[sherlockx]

I was visiting my friend Leon Ponce for a few days and had been woken before dawn by him asking me to go for a hike with him.
We walked into the foothills and after a while stopped at a small pool fed by a spring where Leon filled two 5 litre containers from the pool.” Wash your face in the pool and drink some" he said, "It will make you feel better, you look tired & careworn".
We continued to the top where we stopped to admire the countryside in the early morning sunlight.
Pointing at a road Leon said “That is the shame of the area, 20 km long and it has more road traffic accidents than anywhere else in the country yet it has the very best road surface that money can buy. There is a speed limit of 100 km per hour so speed is not the problem.
Taking my binoculars I looked at the road. It was indeed quite straight, 2 opposing dual carriageway lanes separated by a central verge. Both sides of the road and the central reservation were planted with Lombardy poplars about 2 metres apart.
"That is what this water is for, the local clinic dealing with accident victims, it has well shall we say certain curative properties. The clinic sent a sample of to a Russian chap called Vladimir Skulachev and he got very excited about it."
I looked at the road again and the answer flashed into my mind.
I told Leon my idea and he exclaimed "Of course, why did no one think of that".
A couple of days later my solution was implemented and the road became one of the safest.

What caused all the accidents and what was the solution.
You may ask questions.

[Zacharie]

Summary

The cast:

• Sherlockx himself
  
  • my nightmare on this forum
  • visiting his friend Leon Ponce for a few days
• Sherlocx's friend Leon Ponce
  
• a Russian chap called Vladimir Skulachev
  
  • got very excited about a sample of water from the pool

The scene:

• a small pool in the foothills, fed by a spring
  
  • the water has certain curative properties
  • the water is for the local clinic dealing with accident victims
• a 20 km road
  
  • a speed limit of 100 km per hour
  • the very best road surface that money can buy
  • 2 opposing dual carriageway lanes separated by a central verge with Lombardy poplars about 2 metres apart
  • on both sides of the road also Lombardy poplars about 2 metres apart

The story:

• The road is the shame of the area: it has more road traffic accidents than anywhere else in the country.

The mystery:

• Sherlocx got an idea. A solution that was implemented a few days later, making the road one of the safest.

The question:

• What was that solution?

darn it, I've tried posting twice only to lose it. I'll try again next week. I've got a slight feeling, but I don't think this is it, unless the bit about water is just in there to throw us off.

[sherlockx]

Sherlockx remains silent, maintaining his normal manic grin & somewhat demented look

there are so many accidents because people driving down there want to have the magic water heal them. the solution is to not tell the Russians next time you find the fountain of youth!

[sherlockx]

Nice one smegmajam but not the correct answer

am I at least anywhere in the neighborhood of on the right track?

[Zacharie]

Though I think it's ok to launch some ideas that first cross our mind, like for example Sherlockx got the idea to break the surrounding 'dam' of the pool, flooding the highway to become a 'waterway' where cars had to be replaced by small boats, which reduced significantly the number of accidents, as the Titanic has perished since long and taking into account the vegetation found here there is no risk to find floating icebergs... Yet I think it would be better to concentrate on some specific facts or questions.

First I think maybe we should concentrate on the names of the cast performing here: Vladimir Skulachev and Leon Ponce. I know our friend Sherlockx is a master in fooling us, so he might as well have hidden some clues in these names. Maybe we can extract from the names some valuable information, like words we can make using the characters of the names. Anybody has an idea?

Secondly, we should maybe analyze what causes a road like this to have so many accidents. Mist? Ice on the road? Blinding sunlight? Heavy rain? Animals crossing the road? Panels with attractive girls promoting local clubs? Darkness? Heavy truck traffic? Wind? Something in the air that influences the drivers' concentration?...

Ow, I have many more questions... Then we have time, don't we?

[sherlockx]

Smegnajam

am I at least anywhere in the neighborhood of on the right track?

No

ok I got it.
The spacing between the trees and the speed limit of the road is causing the early morning sunlight to flicker thru the poplars, giving the drivers epileptic seizures.

A quick google search will reveal that Leon Ponce (Juan Ponce De Leon) and Vladimir Skulachev are both involved with anti aging, fountain of youth type activities. That leads me to believe the water in the pool is somehow supposed to be the mythical Fountain.

As far as the solution, chop down the trees.

unless the special water is making those trees grow out of control I don't know what it has to do with the accidents, other than what I suggested earlier.


what do you think sherlockx, am I getting any closer?

[sherlockx]

Well done smegmajam,that is exactly correct.
Photosensitive epilepsy is a form of epilepsy that is triggered by visual stimuli, such as flickering or high contrast oscillating patterns, and it's believed that around 3% to 5% of people with epilepsy are susceptible to photosensitive material. Photosensitive epilepsy is usually triggered where the flicker rate is between 16Hz to 25Hz, although it's not uncommon for seizures to be triggered by flicker rates between 3Hz to 60Hz.
You did however forget to mention the Bucha effect and the moth effect
Well done on the googling the names & identifying the fountain of youth etc but that was just misdirection on my part.
Something a little more difficult next time,

[Zacharie]

Oh... well I'd expected some more lyrical or romantic solution. Anyway, congratulations, smegmajam... I guess one has to have kind of 'epileptic' vision to solve this one. (I don't). You deserve the reward.

Looking forward to some new riddle, to keep our brains working...

Wow, I wouldn't have thought of epilepsy. I was thinking the trees might block visibility due to the close spacing as that type of tree is used for fences/hedges/privacy. But the fountain of youth was throwing me off, hence what I said earlier. So I was thinking it may be doing something odd to the trees below.

Did anyone else watch "The Fountain" with Hugh Jackman? I think they may have used this riddle as the basis of that story . Just kidding of course, don't go watch it and come yelling at me. I do think it is a good movie though, and it is one you'll have to focus on to enjoy.

Great job on solving this smegmajam!