Jim Kenzie's The Driver's Seat

BOOM BOOM - On Go the Lights

OK, most of you won't get the Little Walter reference.

But when the thunder goes BOOM BOOM, or even when it starts to rain, snow or - as recently in the GTA - the fog starts rolling in, can everyone PLEASE turn on their full headlights?

Actually, I always advocate turning on all your lights all the time anyway.

But particularly in inclement weather, it is vital so other cars can see you in the reduced visibility conditions.

Some jurisdictions, like New York State, make it mandatory that if your wipers are on, your lights must be on too.

Not sure we need a law to enforce common sense, except the one thing we know about 'common sense' is that it isn't very common.

Take the other night. A Toyota Sienna minivan was trundling along the 401 eastbound around Trafalgar Road (all alone, in the middle lane - Strike One) with its four-way flashers on. The fog was pretty heavy, so I presumed the driver wanted others to see him.

But his headlights were off!

Hello?

A little further along, a Honda Pilot SUV was again trundling along, again in the middle lane, with NO lights on at all! Not even Daytime Running Lights - must have been a US car, although I didn't notice the plate.

I pulled up alongside and honked.

The driver stared straight ahead.

I pulled in behind and flicked my lights off and on.

The driver stared straight ahead.

I pulled in front of him, again flicking my lights off and on.

The driver stared straight ahead.

Maybe he figured I was a gang member inviting him to a fight. In a Town and Country minivan, with most of my kids in it?

Dunno.

Eventually he did find the little knob on the end of the turn signal lever, and twisted it far enough to turn on his parking lights.

Better than nothing, but really...

Ahead of him by now, I tried flicking my lights again.

The driver stared straight ahead.

He was either brain-dead, or totally unfamiliar with the car he was driving (Never read the Owners Manual? Borrowed, maybe? I don't think you can rent a Honda Pilot) or possibly both.

She Who Must Be Obeyed suggested we just carry on, so we did.

A friend of mine has attempted on various occasions to chat with drivers at stop lights in bad weather, politely suggesting that they turn on their lights.

One recent response, "They come on automatically!"

Um, so why would anyone be suggesting to you that you switch them on?

See, "Brain dead", above.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! Sort-of...

Christmas is a religious festival to many - most major religions have some sort of celebration around this time of year.

It's a cultural thing to others - even non-religionistas often celebrate the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the days start getting longer again, bringing the hope of a new beginning.

Most cultures also include the giving of gifts at this time of year.

Now, what has all/any of this got to do with driving?

Only that I suggest we try to give each other some gifts on our roads for the coming year.

Like, how about this "peace on earth, goodwill towards men (and women)" thing. Any chance we can stick to that?

As in, let's stop butting in when lanes end.

As in, let's stop tailgating.

As in, wave someone in from a side street or parking lot. And give a jaunty wave in response when someone performs a random act of courtesy for you.

As in, let's drive right except to pass.

As in, get into the habit of ALWAYS turning your headlights on, ALL the time, day or night, and stop relying on your Daytime Running Lights because it's all too easy to forget to switch on at dusk, leaving most cars without any illumination to the rear.

As in, brushing off ALL the snow on your car, (a) so you can see where you're going and have a lesser chance of running into someone, and, (b) so you won't create a visibility issue when the avalanche of snow cascades off your roof and crashes into the windshield of the car behind you.

I could probably think of a million more, but why don't you add your suggestions?

Happy Holidays!

Darn those aerodynamic front ends...

We aren't the only part of Canada getting whacked with snow (or, tonight, rain). This shot comes from Saint John New Brunswick a week or so ago.

You know there's gotta be a story - there's always a story - but it looks like somebody didn't have their snow tires on, or was just driving too fast, bumped into the car ahead of them, and set off this chain reaction.

Pretty funny, unless you own one of those cars.

Let the games begin!

US President George W. Bush has finally done what really needed to be done - he has approved a partial emergency loan program for the US auto industry, amounting to some $17.4 billion US in loan guarantees to General Motors and Chrysler. At the moment Ford says it doesn't need such assistance, but it has asked for a line of credit in case things tighten up unexpectedly.

Interesting that the main opposition seems to be coming from two senators from Kentucky - which just happens to be home to a Toyota assembly plant.

This decision also triggers the Ontario and Canadian federal governments' plan which kicks in another four billion, disproportionate compared to the relative size of the countries, but about right with respect to the relative size of the industries - Canada does about 20 percent of auto production between the two countries.

Various constraints have been placed on the companies. They have to show progress in restructuring, cutting costs, etc.

The fact is that much of this has already been done. Plants have been shuttered, white- and blue-collar workers are now walking the streets by the thousands.

As various analysts have pointed out, the actual labour rates in import-branded and domestic-branded assembly factories aren't that different any more.

