An example of a home garage.Stanley Munn Residents of Sacramento County may be in a bit of a bind the next time they elect to take on a car repair in their own garage. At issue are the countys zoning codes, some of which are worded with a vagueness that would make a politician proud.First expounded upon at the Grassroots Motorsports forum and brought into the mainstream consciousness by the gearheads at Jalopnik, the lawmakers have cleaved the activity of auto repair into two buckets: minor and major.Minor automotive repair is listed as including brake part replacement, minor tune-ups, change of oil and filter, repair of flat tires, lubrication and other similar operations.Major repairs are considered anything outside that scope, plus body or painting work of vehicles or vehicle parts. This is presumably meant to ward off neer-do-wells from setting up a chop shop or paint booth in their backyard.Heres the sticky part, though. The zoning law goes on to state it is unlawful to engage in even minor repair under the following circumstances:If using tools not normally found in a residence; When conducted on vehicles registered to persons not currently residing on the lot or parcel; Conducted outside a fully enclosed garage and resulting in any vehicle being inoperable for a period in excess of twenty-four hours. Number one on that list has a few people up in arms. What constitutes tools not normally found in a residence? Is it a welder? Air tools? Torque wrench? All of those reside in your authors suburban garage and see weekly use.The code goes on to say that The chemicals involved in major automobile repair can pollute our neighborhoods and endanger the health and wellbeing of our residents. Fair enough, as no one would want a person pouring motor oil or gallons of DuPont Hot Hues down the sewer drain.But its easy to see how haphazard enforcement of this code can get out of hand, especially when it goes on to say that this kind of activity increases vehicle traffic and the visual impact can negatively impact property values. Until the long arm of The Man comes knocking on my garage door, Ill continue giving my tools a
Origin: County in California makes it almost illegal to repair your car at home
your
Reminder: Your passenger has to be breathing if you’re using the HOV lane
An old hearse in front of a crumbling warehouse.Getty People have been trying to beat the High-Occupancy Lane rules since the light-traffic stretches of pavement were introduced, conniving all sorts of wacky carpooling schemes to try and get in front of the gridlock on their commute.According to the LA Times, the latest trick tried Stateside involved counting a corpse in a casket in the back of a hearse as a passenger, even if their destination may be a little more final.Trooper Travis Smaka of the Nevada Highway Patrol apparently pulled over a black Chrysler minivan July 1 that appeared to only have one person sitting in the front, without a passenger, zipping down the HOV.Smaka asked for the drivers license and registration, and then for an explanation as to how exactly he qualified for carpool-lane use; the driver nodded and motioned to the back of the van.Oh, you have a deceased in the back? the trooper replied. He did. Then the trooper had to tell the mortuary driver that, well, corpses dont count.Yes, its a person, but theyre not in a seat and theyre not living and breathing, another trooper, Jason Buratczuk, told the Times. What if the dead were in the passenger seat? quizzed the reporter on the story. Buratczuk shot back: Then the HOV violation is the least of your concerns.HOV lane enforcement is being tightened up in Nevada, the newspaper reports, and now carries a fine of US$250; monitoring now occurs all day, not just during morning and evening rush hour.Today we stopped a local funereal home hearse in the HOV lane. The driver had the dearly departed in the back, he thought the deceased could be counted as two people. I guess we should clarify this, living, breathing people count for the HOV lane. The driver was given a warning pic.twitter.com/OQms0ktl8t NHP Southern Command (@NHPSouthernComm) July 1, 2019High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes are made to decrease fossil fuel usage and pollution by reducing the number of cars on the roads. If your passengers are instead on their way to becoming fossil fuels themselves? Were afraid you might just have to wait in traffic with the rest of the pre-deceased.Smaka ended up letting the hearse driver off with a warning. Smakas answer when the driver insisted he had a passenger on board? Hes not with us
Origin: Reminder: Your passenger has to be breathing if you’re using the HOV lane
Put on Your Judgy-Pants: A particular shade of green you’re waiting for?
