Jim Kenzie's The Driver's Seat

How Yellow do School Buses have to be? Traffic tidbits from Across the Country - Number 2 in a series

A really sad report from just outside Calgary the other day. A seven-year old lad was standing in his driveway about to cross the road to board the school bus which had stopped to pick up him and his sister and brother. A seventeen-year old driver was speeding along the road, snow was apparently falling at the time, and according to his quoted statement to police, didn’t see the bus, swerved at the last minute to avoid it - and ran down and killed the boy.

An unimaginable tragedy for the family, and of course for the teenaged driver too - he has to carry that around with him for the rest of his life.

Impossible to see anything good coming out of this.

But please – the law prohibiting passing of a stopped school bus is there for a reason.

Especially during the critical to-and-from-school hours, keep your eyes open, and up…

"When Will they Ever Learn?"

OK, so another obscure old song lyric reference (Peter Paul and Mary).

But La Belle Province is about to embark on a “trial” of photo radar.

Starting May 19, fifteen mobile and static installations will go into effect. For the first three months, only warnings will be issued. For the next eighteen months of the ‘pilot project’, violators will get fines, but no demerit points.

Um, what is it about Quebec that it can’t learn from other provinces?

Maybe I’d best not go there…

But Ontario did this trial back in the early 1990s, and proved all that needed proving.

First: photo radar did not prove to save lives. In the four month “test period” in Ontario, traffic deaths in the Ontario Provincial Police district where it was most commonly deployed went UP by over 200 percent.

Admittedly, that’s only a single data point. But it hardly supports the thesis.

Second: due to unintelligible plates and various other processing issues, my understanding is that photo radar did not even prove to be very effective as a revenue generator.

Quebec’s Minister of Transport Julie Boulet said that their program is not in fact a tax grab.

Sure she did.

She said the revenue will go to help the victims of road crashes.

Sure it will.

What IS sure is that with the piles of snow that will be on Quebec rear bumpers for months of the year, and with their plates taking even more environmental damage than ours do, what are the chances of Quebec having more success with this plan than Ontario did?

I’ll tell you – zero.

At least for speed limit enforcement, which as regular readers know is pretty much always totally irrelevant to safety, at least on our highways.

But Quebec also plans to use photo radar to catch red-light runners.

Now, I am not aware of what stats are available to support or contradict this application of the technology.

But in general, when it comes to red-light runners, I say toss ‘em all in the slammer.

Traffic Tidbits from Across the Country - Number 1 in a Series

In Regina Saskatchewan, a member of the RCMP was charged with and convicted of impaired driving.

Not once.

But TWICE.

Within the same week.

Not a wee bit over the limit either (which in Canada is 0.08).

But 0.27 the first time, and 0.23 the second time.

That's about THREE TIMES the limit.

0.40 is just about fatal.

Fatal for the drinker, I mean. It's a lot lower than that for his victims.

His punishment?

$3,500 fine.

18 months probation.

And a three-year driver’s licence suspension.

No jail time.

And, he’s still on the force.

To serve and protect.

I wonder what the punishment would have been if he had started shooting his service revolver on the main street of Regina?

Twice?

Within the same week?

Exactly.

Jokes - about handling??

My standard joke about car handling came from Road & Track magazine a million years ago:

“If you go into a corner too fast and the driver panics, it’s understeer.

“If the passenger panics, it’s oversteer.”

The idea being that understeer, when the car plows straight ahead, is barely even noticed by the passenger because the car remains stable, while the driver senses a numbness in the steering as if the steering wheel were connected to the steering gear with a length of surgical tubing.

With oversteer, the passenger senses the car fishtailing, and death or dismemberment appears imminent, while the driver counter-steers and (we hope) catches the slide, all the while grinning like an assassin.

Heard another one in the same vein. From a German guy, of all things:

“If you SEE the tree, it’s understeer.

“If you HEAR the tree, it’s oversteer.”

Hey - I thought it was funny.

Our roads are going to pot.

Pot HOLES, that is.

Given the more-frequent-than-usual freezes and thaws this winter, these mini-Grand Canyons have become an ever-more dire problem for GTA drivers.

