When Is Tire Siping a Good Idea?

Posted on Nov 13, 2019 in Safety | 2 comments

My parents recently leased a new 2012 Subaru Legacy. They wanted a vehicle to replace their2000 Honda CR-V, which served them well through many harsh Pacific Northwest winters. This being their first winter with the car, they were interested to see how it did once the snow started piling up. Well, this week, they got their wish. With temps well below freezing...

Should Electric Vehicles Make Noise at Low Speeds?

Posted on Oct 10, 2019 in Safety | 1 comment

Imagine walking toward the entrance of your local grocery store when, as you pass the row of parked cars, you hear the clip-clop of an approaching horse. Surprised, you stand still and wait, not wanting to get run over by a Clydesdale. But instead of a majestic animal, a diminutive Nissan Leaf glides by, emanating the sound of hooves on pavement. It seems...

Cars Coming Soon: Volvo’s “Crash Proof” Car

Posted on Sep 9, 2019 in Safety | 1 comment

Volvo’s head of government affairs, Anders Eugensson, thinks cars should be more like horses: incapable of crashing into stuff. Eugensson said, The car of the future will be just like the farmer’s horse. The farmer can steer the horse and carriage but if he falls asleep the horse can still take him back home…. And if the farmer tries to steer the carriage...

How Chevy and Apple Might Stop “Webbing”

Posted on Aug 28, 2019 in Safety | 1 comment

Next to drinking and driving, texting while driving is the surest way to cause impairment in a driver’s ability to control a car and react to quickly changing traffic conditions. Now that smart phones have infiltrated nearly every section of humanity (hey, I just got one, which is a sure sign everyone else in the world already did), they are wreaking havoc on...

Best Sports Cars for Winter Fun

Posted on Jul 21, 2019 in Safety | 1 comment

2012 Audi TT RS At yesterday’s Thanksgiving festivities, my sister-in-law discreetly pulled me aside saying she had a question. In a tone of voice just beyond a whisper, she said, “I really like the new Subaru BRZ. It must be all-wheel-drive, because it’s a Subaru, right?” She looked hopefully at me, as though confirming her inquiry would result in a trip to...

How to Deal with Sandy’s Devastating, Nationwide Effects on Cars

Posted on Jun 22, 2019 in Safety | 4 comments

Water enters a parking garage in New York City The devastation of Hurricane Sandy is hard to witness. Lost lives and destroyed property put into perspective what is important in life, but they also force us to deal with the effects and consequences of natural disasters. After we make sure people are safe and the basic infrastructure of our cities is up and...

All Tires Should Self-Inflate

Posted on May 25, 2019 in Safety | 5 comments

Ever since the advent of tire pressure monitoring systems, I’ve thought tires should have the capability of self-inflating. If the car can know when the pressure is low and then alert the driver, it should be able to activate a system to re-inflate while driving, too. That bothers me every time the TPMS light illuminates on my dash, because it means I have to...

An Autobahn in America?

Posted on Apr 16, 2019 in Safety | 4 comments

A number of years ago some discussion took place about going back to a nationwide 55-mph speed limit on American highways. The idea, of course, was to increase the number of miles travelled per gallon of gasoline while decreasing the amount of emissions from the country’s fleet of motorcars. Obviously nothing ever came of that. In contrast, speed limits keep...

Car Pranks: The Good, the Bad and the NFL Rookie

Posted on Mar 5, 2019 in Safety | 5 comments

A car prank can be either one of the funniest things to do to a friend or one of the meanest and most expensive. When pranks are done right, they might cause a small inconvenience, but in the end, everyone laughs, and the only people out any money are the ones who committed the prank. Hopefully the cost isn’t any more than the price of a few rolls of plastic...

Falling Cars, Falling Records and Falling Snow Pikes Peak Hill Climb

Posted on Feb 10, 2019 in Safety | 3 comments

I’ve driven the Pikes Peak hill climb. Okay, maybe not the Hill Climb, in capital letters, like the one that took place on the Colorado mountain this weekend, but I’ve driven up Pikes Peak for an entirely separate occasion. It took me a good 30 minutes to negotiate the switchbacks, curves, dirt sections of road and harrowing vistas of road ending in sky. That...

Mind-Boggling Future Car Tech That Can Really Make a Difference

Posted on Jan 21, 2019 in Safety | 2 comments

I like in-car technology. To a point. I can’t live without heated seats, air conditioning and a pumping audio system, but back-up cameras, internet connectivity and touchscreens are all beyond the realm of necessity in my book. With each new model year, there are new techno bits placed in our cars that are meant to entertain and inform us, but usually just end...

Animal Collisions, Roadkill and Kangaroos

Posted on Dec 12, 2018 in Safety | 4 comments

The only animal I’ve ever killed was a cat. With my car. While running studded snow tires. I felt terrible, but it was dark out, and I just didn’t see the feline in time to even attempt saving its life. Since then I’ve come dangerously close to much larger animals: an elk on the side of a North Idaho highway and a number of bucks encroaching on I-90 in Montana...