Equipment

Question: What kind of qualifications do police officers have for doing mechanical inspections on vehicles? I have a 2010 GMC Sierra that I keep in excellent shape in all respects but I got a defective vehicle ticket and a safety inspection order after being stopped.

Me and my husband are trying to figure out the requirements for tying down our ATVs. We’ve Googled the question and are still a bit lost. I have attached a picture and one of the quads in question. Do all 4 wheels need to be strapped down, or can we do a front left and rear right tie down?

I have a question about nitrous oxide. Is it legal to have a nitrous oxide system hooked up to a vehicle? If the bottle is detached from the system is it legal? Does the appropriate DOT WHMIS oxidizer symbol convey any legality to transport?

I am thinking about upgrading the sealed beams on a vintage car to LED headlights. The LED headlights I'm considering are marked "DOT SAE" on the front. Does that mean that they are legal on roadways in B.C.? The gentleman that posed this question also supplied a web site URL with more information that promised DOT approval and explained that these lights were used by international Baja racing teams. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Spring has sprung and trailers that have slumbered through the winter are being dragged out of storage and dusted off for use. Check the air in the tires. Light up the lights. Yes, we're good to go for another season! Experience has taught me that spring cleaning seldom includes the trailer's surge brakes.

Jennifer Healey is a research scientist who works for the semiconductor giant Intel developing the mobile devices of the future. One of those devices might be your car, and it will talk to other vehicles around it. If we can solve the privacy concerns, vehicles may be able to insure that their drivers avoid collisions.

Commercial vehicle maintenance is carefully regulated in our province. Power units are subject to inspections at a designated inspection facility every 6 months and trailers once every year. Drivers must do a pre- and post-trip safety inspection each time they drive. Defects must be noted in a written log and repairs carried out promptly, sometimes before leaving the driveway.

I met a new Canadian yesterday, in his large car, and the visor was SO low that there is only (what looked to be, I didn't go over and measure) like 2 feet from the hood to the bottom of the visor. I understand the benefits of a drop visor, but this is taking an aftermarket improvement, to the absolute extreme.

I remember when I was a teenager working in my father's service station. On the day of the first snowfall our customers would be lined up in the driveway to have their winter tires installed when we arrived to start the day. We did nothing but install winter tire after winter tire and our air compressor didn't get any rest until after we had shut the bay doors and left for home.

I was thinking of getting a stubby bumper for my Jeep and the MVA says:

"...and where a replacement bumper has been installed, it shall give substantially the same protection as the original bumper."