Miscellaneous

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.

I never know what I will find when I check the DriveSmartBC e-mail in-box. Today’s gem came from someone who identifies themself as Grumpy and suggested that they were thinking that maybe I could use the web site to contain a database such that when a bad driver is witnessed, the public could enter the details of the driving offence. No personal information need be provided.

I would like to tackle a subject that might be a bit odd for DriveSmartBC but the consequences could be related back to safety. I’m thinking about travel speed and fuel economy because the faster you go, the more it costs, probably in more ways than one. Slow down and save.

Question: Last week I received my first ticket in 41 years of driving. I had recently started driving taxi part time in Nanaimo. At the end of a 9 hour shift I dropped the taxi off and got into my own car. Five minutes later I went through a school zone without slowing down, having missed the school zone sign.

I sat in court to see what it is like in traffic court as I have never been to one before. I noticed that on many occasions, the officer would take the defendants outside of the courtroom to speak to them about their plea to the court. 

Question: I was hoping if someone could point me in the direction of any laws on cars using private driveways to turn around. I have many cars using my driveway to do two-point turns to change directions and it's driving me a bit crazy. One car nearly hit my daughter who was in the driveway having just got out of my car.

I find the interaction that I have with others on the subject of driving and traffic laws very interesting. Some people illustrate their points with incorrect information, some find that even after years of driving they don't have basic knowledge and I am always learning something new for myself.

It's easy to be lazy and just clean the windows of your vehicle in snowy weather. Leaving a little light snow to blow off isn't a big deal. However, when the snow is left there and turns into ice, the result of having a chunk of it blow off at speed can be serious. In this video a large chunk shatters the windshield of the vehicle following behind. Imagine what it might have done to an unlucky pedestrian.