More on Distracted Drivers

Following my post on distracted drivers the other day, my brother sent me this cartoon:

It is definitely a common issue, isn't it?

He also included this information: 

New studies have found hands free to be just as distracting. Turns

out it isn't holding the phone but the process of having a conversation.

What about with someone in the car? It seems when they are in the car

the driver can focus on the road and get cues from the passenger.

Distracted Drivers

The other day the radio announced that the police in a nearby community had set out to ticket distracted drivers in an effect to bring awareness to this issue. In a mere 3 hours at 1 checkpoint they handed out 550 tickets. That is very scary.

I'm assuming the most common form of  a distracted driver these days is those who hold their cell phones to talk - which I don't get at all but I see it all the time. Now that cell phones are so tiny it's not even that convenient to hold a tiny slippery thing to your ear while trying to drive with the other. Plus, to get a wireless earpiece (i.e. bluetooth headset) is only around $70 for a decent one. Isn't $70 worth it for your safety and the safety of others? But still I see people in $50,000 + cars and they don't have a headset - it makes no sense, especially when so many cars have handsfree Bluetooth built right into the car's stereo system - now what's there excuse?  But people aren't just holding the phones to talk - they're doing worse than that - they are reading and writing text messages etc. So not only is one or more hand tied up for the phone but they aren't even looking at the road.

About 3 years ago they actually added a motor vehicle law prohibiting touching your phone while you're on the road, technically the only legal way to make a call or write a text would be to pull off the road and put your vehicle in 'park'. The part I didn't get was that we already had that rule in place - it was "driving without due care and attention". But still people don't do it, still they get in accidents and still they are so distracted that they get a $300 (not exactly sure on that amount) ticket because they didn't see the cop standing there because.... they were distracted!  It's just so crazy isn't it?

Once I was involved in a car accident that was completely not my fault and I was so convinced that the driver had a phone to his ear which is why he didn't see me when he changed lanes that I told the insurance claim adjuster to request the other driver's cell phone records to prove he was on the phone at the time of the accident - I don't know what happened with that, but suddenly my claim was processed with 100% liability to the other party. Huh.

Good thing the police and the car designers are trying to take care of us because it looks like most of us can't figure it out. I assume this is a universal problem? Yes? No?

Nothing's Fair

Boy we sure have a mixed up world!

Story # 1 - Today on the radio they were talking about a lady that had to go to the bathroom really badly and used a restroom in a restaurant in Tennessee. There was a sign on the wall that said that the restroom was for paying customers or pay $5 to use. However after she used the facilities, she walked out. Someone tried to stop her and told her she needed to pay $5, she apparently shrugged it off and left. Then apparently a sheriff was given her licence plate number and tracked her down to give her a bill for $5.

Story # 2 - Jp and I were at the mall on Labour Day weekend, when we returned to our car a crappy POS was parked beside us and it was so close I couldn't really open the door. I was waiting for him to back out so I could get in but Jp thought I was having trouble opening the door so he reached across the car from the inside to open it, and gave a little push; I tried to catch the opening door but it ended up touching the car beside us. A month later we get a call from the insurance company telling us to come in. Some old guy sitting in a shop reported our licence plate to the insurance agency, telling them it was a 'hit and run'. The girl who owned the car was given our licence plate number. The insurance company determined that we had chip of paint missing from the edge of our door that exactly matched a mark on another car and we owed $900 for her the repair of her door. Six months went by without a word from anyone so we assumed the POS car owner had decided not to bother fixing the minuscule door ding. NOPE. A letter arrived in the mail yesterday telling us that we owed for the repair and we'd receive another letter with the final cost. Are you kidding me???

We have murderers that get through trial without a jail term and chronic drug offenders hurting people or stealing property but we're going to use a sheriff to track down someone to pay $5 to pee, or put several hours of labour chasing down the tiniest door ding? I tell you the next time I see some mom unloading her car full of kids who lets her door hit mine (and it's happened a lot over the years) you bet I'm going to call it in to the insurance company.

Sign Monkeys

This is most fascinating - it's a 1935 Film on the Sign Monkeys, men who worked on the lit up Chevrolet sign in Chicago. It's only 7 minutes long but filled with terrific lingo and tells an amazing story of these skillful climbers

What are the odds?