And labour as a component of the overall cost of the car isn't all that significant anyway.

Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm - too bad she's Canadian-born; otherwise, she probably would be the vice-president-elect - noted that the new UAW contact signed last year reduced starting wages in auto plants by half, and implemented a new health care benefits system which reduces long-term obligations on the companies.

The problem there is that there won't be many new jobs in the industry; it's looking after the older and retired workers that is the nub. This is almost exclusively an issue with older, domestic-branded plants which helped build the economy which all players old and new have prospered in. This emergency plan does nothing to help that.

But as the old office wall motivational poster approximately reads, "when you're up to your butt in alligators, it's hard to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp".

The domestic industry is up to its butt in alligators. These plans should shoo them off for a while; let's hope they can start draining that swamp right smartly.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - follow-up Number 2.

The winter tires on the Suzuki SX4 front-wheel drive I was in during the latter half of Friday's snowstorm?

They are Michelin Premacy Alpins.

Like everything else Michelin seems to be making these days, these things are terrific. Great in deep snow, on hard-pack or even in the dry.

I wish everybody had them on their cars on Friday - we all would have got home sooner.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - follow-up Number 1.

A tip of the Kenzie Bell helmet to the snow removal crews across the GTA. Despite having to clean out Friday's mess while we were all driving on the roads, most of the main arterial roads and highways were bare and dry by Saturday.

Yeah, the side streets are still pretty rough. In many older neighbourhoods, residents park on the streets, so it's hard for the crews to get at the stuff.

I also heard of one woman who got her car stuck, and the snow plow operator got out of his rig to push her out.

Congrats on a job well done.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

So, still think you can get through a Toronto winter without snow tires?

Friday's storm was no surprise - it was all over the news Thursday.

So how come so many people were not prepared?

I pretty much blanketed the GTA Friday. I live about 50 km west of The Big Smoke. I had to drop off some calendars in Brampton. Do a test-car swap (about which, more anon) in Markham. Pay a bill in deepest Scarborough. Head back to Oakville for Number Three daughter's birthday celebration dinner and theatre show. Then drive two other sprogs back into the Danforth-Warden and Avenue Road-St. Clair areas respectively. Then head back home.

Not much of the region I didn't drive through today.

Now, visibility on the 400 north towards Major Mac got dicey thanks to whiteouts, so I bailed on that route in mid-afternoon, which forced me to postpone a few errands.

But I can assure you, there were no traction difficulties whatsoever, anywhere

Snow, yes. Some ice, yes. And a hint of a high-centre on a snow plow spoor coming out of the theatre parking lot.

But with proper equipment and preparation, I had no problems whatsoever getting where I needed to go.

Except where idiots without either got in my way.

About the car swap - I started the day in a Suzuki SX4 hatchback, with automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. Very nice little car. This is essentially a transverse-engined front-wheel drive car with an electrically-activated system that allows either automatic engagement of the rear wheels if the fronts start to slip, or locked four-wheel drive for the heavy going. I confess I didn't check the type of tires, but I suspect they were all-, i.e., no-seasons.

I changed that for another SX4, this one a European-spec Diesel with a five-speed manual gearbox, front-drive only and winter tires.

Both vehicles chugged their way through the snow, slush, snowplow trails, icy patches, with ridiculous ease.

So why were these other idiots getting in my way?

Mainly, because they didn't have proper winter tires on their cars.

Toronto is a city of ravines, which means fairly steep hills on many of our major arterial roads. People too lazy, too stupid or too cheap to properly equip their cars end up costing the rest of us valuable time, not to mention money, missed appointments or flights, because they can't get their damned cars up the bleedin' hills.

Maybe Quebec has the right idea about making winter tires mandatory.

Second on the list of idiocy reasons was the massive, blazing incompetence you see behind the wheel in this city. Some people, foot to the floor, wheels spinning wildly. Folks, if the wheels are spinning, you've got no grip, and spinning them faster isn't gonna help.

I didn't see many people driving 'way too fast for conditions today, interestingly enough. Most people were going slow.

Still, their lane discipline was even worse than usual. The Jim-only (i.e., right-most) lane was almost always wide open, even if it typically had more snow on it than the other lanes. So, despite the pixel board signs warning that "Express and Collectors Moving Slowly Beyond Next Transfer", it was the fastest rush-hour commute I think I have ever experienced. I phoned She Who Must Be Obeyed at about 5:15 p.m. from Markham Road and 401; by 6:15 I was joining the rest of the family in Rocco's in Oakville.

Easy.

And rather fun too.

Why so many people were bashing into guardrails remains a mystery.

Um, perhaps they should learn how to drive?

***

The day also afforded me the interesting opportunity to compare basically the same vehicle with and without four-wheel drive under more-or-less identical conditions.

