barely two hours old
オーストラリアのニュースから。「新年を迎えて２時間になるかならないかで~」ということでしょう。oldは「（数詞のあとで）…歳の，…年たった」という意味を表しますが、これは「時間」にも使えるようです。このような文のパターンは丸ごと覚えて、ためておくしかありません。ともあれ、痛ましいことです。（EnDough）
Barriers and cameras on the road to safety
The new year was barely two hours old when it ended for Lee White and Louise Morgan.
White, 23, a butcher, and Morgan, a 34-year-old executive assistant, were driving in opposite directions on the Pacific Highway near the north coast hinterland town of Bangalow when they slammed into each other at about 2.20am on Tuesday. The cause of the collision remains unclear.
But it is safe to say that if oncoming traffic was separated on that part of the highway - which it is not, and which should happen some time next year when a bypass is finally built - whatever went wrong that morning would not have left two people dead; the first grim entries in the list of NSW road casualties for 2013.
