Here we go again...

I really didn't want to get into this again.

But a reader has asked me to try one more time to whack some sense into drivers, police, Justices of the Peace and the Ministry of Transportation for the province of Ontario about the scourge of left-lane banditry.

The legislature is off the hook on this one - they have already passed all the laws we need to eradicate this pestilence from our roads.

I PROMISE you, I absolutely GUARANTEE, that a big chunk of the irritation, lane-swapping, tailgating, road rage and other driving irritants we see on the roads every day would be eradicated if only we could correct this problem.

Traffic would move faster AND more safely, and we would increase our highways' capacities without building a single new lane - a few litres of paint, a few signs, a minor attitude adjustment in our enforcement/judicial system, and we'd be done.

Oh yeah, we'd have to get the cops to stop writing tickets for teenagers waving to each other (that's street racing, dontcha know) and flashing headlights to warn of radar traps (expressly NOT illegal in Ontario) and start writing them for violating the most important rule of the road, after impaired driving and failure to wear a seat belt.

We'd also have to convince the JPs to start convicting on these charges when/if they are laid; whenever I bring this issue up with either group, they always blame the other.

I know I am preaching to the converted in this blog, but in case you need to remind
someone else, here's the deal:

If you COULD be passed by someone on your right, whether in fact you actually ARE being passed or not, you are in violation of the Highway Traffic Act, section 147, subsection 1.

Paraphrasing, you MUST drive in the right-most lane unless passing or preparing to turn left,

If you ARE in fact being passed on your right, you are in violation of the HTA on two counts - 147 (1) above, AND Section 148 subsection 2, which reads (and this one is too cute not to quote in its entirety):

"Every person in charge of a vehicle or on horseback on a highway who is overtaken by a vehicle or equestrian travelling at a greater speed shall turn out to the right and allow the overtaking vehicle or equestrian to pass."

So you equestrians out there on the 401, please take note.

Note also that neither of these subsections makes any reference whatsoever to the speed limit. Doesn't matter how fast or how slow you are going, pal - move the heck over.

Just because you happen to be obeying one law (a largely irrelevant one, as regular readers know), it does not absolve you of the responsibility to obey the other laws, especially the ones that really matter.

Note too that passing on the right is expressly NOT illegal in Ontario either - HTA 150(1). I wish it were illegal, because it can be dangerous. And I wish we didn't have to do it.

But we do...

Why does the Ministry have to get off their collective asses on this one?

Because they keep designing our roads so the driving lane keeps disappearing. Turning into an off-ramp. Or being shrunk when the highway narrows. So people get scared, and migrate to the middle lane where they are in danger of getting creamed from both sides.

The right lane is the DRIVING lane, fer cryin' out loud. How can it disappear? You should be able to drive from Windsor to the Quebec border and never touch the turn signal lever.

Passing lanes? Well, you add them on the left when you need them; when you don't need them any more, then THEY should disappear, FROM the left.

That's where the paint comes in - just re-paint the lane markings and we'd be half-way home.

Post a few signs - like on EVERY SINGLE OVERPASS on the highway - reminding people of their responsibilities, and have the cops and JPs toss the book at them if they refuse.

It ain't rocket surgery, folks.

How Deep is your Love - for your car's suspension?

I don't know if there is a scale for measuring the depth of potholes.

Maybe we could adopt the Richter Scale.

I hit one on Yonge Street yesterday which would have registered "Displacement of Dental Work". Maybe "Rearrangement of Vertebrae".

I think the recent thaw may be partially responsible for the current proliferation. The repeated freezing and thawing of the moisture trapped in the pavement appears to be the issue, but I don't remember it being this bad at this time of year.

People are complaining.

And I read somewhere that you can actually sue the city for damages if the circumstances are right - providing you have the time and the resources.

It's not like the authorities are totally unaware of the situation. Also yesterday I heard two separate traffic reports about parts of the 401 being slowed due to pothole repair crews.

People were doubtless complaining about being delayed too.

Damned if you do...