I've encountered a few where I've almost had to gear down to drive out of them.

Can't really blame the road repair crews - I have to assume they're doing their best.

Last year, they fixed some 40,000 potholes, at a cost of about $3.5 million.

And when the crews DO get out there to fix them, they have to block various lanes of traffic which makes us even crankier.

They can't win.

There is a phone number to call to report a pothole - 416 599 9090, then push # (number sign) and 164.

If those who monitor this line think the pothole is serious, they'll try to fix it right away.

Otherwise it might take a few days.

Note that this is for City of Toronto roads only. Freeways are the responsibility of the province - try 416 235 4686 or 1 800 268 4686.

Surrounding regional municipalities presumably have their own numbers - if you live out in the boonies, it'll be the Internet to the rescue.

I also wonder - can the construction companies who build the roads in the first place be held liable?

Is there any sort of warranty on their work?

Also, I have a link here from Purdue University in Chicago that outlines a new pothole repair material.

http://rebar.ecn.purdue.edu/ect/links/technologies/civil/bondade.aspx

Wonder if our Pothole People know about this?

Meanwhile, all I can do is warn you to be careful.

The problem is that looking down to avoid potholes is precisely what you DON'T want to be doing to drive safely; looking UP is always the preferred option.

Then again, driving with no wheels or suspension isn't very safe either.

BTW, there is no automatic City-financed repair of your car if it's damaged by hitting a pothole. Their first defence will be to have you tell it to your insurance company. Failing that - and with deductibles being what they are, it probably wouldn't be worth it - you have to submit your request in writing to the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 100 Queen Street, Toronto, M5H 2N2, by fax to 416 392 1867, or by e-mail to clerk@toronto.ca.

Understand you will have to prove that the City was negligent, and that probably won't be easy.

So, take it easy, and pray for spring.

I Can See Clearly Now - follow-up

A few weeks ago, I commented on the huge Matterhorns of snow piled on our street corners which made it impossible for drivers coming out of side streets to see if anyone was coming.

A reader mentioned having seen a report on the new BMW 7 Series which has little wide-angle cameras in the front bumpers which literally help you see around corners.

I have a new 7 Series in my driveway as I type, and those cameras actually are very cool. The Matterhorns have mostly eroded, so I cannot say for sure how well they really do this particular job.

But when negotiating your way through tight parking garages and the like, they are very effective.

And very clever.

My fifteen minutes...

I was at the Auto Show Thursday, helping a friend look for a new car.

Wow, is it tough - a lot of really interesting options.

Everything from the Volkswagen Passat CC to the Jaguar XF was on the radar screen, as was the Hyundai Genesis. The fact that a genuine shopper with real money could credibly look at a Jag and a Hyundai tells you how far the Korean company has come.

One interesting thing - I can't recall an Auto Show visit where more people came up to me to say hello, and say how much they enjoy Wheels, in print and on-line (and who also watch Motoring on TSN!)

Very gratifying, that despite the woes the industry is currently going through, there is still such huge interest in cars. The love affair with the automobile is far from over.

Was brought back to earth with a crash when I tried to go from the North Building to the Rogers Centre. Who knew that with a press pass, you had to carry other photo ID with you? I had left my wallet locked safely (out of sight) in my car, rather than have to lug it around (and probably lose it - don't ask...).

But the two young men 'personing' the turnstile might have been the ony two young men at the Show who have never read Wheels or watched Motoring - they weren't going to let me in!

"Just doing our jobs," they said.

Fair enough, but a wee bit of a blow to the ego.

I went back to the North building (fortunately, the security guard there was pre-occupied so I snuck past; otherwise, I might have had to stay in the tunnel forever. Anyone out there old enough to remember the Kingston Trio's song aboput Charlie and the MTA transit system in Boston? That'd have been me...).

I picked up a copy of Wheels' Auto Show supplement at The Star booth which had a photo of me in it, and took it back to the Rogers Centre, and was allowed to continue my Tour.

Sic Transit Gloria, and by Transit I don't mean the TTC.

Or the MTA.

No more being the butt of jokes

Chris Bangle has retired as Head of BMW Design.

