Miscellaneous

Just listened to this great interview between an active defense lawyer and a retired traffic officer.

The provincial courts handled 75,584 traffic and bylaw cases in 2016/2017, the lowest number in the past five years. Of possible interest in the report are complaints made against the judicial justices who hear these cases.

It's night and I'm driving into the gray cotton of fog caused by a lingering temperature inversion. Vision is limited, the roads are wet, it's just a few degrees above freezing and some of the traffic to my left is driving like it's a sunny afternoon in August. As they whoosh by me nose to tail at speeds exceeding the posted limit I marvel at what I imagine is their ability to see so much better than I can. I also admire their ability to anticipate and use quick reflexes to get themselves out of trouble if something unexpected happens ahead.

How many of us just throw that empty propane cylinder into the trunk and head off to have it filled? I've seen the results of a couple of explosions involving propane in vehicles and it wasn't pretty. The following video is from Technical Safety BC (formerly the BC Safety Authority) and shows you how to safely (and legally) transport a 20 pound propane cylinder in your car or RV.

One of the most recent items for discussion in an RV forum that I belong to was the issue of leaving your engine running while refuelling.

The owners with diesels say because of the low flash point of diesel that they never shut their  engines off because they need to cool their turbo.

Question: Asking for a friend... Okay, not a friend, just something that popped up in a Buy & Sell group I manage. Seems sketchy to me, selling JUST the plate, papers, and window frame, but before I boot the guy I just want to make sure.

Good morning!  I have another question from a Four Wheel Drive Association member: "I read about 4x4s getting ticketed for tire poke, but in the summer I constantly see hotrods driving on the road with no fenders at all; anyone know why hotrods don't need their tires covered but 4x4s do?"

The City of Kitchener, Ontario has worked with it's residents to create a Neighbourhood Strategy and Implementation Plan. The Neighbourhood Strategy recommendations; called Love My Hood; encourages residents to take a lead role in making their neighbourhood great, with a commitment that City of Kitchener staff will help them every step along the way.

I was looking for anything on the legality of driving a Jeep with the windshield folded down but it seems the subject has never been brought up. It's being discussed on Facebook on the 4WDR Association of BC's page.

The DriveSmartBC web site has been in existence for just over nine years now. It has been and continues to be a very interesting hobby for me. I thought that this week I would review a few of the things that I have learned from being a road safety webmaster.