A police truck pulls over a distracted driver in a Jeep in Burlington, Ontario in June 2019Halton Regional Police Most of us have done it. Mind wandering a little, a long light finally turns green, and we’re still sitting there, wondering what that plant is called or when the city moved that mailbox. Usually a terse blast of a horn behind you gets you moving.But these days, it’s more likely that stuck driver is checking their phone. That’s what happened with Constable Marc Taraso in Burlington, Ontario recently. He watched a driver sit at a green light for eleven seconds, apparently checking out a website. The officer was right beside the driver. Now, that’s some engrossing website.The location is a side street coming into a major arterial route. Those lights can take some time to change, and I’ll guess our driver lives in the area and sits at that light frequently. We get a little bored and comfortable close to home. On my way into court this morning; this driver was stopped at Walkers/Thomas Alton; the driver was too busy reading the phone to notice they were sitting at a green light; for 11 seconds; with me directly beside them. Charged with #DistractedDriving fail to proceed green light pic.twitter.com/9t3NM66u6Z Cst. Marc Taraso (@MT9345) June 25, 2019However, he’s now busted with distracted driving, as well as failure to proceed. The distracted charge alone will cost our pokey driver $615, three demerits and a three-day licence suspension. As always, there are three sides to every story. Put on your
Origin: Put on Your Judgy-Pants: A particular shade of green you’re waiting for?
BMW wants your EV to sound like a ‘Batman’ movie
Composer Hans Zimmer working with BMW on a new sound for its electric vehicles.BMW Film soundtrack virtuoso Hans Zimmer has partnered up with BMW to create the sounds of electric cars for the future, to keep drivers as connected to their electric vehicle as they are their gas-powered ones.One of the greatest advantages to having an electric car is that it doesnt make any noise, making for a more relaxing and luxurious drive.For some, though, the lack of sound is a detriment to the driving experience, and if BMW is going to claim its still building The Ultimate Driving Machine, its going to have to do something about the sounds that its electric cars make.Enter Hans Zimmer, who is partnering up with Renzo Vitale, acoustic engineer and sound designer at the BMW Group, to create the sound for the BMW Vision M NEXT.We want to get BMW IconicSounds Electric in position for customers who value emotional sound, said Jens Thiemer, senior vice-president BMW Brand. With BMW IconicSounds Electric they will be able to experience the joy of driving with all their senses.For his par, the composer behind the Dark Knight Batman soundtrack says BMW is in his blood. I have always been a BMW enthusiast. As a kid, I used to recognize my mother coming home by the sound of her BMW, said Zimmer.I am thrilled to get the chance to design the sound of future electric BMWs and create emotion for the future electric driving experience.So Hans Zimmer is essentially going to create the sound that future generations of electric cars will makethats pretty cool. If Zimmer can come up with a sound that even comes close to igniting as much passion as a 3.0-litre BMW straight-six, well be seriously
Origin: BMW wants your EV to sound like a ‘Batman’ movie
You can now drive a Tesla in a video game in your Tesla
Your battery-charging session is about to become a whole lot more interesting, as Tesla has just expanded its suite of video games to include a Mario Kart-style racing game that you can actually control with the pedals and steering wheel of your vehicle.Tesla shared a video over Twitter today showing the new game, called Beach Buggy Racing 2, being demonstrated by a woman in full racing gear sitting at a charging station.In the game, you drive a cartoon-ified Tesla that can collect power-ups and race against other Teslas, in a manner very much like Mario Kart.Your next charging session is going to be SO 👏 MUCH 👏 FUN 👏 pic.twitter.com/5YzSL36kCC Tesla (@Tesla) June 18, 2019As much fun as it is, we have to be a bit of a downer on the whole thing, dont we? Every Tesla model still has a direct connection from the steering wheel to the steering rack, which means when youre yanking at the wheel trying to best your last lap time, your real wheels are moving, potentially causing wear on various steering components, as well as your tires. Were also certain its only a matter of time before somebody either tries to play the game while actually driving; or a computer malfunction switches the game off while youre charging, causing you to hit the accelerator unintentionally and rocket into the shopping mall directly ahead of your car.Yes, we are being a bit cynical about a video game, but weve pretty much lost faithin Tesla ownersat this point.The game is also available for mobile devices and can be found on the Apple Store and the Google Play
Origin: You can now drive a Tesla in a video game in your Tesla
Don’t fear taking your EV for a summer road trip: B.C. Hydro
Tesla Model 3Tesla Michael Stanyer has driven a battery-powered vehicle from his Vancouver home to Tofino and to the Kootenays and he has no fear of being stranded without a charging station. “It’s something you have to plan for,” he said. “It’s totally doable.” He said there are 1,000 charging stations in British Columbia and “it’s rare that you would be more than 100 kilometres away from a charging station.” His 2017 Volkswagen E Golf can go about 200 km on a single charge in city driving, though that changes if he drives into higher elevations, for instance. Stanyer, a program coordinator for Plug In B.C., may be bolder than most at venturing beyond their commute in an EV. A B.C. Hydro survey found “range anxiety” is keeping almost 70 per cent of drivers from buying an electric vehicle, according to an online survey done for the energy agency by Angus Reid and released June 14. But B.C. Hydro said they needn’t