Belty to help people track their fitness. Samantha Murphy Kelly writes for Mashable: "Given that the size of your waistline is a key indicator of health, the Belty - which comes equipped with small sensors, an accelerator and gyroscope - knows just how much you've been moving and whether you need to be more active. The belt connects with an app that charts the data it collects throughout the day. It pushes out feedback and suggestions that correspond to how the belt adjusts in real time. Inside the Belty is a collection of motors that expand and retract based on waist size." Fortunately, it will only be affordable for the wealthy.

Road-menace on board ...

"Here's a shout-out to the woman driving a late model metallic blue hatchback around Kiwi Esplanade, Mangere Bridge about 2.30pm on Friday," writes Fiona from Papatoetoe. "Your car was sporting three large yellow and black 'Baby On Board" decals, yet I'm sure the children in your car and the drivers behind you would have preferred you pay more attention to the road, rather than you having your right arm and hand extended out of your window with your smartphone raised - you appeared to be making a video of the passing scenery or an extended series of selfies, all while driving with your left hand only."

... and on foot

A reader writes: "My mother hit a pedestrian crossing at the most dangerous and busy part of the road. She was turning in so the impact was not great and the pedestrian was not injured. My mother did everything correctly, except notice this person standing in the middle of heavy traffic ready to sprint across. There was a controlled crossing not 50m down the road. The pedestrian apologised to my mother for their stupidity. But as an ambulance had been called the police attended. The pedestrian accepted all responsibility for causing the accident. But the police still prosecuted, and my mother was fined and disqualified for six months. This is reality in New Zealand. If you are driving, you are responsible not only for your safety/actions but also those of everyone else no matter how stupid their actions."

Well, that escalated quickly

(Via @_youhadonejob)

Deadly lead-footing at 51km/h

Michael writes: "Clearly going 51km/h in a 50km/h zone is a death waiting to happen. I seriously hope you people are spending most of your time looking at your speedo and not looking at the road. I think we all saw this holiday period how effective that zero tolerance approach is, because we all know that drunk drivers and boy racers will do anything police suggest. I would like to send congrats to the NZ Police for their diligence in bringing those 51km/h hoons to swift and deserved justice."

Picture this: What happens when a sculptor who is a huge fan of Jaws, has a baby...

Icky news: For 51 years, Arthur Lampitt has been living with a 7-inch turn signal lever lodged in his arm. For most of those years, he didn't even know the old car part was in there.

Picture this: Katherine points out this groovy baby pictures of man caves of the 60s and 70s. "I like the one with the clocks all set to different time zones. So important in a man cave," she says...

Video: Frat guys sing about their love for British drama Downton Abbey. Clever and funny.

(by Philadelphia-based musical comedy duo Dave and Brian).

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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz