Brilliant, or just plain old hare-brained? Seems authorities in the Czech Republic have taken to placing life-sized cardboard cut-outs of mini-skirted policewomen alongside roads in busy junctions throughout towns in the country, in an effort to save cash.

According to reports, instead of installing traffic lights, the cut-outs have been placed to er, get the attention of drivers and slow them down, and it seems to be working, according to the authorities. Many drivers have automatically slowed down when they see the cut-outs, though whether they’re braking because of the fear and respect of the law or in appreciation of the outfit is actually open to debate.

Unfortunately, the flip side of it is that the scheme has also been said to be responsible for bumping up accident rates, simply due to male motorists taking their eyes off the road. One driver, who complained to the country’s Interior Ministry after driving his car off the road, said that “the cut-outs are distracting. I mean, mini-skirts? In this weather?”

And, despite the added police presence, theft also seems to be up – a local radio station gave a hat and an anorak to help keep the officer warm, but they were stolen in a day. And there have been reports that some cardboard policewomen have been relieved from duty through dubious means.

So, what do you think? Should we have such cardboard cut-outs here?

Former TWR owner Tom Walkinshaw died on Sunday from lung cancer. The 64-year-old Scotsman’s racing career began in the late 60s, where he raced in Formula Ford and Formula Three as well as Formula Two, and drove in various classes and events up to the late 80s.

In 1976, he established Tom Walkinshaw Racing, which designed and manufactured both road and racing cars, as well as running the latter in touring car programmes in the mid 1970s and early 1980s.

Most memorable, certainly for Jaguar fans, was the victory achieved by the Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-9LM built by TWR (and designed by Tony Southgate) in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988. The company would go on to build more winning Le Mans entries, notably the Joest Racing Porsche WSC-95, which won the event in 1996 and 1997.

Walkinshaw also had an association with F1, as engineering director at Benetton, part owner of Ligier and owner of Arrows, though that last association cost him dearly – Arrows ran out of money in 2002, and in the process the TWR group went into liquidation.

Another famous Walkinshaw outing would be that in Australia with Holden Special Vehicles, which was set up in 1987 as a joint venture between Holden and TWR, as well as with the Holden Racing Team.