Not a whole lot you can do about potholes as a motorist except be doubly diligent when checking the road ahead.

From a driving safety perspective, you should be looking well down the road.

But your car can't be very safe if its front suspension falls off, so keep an eye out for Not-So-Grand Canyons too.

Also remember the old line about the water only being up to the waist of the ducks - it may look like a shallow little puddle in the middle of the road, but don't go blithely sailing through it. If you drive a small car, you might have to gear down - or call the CAA - to get out of it.

Anybody got photographs of really big ones? Maybe we can have a contest. I must have some car company graft loitering about in my closet I could give out as a prize.

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 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?

Billboard wisdom

A billboard on the I-405 in Los Angeles, sponsored by an Insurance Company, has a cartoon showing a guy driving along, tapping away at a laptop computer sitting on his dashboard.

The caption reads:

"The most dangerous office on earth - just drive."

Amen to that.

It makes you wanna cry, Part Two

A few km further along, on the Gardiner around Kipling Avenue, I see a car weaving in its lane.

Not crossing over the lane markings, but nearly so.

In the centre lane, needless to say.

As I pass him on the right, I glance into the car to see if I can tell whether he appears drunk.

Nope.

The tell-tale glow of a cell phone is all I need to see.

Oh, boo hoo...

It makes you wanna cry, Part One

Driving home on the westbound Gardiner the other night. Pixelboard sign over the road read:

"Slow traffic keep right except to pass."

Well, it should say ALL traffic keep right except to pass, because (a) that's courteous, (b) that's intelligent, and (c) that's what Ontario's Highway Traffic Act requires that you do.

But we'll take it for now. The mis-wording only makes me sad; doesn't make me cry.

Then a guy in a gray Hyundai Elantra, with no-one in front of him for at least a kilometre in the Jim-only lane (i.e., the right lane, the correct lane, the driving lane) moves into the centre lane - directly underneath the huge, brightly lit pixelboard sign telling him precisely NOT to do just that.

Oh, boo hoo...

ICE

ICE - it's something that forms on our roads this time of year (got your winters on yet?)

ICE - in England particularly, it stands for In-Car Entertainment. They mean of the electronic/musical/sound system variety.

But to paramedics, ICE stands for In Case of Emergency.

Now we all should not use our cell phones while driving. But there is a safety component to them - if you get stranded, you're only a few pushed buttons from connecting with someone.

But what if you're unconscious?

Apparently, paramedics will scan a phone's directory looking for the ICE indication - that's who they would call, to notify that there's been a problem, to get medical info, whatever.

So maybe while you're waiting at the tire store for your winters to be installed, re-program your cell so that your top priority emergency contact number is prefaced with the letters ICE.

Might even save your life some day!

You turn me on, I'm a radio

The test cars we evaluate rotate through various members of the press.

So when I get one it has usually been driven by various other people. And it always surprises me - I am easily surprised – that the radio station pre-sets are almost always in ascending order of frequency.

On the AM band, 590, 640, 680, 740, 1010, 1050, etc. On FM, 91.1, 92.5, 96.3, 98.1, 99,9, 107.1. Depending on your taste in radio, of course.

Now this made sense in the old days when station tuning was actually controlled by a string which you dialed up using the right knob on the radio.

The pre-sets were established by manually dialing up the station, pulling out the button, then pressing it all the way back in. How this worked I have no idea.

Today of course it’s all electronic.

So my question is - why don’t people set the pre-sets in order of preference? Your favourite radio station first, so it’s closest to your hand, second-favourite next, etc.

So for me on AM, it’s 1050, 1150 (love those oldies - it’s the music my band plays, except they weren’t oldies when we started playing them), 680 (traffic), 640 (Leafs) then 590 (other sports).

On FM, it’s 107.1 (Kim Mitchell is the best DJ in town), 92.5 (a bit weird sometimes, but OK), 96.3 (I drive slower when classical music is on) and - well, that’s about it, actually.

But when I have a car with satellite radio - well, that’s another story.