I didn't really feel much difference between the automatically-engaging and locked 4WD settings in the first Suzi, but either gave better straight-ahead traction than shutting it off, or the FWD/winter-tire car.

But I must say, for overall driving, I preferred the FWD car. One of the issues with four-wheel drive is that the car tends to understeer - when you turn the wheel under power, it wants to go straight ahead.

The FWD car does too, but when you lift, it seemed to me that the nose tucked in and the car came around more nimbly than the 4WD car did, so it was more easily controllable. Mind you, to do a true comparison, it would have been better to have the same engine - the heavier Diesel might have given more front-wheel grip than the gas-engined car; the same transmission - the manual gives the driver more options; and probably most important, the same tires on both cars.

But this conclusion is similar to what I've discovered in the past - with decent winter tires, traction control, anti-lock brakes, and electronic stability control (my cars were three for four; no ESC) you seldom really need four-wheel drive in urban use, even under conditions as allegedly severe as today's were.

***

Oh, did I mention, learn how to drive?

What's in a name?

We know where most tire companies got their names. There were in fact Messrs Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop, Pirelli.

Not sure about Gislaved.

But what about Bridgestone?

Turns out that company was founded by Shojiro Ishibashi. "Ishi" means "stone" in Japanese; perhaps you've eaten 'ishiyaki', literally, 'stone cooking', where you grill your food on a hot rock.

And "bashi" means "bridge".

Hence, Ishibashi-san's name means Stone-Bridge.

But somebody - maybe his own self - thought switching the syllables around sounded better.

So, Bridgestone it became, and Bridgestone it remains.

And no, I don't know why these weird thoughts keep popping into my mind...

Snoozin' and crusin' in the rain

Have any of you seem this e-mail warning thing?

**********
A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totaled her car. It was raining, though not excessively, when her car suddenly began to hydroplane and literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence! When she explained to the highway patrolman what had happened he told her something that every driver should know - NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON.

She thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain.

But the highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on when your car begins to hydroplane and your tires lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an airplane.

She told the patrolman that was exactly what had occurred.

The patrolman said this warning should be listed on the driver's seat sun-visor - NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR ICY - along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive at a safe speed - but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the pavement is dry.

The only person the accident victim found who knew this (besides the patrolman) was a man who had a similar accident,totaled his car and sustained severe injuries.
********************

Great story! Apart from the mis-use of the A-word.

But it is completely false.

Urban myth.

Cannot happen.

The laws of physics always apply.

If your tires lose contact with the pavement, how can the car accelerate? Let alone fast enough to send the car "flying through the air"?

No possible way.

When the car hydroplanes - when the tires lose contact with the pavement - and throttle is maintained (as with cruise control, or even if you are still driving the car with your own right foot) the driving wheels will just spin. Unless of course someone strapped a rocket engine to your rear bumper and forgot to tell you.

Now, IF while your driving wheels are spinning they should happen to encounter a bit of dry pavement, they will try to accelerate the car. But the throttle opening will be so small that it would never generate enough acceleration to give the car anything more than a gentle jerk. I mean, if you're on dry pavement at highway speed and slam the accelerator to the floor - i.e., wide-open throttle - does your car take off "like an airplane"?

Not even if you're in a Porsche 911 Turbo.

Now, it ISN'T wise to drive with snooze 'n' cruise in the rain, but not because of this. It just can catch you a bit off-guard.

If the car hydroplanes and the driver loses control of the car (although a case can be made that with cruise control at any time the driver has abandoned control of the car...) you will sense it by a loss of feel at the steering. Lift your right foot gently off the accelerator, DO NOT BRAKE, look in the direction you want to go (i.e., aim for a gap in the traffic pattern, or at worst the thinnest tree or the shallowest ditch) and steer that way. Assuming you weren't going stupidly fast in the first place, you should regain control of the car before you hit something.

If this sounds like what you were taught to do in a skid on snow or ice, move to the head of the class. It is exactly the same thing.

More on fuel pricing

Geez, I got a lot of questions today...

I was in the States a week ago, and will be there again when most of you read this.

As a VW TDI owner, I always check the price of Diesel fuel when I'm down there, and am quite amazed at how expensive it is right now.

Regular gasoline varies a LOT down there, from about $1.70 in the Detroit area to $2.35 or so in Los Angeles, two burgs I happen to have been in recently.

But Diesel fuel is almost fifty percent more expensive.

In Canada, it is also pricier but by nowhere near as much - more like a quarter to a third.

I know Diesel fuel comes from the same 'fraction' of a barrel of crude as jet fuel and home heating oil. Also, that crude from various sources has different amounts of each 'fraction'.

Both gasoline and Diesel are still cheaper in the US than here. Americans whine constantly about their fuel pricing - they have no idea how good they have it down there.

I just wonder why the differential between gasoline and Diesel is so much larger in the States?