Why is everyone in such a hurry?

I may be imagining things but as years go by, it seems like eveybody on the road is in more and more of a hurry to get somewhere all the time.

Some may have a reason to be in a hurry, maybe they are late for work, there could be a medical emergency or maybe they just really really have to pee.

 Whatever the reason, don't let your situation effect the safety of others on the road

Make sure your following distance is sufficient (Two seconds between vehicles as a minimum)

 Don't let your thoughts or anything else in your vehicle distract you from the dangers of the road

 

Everyone wants to get home safe after all.

HOV Lanes - for High Occupancy Vehicles

 Finally, after two years of road construction our local HOV Lanes are open.

 

These "high occupancy vehicle lanes" are supposed to help relieve the rush hour congestion that persists most of the day heading into or out of Toronto.

I've been using both the HOV lanes and regular traffic lanes for a few months now and have noticed a few things.

They harbor some of the most arrogant, ignorant, unsafe, inconsiderate, brain-dead, idiots on the planet.

For some reason about one in ten users seem to have no regard for the law governing traffic and HOV lane use and don't realize that driving inches from my bumper will slow me right down below the speed limit even though I may have been doing well over the limit.

Every few minutes I see a car jump over the double solid "do not cross" lines and more often than not, it's a single person using it as his own personal passing lane.

Then there is the family that goes into the HOV lane because they have a car full of kids, the fact that the traffic is going twenty miles an hour faster doesn't bother them in the least cause they can't see behind them anyway with all the activity and distractions going on inside their vehicle..

Is It Spring Yet?

 Is It Spring Yet?

  

OK . . . so I have finally come out of hibernation and it's still cold out. What's up with that, I thought we were getting global warming but this winter is taking forever to go away.

The drive belt broke on my snowblower a couple of weeks ago with the last snow.

I guess it's as good of a time as any to say to WATCH OUT for motorcycles - second nature in the south where bikes are on the road all year but in the Northern States and Canada, you don't see too many motorcycles in the snow.

  

Be extra careful checking your mirrors and always check your blind spots before changing lanes or making sudden unsignaled turns

 

  Drive Safe and let them Arrive Alive

Here comes the snow

Winter is coming and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it.

All you can do is prepare for what's ahead.

Hey Buffalo, did you get enough snow yesterday or you want some more?

These shots were on I 90 near Buffalo just a different storm.

 

I used to drive a truck through Buffalo to Syracuse every day and saw some pretty ominous lake effect snow events like they just had yesterday which stranded motorists for more than ten hours along Interstate 90.

 

One particular trip through that stretch I saw more cars and trucks in the ditch or stuck in snow drifts across the road than I saw actually driving, fortunately I had a heavy load and was driving a ten wheeler that could drive through almost anything.

 

The amazing thing about these Lake Effect snow storms is that thirty miles up-wind on the other side of the lake, it can be a bright sunny day although very very cold as in the scene below which dumped four feet of snow on Buffalo in just a few hours.

 

In this scene, a cold wind is at your back blowing directly over Lake Ontario towards Buffalo, first forming streamers of what looks like steam rising off the lake and quickly forming a thick cloud almost like a dense fog bank just hanging several hundred yards off shore. That "fog bank" is the origin of an intense lake effect snow band that paralyzed Buffalo for days about fifteen years ago. I took this shot on returning from Syracuse after spending about three hours getting past Buffalo Airport.

Be ready for whatever you may encounter in winter driving or better yet, stay home and keep warm and toasty.

That's what I plan to do.

Construction,Construction, Construction

Each night I drive my son to work at the Ford plant near Toronto so I spend some time every night on the QEW Highway.

For anyone that uses the QEW, they know construction is the norm through the Oakville stretch.
Recently the timing of my trips put me in the thick of the congestion to get through the area. Miles and miles just idling along with the thousands of other drivers wasting fuel and polluting the air.


Alas, a change of shift, my son goes in a bit earlier now so I leave a little earlier. Now I see the construction crews just arriving with their coffee in hand planning out their strategy for causing absolute traffic chaos  paralyzing the west end of the city.

Back Off - Keep your distance

Just a Reminder to leave lots of room between vehicles on the highway and other roadways.

Most of the accidents I see are because someone was too close to someone else or traveling too fast and did not have enough time to react to slowing or stopping traffic.

I have always recommended 2 to 3 seconds between vehicles to allow safe reaction time.
 

Extra distance should be added in poor weather conditions along with lower speeds in general to make it a little safer for everybody on the road.

Drive safe, make sure everyone gets there.

New Retro Look of the International Lonestar Trucks

 .

I just love the retro look of the new International Lonestar Trucks.

As it turns out, my former employer LMT Transportation Services called me to come take some photos of their new fleet of trucks including their Lonestar daycabs for their website.

I was their Safety and Compliance guy for some years but I still take care of their site.

They rounded off the fleet with International Prostars for Over The Road.

And they've still got a bunch of pretty trucks for the Machinery Moving Division like this Kenworth

and some shiny Peterbilts

 

Toronto G20 destruction, violence, tear gas

WOW! I  am sure glad I don't work there anymore.

The G20 anarchist protesters in Toronto are burning police cars in the streets and Riot police just watch.

Everybody has the right to free speech but these idiots should be rounded up carted away for a long time.

There goes tear gas

Toronto G20 activist violence

Why do they do it?

Just watching live news coverage in Toronto of violence breaking out.
They are talking about vandalism at Yonge St. and Dundas. Normally about the busiest pedestrian intersection in Canada.

About 18 years ago I managed a bar at the exact location.

There goes another police car on fire.

G20 protester violence, police cars burning in the street

I'm watching two police cars on fire in Toronto outside the security perimeter.

G - 20 Summit

The World Leaders are coming to Fortress Toronto for the G20 Summit this weekend.


















With security costing a BILLION DOLLARS, this should be the most secure area on the planet!















Various protesters and activists have vowed to disrupt the event, I'm glad I live at least 40 miles from the epicenter  

 Should be fun.

Forget the Gadgets While You're Driving

Forget all those fancy electronic gadgets while you are driving, they are dangerous.

Most jurisdictions have either banned or are considering a ban on the use of hand-held devices like cell phones.

Need I Say More

 

Drive Safe, Keep Everyone Alive!

More of that "Blue" stuff

 
Looks like another wave of that "blue" stuff going across the Midwest, maybe this one won't be so mean to Washington, but I think I might be manning MY shovel this time.

I'm finished with the cold this year, when the Bar B Q won't light because the propane is too cold, it's time for a little sunshine and longer days to warm things up a little.

Drive careful in that blue stuff, it can be hard to see sometimes.

http://ezee.ca for Road Safety Information

Headline News puts Baby Gabriel over Haiti?

Looking for news on Haiti, I came across Nancy Grace on HLN - What used to actually be a news channel "Headline News"

I find it hard to believe that Nancy Grace squawking away about some missing baby aparently kidnapped or something is more news worthy than the disaster unfolding in Haiti where THOUSANDS of people DIED - Good Call HLN.

Years ago, Headline News I received was a half hour rotation of actual news that seemed to be updated with real news through the night which is why I bought that cable package, I never watch HLN anymore with the garbage they spew out, last night and tonight are a good example with their LACK of coverage (My Cable Network anyway).