Miscellaneous

“My tires aren’t the greatest, there’s really no point living in Vancouver to get, you know, snow tires. But yeah, a little slippery, but just drive slow, you’ll be fine.” These words of wisdom came from a young woman standing on an icy city street with a dog under her arm and a small child in tow. Do you think that this is a reasonable outlook for winter driving in the lower mainland, or anywhere else in B.C. for that matter?

Last week we looked at what you should be entitled to expect as a driver on B.C.’s highways. It only seems fair that we should examine what your duties as a driver are this week. As before, if I miss or misstate any of them, you are welcome to e-mail webmaster@drivesmartbc.ca and express your opinion.

Just wanted to confirm, but it seems to me that Christmas lights on your vehicle would be considered unauthorized lighting and illegal. I've known a few people to run them, never heard of anyone actually getting tickets for it...

Who would have thought that among the most cost effective ways to improve road safety was to invest in public transit? Public transit can be 10 times safer to use than driving your own vehicle, so a modest increase in transit ridership can have disproportionally larger road safety benefits. A report by the American Public Transportation Association titled Public Transit's Safety Benefits explains.

QUESTION: A used car dealer here in Nanaimo has an advertising gimmick. It involves displaying a large dumpster with two or three wrecked cars standing on end sticking out of the top. Presumably it is one of those "push, pull, or drag" any car in for a generous trade-in allowance.

There is nothing like a near miss or collision to focus your mind on road safety. I often hear from people hoping to enlist my help in solving their issue. Requests have ranged from posting lower speed limits to constructing left turn lanes recently. Most people have already tried something on their own and are frustrated with what they see as the authorities not wanting to apply what they see as the solution.

Starting September 1, 2016 the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has authorized a pilot project to allow golf carts to operate on certain approved local roads in the Town of Qualicum Beach and the Village of Chase. Expected to last up to two years, the project will assess the use of golf carts as an alternative transportation method on low volume, low speed roads. The initiative is aimed at people who are interested in using vehicles other than automobiles to make local, short trips.

The question this week revolves around vehicle noise in quiet neighbourhoods. Why don’t the municipalities do more about it asks my correspondent. This may be a case of the squeaky wheel not getting the grease!

Everyone would like to feel safe in their neighbourhood and that extends to having everyone else obey the driving rules when they are in it. So, what do you do when this is not the case? The answer depends on how much you want to become involved in the solution.

It appears that sometimes you don't get what you pay for. A class action lawsuit in the US against Osram Sylvania over the advertised claims for their Silver Star headlight bulbs was successful. The suit alleged that Sylvania represented that the headlights are brighter, provide a wider beam and allow drivers to see farther down the road than standard halogen headlights.