worry, as the majority of road trips taken by people in B.C. are within the range that most newer vehicles can travel on a single charge. “Most trips are 300 km one way, so it’s well within the range of a single charge,” said B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Fish. The survey found respondents were concerned about the availability of charging stations and also worried that having to stop to recharge the battery would significantly add to the length of a trip. Fish said there are about 170 fast-charging stations, 58 belonging to B.C. Hydro, that can top up a battery to within 80 per cent capacity within 30 minutes. There is access to the fast-charging stations along the most-travelled highways in the province, including between Vancouver and Kelowna, Abbotsford and Whistler, Victoria and Tofino, and Revelstoke and Cranbrook, she said. And 96 per cent of BC Hydro’s fast-charging stations are within 300 metres of a major road or highway and 80 per cent are within 50 metres of other services, such as food, washrooms or other shopping, she said. And there are an additional 1,000 “level 2” public charging stations in the province, which take about four to six hours to restore a battery, said Fish. EV sales doubled in B.C. the first three months of this year, compared to the first quarter in 2018, and they make up 15 per cent of new car sales. That’s double the national average. There are about 20,000 EVs in BC. The average EV has a range of about 250 km and that is expected to increase to 440 km by 2022. The majority of out-of-town trips B.C. drivers take are under 300 km, B.C. Hydro
Origin: Don’t fear taking your EV for a summer road trip: B.C. Hydro
These toys are a great excuse to spend time together with your kids
Your kid probably has enough toys to rival a daycare, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to act all rational and decide they don’t need any more play things. With birthdays and holidays and overly generous grandparents, it’s basically impossible to curb the toy mountain that continues to grow inside your house. What you do have some control over is the type of toys that wind up in your kid’s possession. Some of these toys and games will be for them, but we have a sneaking suspicion you’ll wind up stealing some of these things the second you put them to bed. Better yet, with Father’s Day around the corner, you can probably coax your kid into buying you at least one of the gems on this list. Candylab Toys Woodie Redux Candylab Toys makes aesthetically pleasing wooden toy cars and trucks from solid beech wood. They’re minimal, colourful and look so sleek. Honestly, you’ll probably rather this thing stays put on a shelf in your kid’s room rather than have her or him smash it around on your hardwood floors…. You know what, you should probably just keep it safe in your grown-up bedroom or on your office desk instead. LEGO Bugatti Chiron Yes, this Bugatti Chiron will require you to assemble a whopping 3,599 pieces, but that’s really nothing when compared to LEGO’s largest set, the 7500-piece Millenium Falcon. Perspective. When complete, the LEGO Bugatti Chiron is over five inches tall and 22 inches long with moving pistons, a cockpit you can access and even a working hearshift. Razor Crazy Cart XL The Crazy Cart XL by Razor is the brand’s answer to parents complaining that their kid’s Crazy Cart didn’t properly fit them. Well, this Crazy Cart XL model can fit a rider up to 240lbs and 6’4” in height. The electric-powered go-kart-like toy has a gas pedal, steering wheel as well as a drift bar so you can do donuts for as long as your stomach will let you. Modarri 3-Pack Car Kit Modarri’s car kits are like crafts for little (and big) people who love four-wheeled machines. The multi-piece kits are the best because your kids (and you) can mix and match various frames, hoods, wheels, seats and fenders and come up with thousands of unique car designs. They go together with four simple screws and have a patented finger-steering system, so kids of all ages (and, yes, you) can enjoy them. Wall Climber RC Car Yes, a car that can climb walls and cling to the ceiling sounds like something you’d have lusted after as an eight-year-old, and yes, it okay if it sounds like something you want today. The toy has an ultra-light body and powerful vacuum-like suction that helps it drive on most smooth surfaces. It even has LED lights to drive it in the dark. Traxxas Stampede Car If monster truck rallies amp you up, then chances are, so will this bad ass rig. The Traxxas monster truck has top speeds of nearly 40km/hr, comes with a waterproof body and can easily motor through grass, up dirt ramps and right over curbs. You should probably get two so you and your mini don’t have to fight for a turn. Team Sonic Racing Depending on your era, Sonic the Hedgehog is perfectly nostalgic. An all-new multiplayer racing video game that features the speed-hungry mammal was released on May 21 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch, and some are even comparing it to the iconic Mario Kart. Kid O Go Car Babies and toddlers deserve to play with automotive toys that aren’t from Paw Patrol. Kid O cars are ergonomically designed for little hands to master. The plastic is PVC-, BPA-, and phthalates-free, so they can lick/bite/gnaw away, but best of all, the design is so cool they could really pass for decor displayed in your living room. LEGO James Bond Aston Martin DB5 If the LEGO Bugatti Chiron is too intimidating, maybe start with the James Bond Aston Martin DB5. It’s just 1,295 pieces, but is still detailed with the trunk, hood and doors that open and close as well as a rotating license plates and “bullet-proof” rear-windows. Kid Galaxy Morphibians This is more than a remote control car that you drive around on the sidewalk. The Morphibian is a 44 amphibian car that can drive through water, as well as mud, sand and grass. The special paddle wheels let it easily move through puddles and all-terrain tires help navigate through mucky conditions.