Around February, we bought a new car and about 1 month later the windshield was hit with a rock. For the next couple of weeks, while we were waiting for a new windshield to arrive (there are not too many windshields around for 2012 cars yet) the crack traveled up and across the window.

Finally on Friday a new windshield was installed.

But then, less than 24 hours later: 

Believe me there were some blue words said about this!!!! Rock chip #2!!!! For all you long time drivers, how many rocks have hit your windshield and bounced right off? It's not that common for them to actually chip the window - at least not in my experience. But a second chip this quickly? I think that's just crazy.

I would have thought there would have been a better chance to have won the lottery than to get second rock chip this quickly. It's not like we're driving logging roads either!

Saying Good-bye to Heidi

First, I’ll start by telling you that Heidi was a car - my 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit

And yes, I had named it. If that seems strange to you just Google ‘naming your car’ for more examples of names people give to their vehicles: Bessie, Jelly Bean, Big Red, etc.

Anyway, back to Heidi. She wasn’t mine to begin with; Jp had picked her out as he thought she’d be a good economical car being a standard and a Diesel. He didn’t drive manual transmissions but figured it wouldn’t be so hard to learn. So he bought the car, and I drove it home. He tried it for a bit and then decided he didn’t like driving standard and since I absolutely love shifting gears, we traded cars.

We had a few hiccups in the beginning being that she was old; little things like a wire disconnecting from the fuel pump leaving me on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway (luckily near an exit so the tow truck could get me pretty easily). Trust me, when I tell you – if you have a car older than 10 years, you must get a membership to a Roadside Assistance Program (we have BCAA).

Compared to new cars things were underpowered, like my headlights, which were pretty dim - luckily most of the roads I drove on where pretty well lit. And the fan was underpowered – on a rainy day, of which we have many, I’d have to drive with my window open because I’d fog up making visibility a concern. I always kept a pair of gloves in my car and made sure I had a warm coat. Driving in the winter in below zero temperatures with the window down was not fun. If I had to transport one of my dogs, I most definitely had to drive with the window down and they’d fog me up so fast! In the summer, I’d roast at every red light/stop sign because there was no airflow – again, not a fun experience if I had a hot dog in the back seat. My wipers took about 4 seconds to go from the bottom to the top, if I put it on high – maybe 2.5 seconds? And there was drip on my right foot, so I couldn’t move because I’d have to keep it on the gas pedal.

By now you’re starting to wonder why I kept this car. Well after a couple of visits to the Volkswagen dealer we got her running really well and I didn’t have any mechanical problems with her the last couple of years. And because I didn’t drive too much and I could get almost 800 kms to a 30litre tank of diesel, I only had to get gas about 6 times a year – no kidding! And did I mention I loved driving a standard transmission?

I didn’t think I had complained too much about her, but according to Jp I did and he said he was tired of hearing about it. Plus every time I had to drive more than 20 minutes away from home, he’d worry that I’d make it back so he’d rearrange his schedule so I could take his car for the longer trips. Then recently we bought a new car, and the Rabbit was no longer needed. Because it was so old, he convinced me I couldn’t sell it for very much - however, when I looked on the internet I found lots of people who loved the old Rabbits, and mine was in really good shape. But then I was faced with taking out want ads and going through the whole process of people calling and test driving and all that selling stuff and he persuaded me to put it in the Scrap-it Program. And so, reluctantly I did.

Friday was the day I had to turn her in. She hadn’t run for a while and I had to call BCAA to jump start her, and then we headed to Chilliwack to the nearest scrap dealer who participated in the program. We had a good drive, she ran well, shifted well and it was difficult to turn in a car that looked good, ran good and who’s only major fault was that she was old. She passed Air Care with low emissions ratings but still according to this program, old vehicles had to go off the road due to emissions.

I was not happy signing her over to the scrap yard. And when I drove away, I was all verklempt (that’s really the best way to describe it) - I know it’s just a car, but it was an emotional moment for me.

So Goodbye Heidi, and I’m sorry.

There is no turning back. I didn’t want to do it. I’m sorry that you served me well, and now they’re going to crush you just because you’re old. I’m sorry I couldn’t find another person who would keep you going. You are gone but not forgotten.