The 52-year old American has had a remarkable career. Even he could hardly have guessed that a mid-western lad (he's originally from Wisconsin) could have ended up as chief designer for two of the most famous automotive brands in the world - he came to BMW after a short stint running Fiat's design office.

Bangle, who has been one the more controversial automotive stylists of recent memory, will pursue design projects outside the auto industry.

He is perhaps best-known for the previous-generation 7 Series luxury sedan, whose unusual rear end treatment was instantly dubbed the "Bangle Butt" by detractors.

Bangle, who is as eloquent verbally as he is with a pencil, noted at the time that the trunk lid had to be so high for cargo space and aerodynamic reasons, the car could only be so long for length- and weight-conserving reasons, and there were only so many ways to get from A to B.

While the 7 did look unusual at the time, such as the subsequent Mercedes-Benz S Class and Lexus LS sedans proved that Bangle was in fact correct.

Or at least, not alone.

And while other models such as the Z4 roadster with its so-called 'flame surfacing' also drew more than their fair share of criticism, BMWs developed under his watch continued the company's obsession with maintaining family resemblance among models, without making them all look the same.

All other car companies envy BMW's ability to do this; none has succeeded to the same extent over a similar stretch of time.

And despite, or maybe because of, all the fuss, BMW has enjoyed unprecedented sales and profitability increases during his tenure.

Bangle was also the enabler of such dramatic design icons as the new Mini (penned by another American, Frank Stephenson), the new Rolls-Royce line-up, and several interesting motorcycle projects. Although how one does that I am not sure - wheel in front, wheel in back, engine in the middle, what else can you do?

Bangle was also among the most approachable of industry leaders, always ready to discuss design - or just about anything else.

He also apparently had an excellent memory for names and faces. At least for mine - he never failed to greet me by name when we ran into each other at BMW events or auto shows.

When he was promoted to overall Head of Design (from head of BMW Automobile Design) we bumped into each other - oh, I dunno, somewhere.

He told me he was quite amused at how some of his critics saw the promotion as some sort of Lateral Arabesque, a punishment for what he had wrought, an attempt to get him out of the way.

His amusement stemmed from the fact that the chap who replaced him, Adrian van Hooydonk, was in fact the lead designer on most of the cars that raised the biggest furor.

Van Hooydonk also now replaces Bangle as Head of BMW Design.

I wish Chris well in his new endeavours.

Big, apparently satellite-free, Sky Country

I'm on a press event in Montana, within spitting distance of Yellowstone National Park.

They call this Big Sky Country, and at night, the stars are brilliant.

The problem - if there are satellites which enable Internet connectivity, they must get lost up there, and access is a major issue. So posting to this blog has been a problem.

I hope at least this apology gets through.

I'm back Wednesday night and will get right back on it.

OK, I'll hit "post", and let's hope...

Jeremy being Jeremy

Jeremy Clarkson, host of the popular British car TV show Top Gear and a contributor to the print edition of Wheels, is arguably the most famous auto journalist in the world.

He recently got himself in deep doo-doo at a bun-fight in Australia by referring to Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as a "one-eyed Scottish idiot."

Scots, needless to say, were not amused.

Neither were various disability advocacy groups, who were scandalized by the apparent assumption that being disabled - in Brown's case, having lost the sight of one eye to a rugby injury as a school boy - was somehow linked to his intelligence or lack thereof.

They called for various punishments, not quite but almost including public whipping and locking him in stocks.

It was made worse because there is a current scandal in England over a TV presenter who made an off-camera reference that could be considered racist, so the Politically Correct Brigade was already on full alert.

Almost as the syllables escaped from his lips, Clarkson knew he had perhaps gone a bit far, even by his standards.

He has subsequent apologized, as abjectly as he ever does.

Not, he was quick to point out, for the 'idiot' bit, which he still truly believes, but for the disabled one-eyed bit.

During the media explosion this incident caused, it was also reported that Clarkson makes some two million pounds a year.

Holy Cow.

Do you think maybe I could make more money if I started calling our Prime Minister Stephen Harper 'Lego-Hair'?