Origin: These toys are a great excuse to spend time together with your kids
Take your dad to a car show this Father’s Day
The Italian/French car show at Waterfront Park in North Vancouver is one of many taking place on Sunday across the province in honour of dads.Cam Hutchins With Sunday being Father’s Day we certainly have a great selection of shows taking place across the province this weekend. Victoria, Trail, Qualicum, Prince George, Kelowna, Vernon, and even Radium, the car events make this one of the greatest weekends of the year. And as always, I’ll be at the KMS Tools show in Coquitlam, and on Father’s Day proper it will be out to the big show in Mission to take photos. I love shooting the cars in motion and the Old Car Sunday in the Park in Mission is an amazingly large show with a huge variety of vehicles. In addition to your camera (and a kid, of course) take sunscreen and comfortable shoes. Last weekend I was at the Centennial Show Shine at my old school and ended up parking beside the “Poster Child” for bring your kid to a car show. Gord Odolinski has been driving his very cool Chevy shortbox pickup for years and almost always has his two sons with him. He came up to me and gave me an incredibly nice chrome hubcap, era correct for my ’66 Chevy truck. He claimed to have found it in a ditch, but it was way too nice. Then his younger son Trevor came up with a matching hubcap upside down and said, “Please sir, may I have some water in my dog dish hubcap for my dog”. These type of hubcaps are often referred to as “Dog Dish” and are what went on plain Jane models of cars and truck in the 60’s. Then his wife and older son Brendan show up with two more perfect hubcaps. He had a friend who had bought a truck to restore, but sadly it was too far gone for restoration and Gord was able to get me the caps for free. Brenden had years ago told me I had a nice truck, but added the early 1970’s hubcaps I had on it were “so wrong”. Now thanks to the Odolinski’s my truck is perfect! On Saturday I went out to the Langley Loafers Old Time Drags at Mission Speedway Park and walked through the pits while waiting for the racing to fire up. Everyone relies on Barry and Shelley Siebert’s mini donuts to keep going while at the track and not only did the couple recently get a new mini donut machine — they got a new racecar too. Barry grinned ear to ear when he told me he had never gone so fast in his life; a great run of 9.98 seconds at 134.28 mph in his Mopar Monster. This afternoon at the Sheraton in Langford, just outside Victoria, is the book launch of “Billy Foster The Victoria Flash”, plus a walk through the history of motor racing in British Columbia. Author Bob Kehoe of Portland will be signing copies and a there will be a few speeches about the history of racing in and around our province’s capital city. Billy Foster started racing at the local Speedway, was the first Canadian to race in the Indy 500, raced USAC Stock Car Division and was a good friend of Mario Andretti. Foster died in a tragic crash testing at the Riverside Raceway in California in 1967. There will be two of Foster’s race cars on display, one used at the Mt. Doug Hill Climbs, and the other the Indy car Billy raced at the Indy 500, both restored by Gord Alberg, a friend of Billy Foster. I for one cannot think of a better Fathers Day present than this book. Other highlights of this weekend are the Italian and French Father’s Day show in North Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver Motorsport Society’s Father’s Day Car Show at the Burnaby Heritage Village. And don’t forget to bring a kid — and your father! SHOWS JUNE 14 What: Billy Foster- The Victoria Flash book launch party Where: Langford Sheraton, 829 McCallum Rd., Langford When: 1 p.m. Admission: Free Info: 250-216-6575, 250-818-4150 or trakside99@shaw.ca JUNE 14 16 What: Seaside Cruizers 25th Annual Father’s Day Show Shine Where, Qualicum Beach When: Friday Cruise Night. Parksville Beach staging at 5 p.m., cruise starts at 7 p.m.; Saturday Poker Run from Parksville Beach. Staging at 9 a.m., departure at 11 a.m. Saturday Street Dance, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. downtown Qualicum Beach; Sunday Show Shine, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Downtown Qualicum Beach Admission: Free Info: 250-752-0012 or info@seasidecruizers.com Website: http://www.seasidecruizers.com JUNE 15 What: KMS Tools 24th Annual Charity Show Shine Where: KMS Tools, 110 Woolridge St., Coquitlam When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: Free Registration: 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. $15 and open to pre-‘72 or rare/unusual Info: 604-522-5599 or lori.pridham@kmstools.com Website: kmstools.com What: Driven Vancouver 2019 Where: PNE Forum, Vancouver When: 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission: $20 Info: 780-910-6266 or info@repmedia.ca Website: drivenshow.ca What: BC Highland Games Scottish Festival British Car Show Where: Lafarge Lake Park, Coquitlam When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: Adults $15; Sir/students $12; Youth (6-12) $5 Info: simon.scott43@me.com Website: bchighlandgames.com What: Fraser Valley Motorcycle Show Shine Where: Highstreet Mall, Abbotsford
Origin: Take your dad to a car show this Father’s Day
New Porsche program lets you dress your 911 in racing livery
There are numerous ways to customize the look of your car. You could go to the extreme and hire a street artist to spray paint your vehicle like this Lamborghini Aventador SVJ owner did. Or you could take the more popular and less drastic approach and wrap it in vinyl. Porsche, for one, believes the second strategy is the wisest. And to make the process of wrapping its vehicles easier to visualize and execute, the brand has developed a new digital program called Second Skin, which allows buyers to custom-wrap their car with a choice of some of the brand’s most well-known racing liveries. Second Skin (available exclusively for German buyers at the moment) is a digital configurator that puts previously unavailable colours, select racing liveries or even custom-designed art on Porsche vehicles for owners who don’t want the basic Carrera White or Racing Yellow. The program includes custom colours like Black Matte, Magnesium Satin, Olive Green, Sunset Gloss and more, as well as famous racing liveries like Martini Racing’s red, white and blue striped design; and Gulf Racing’s light blue and orange combo. For those who demand an even more bespoke experience, there’s also the option to create your own wrap. To demonstrate what this might look like, Porsche hired artist Richard Phillips to design a wrap for its Porsche-customer-team Project-1 car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The price of a complete livery design starts at 4,000 euros (about $6,000). When it launches in July, the configurator will include the Porsche 911 (both the 991.2 and 992), 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster. But the brand says it will eventually include its entire range of vehicles, as well as some from other
Origin: New Porsche program lets you dress your 911 in racing livery
Put on Your Judgy-Pants: The Tetris edition
A Subaru with an improperly loaded trailer in Huntsville, OntarioCentral Ontario OPP / Twitter Today’s Judgy-Pants is brought to you by the Huntsville OPP! We’ve all seen it. An underpowered car towing an unsafe trailer towards cottage country, bungee cords futilely trying to contain a cooler, a barbecue, a stack of lawn chairs, a mattress begging the rain to hold off. Trailers are tricky things; we don’t use them often, so tend to forget the tires on them get old whether you are running them or not, and that disuse and nibble-happy rodents can do quirky things to electrical connections. There are expert ways to pack a trailer. It starts with the trailer itself. It is not cool to take an old axle from your brother Bob’s Chev, some plywood from behind the shed, and rig one up. Are you kidding!! Think about the risk to others before you hit the road. Great work by OPP in Huntsville!! #HvilOPP ^JG pic.twitter.com/lxXJ8KuS8c OPP Central (@OPP_CR) June 4, 2019 In Ontario, trailers have to be plated and registered, but they aren’t inspected. That’s a problem, as we can see from today’s Judgy-Pants entrant. Who knows what’s underneath the contents of a house that’s been shoelaced to a skateboard? Everybody on the road is in danger when trailers are used improperly. The fine for an insecure load in Ontario is just $130; that’s about what it would cost to get a U-Haul, so maybe it’s time to up the fine and crack down on the Clampetts. According to Staff Sargeant John Paul Graham with Orillia OPP, the driver was charged with having an unsafe load, and charges related to documentation of the trailer. But, let’s judge! Take Our
Origin: Put on Your Judgy-Pants: The Tetris edition
All about car 