Westworld Alberta

upfront WINTER Traction Action SNEAKERS OR IF YOU'RE DRIVING IN WINTER, you need an emergency kit in your trunk – no excuses. Buy one fully assembled at an AMA centre, or whip up your own with this handy checklist: Kit List First-aid book and kit Windup LED fl ashlight Road map Tools (wrenches, screwdriver and pliers) Booster cables Candles and matches Bungee cords and cable ties Warm gloves and socks Refl ective triangle Warning lights or road fl ares Duct tape Blanket Safety fl ags AMA's emergency roadside kit. THE CROSSWALK COUNTDOWN ONE Demerit, TWO Demerit, THREE Demerit, FOUR HOW MANY demerit points does it take to lose your licence in Alberta? Just 15. Licence demerits are issued, alongside fi nes, for traffi c violations. Failing to signal a lane change, for example, will net you two demerits and a $115 fi ne. Failing to stop for a stop sign? Three demerits and a $287 fi ne. Get caught speeding and you're looking at anywhere from three demerits (15 km/h over 12 WESTWORLD >> NOVEMBER 2011 the posted limit) to six demerits (50 km/h over). Careless driving, racing on the highway or passing a school bus will also sting you with six. Failing to remain at the scene of an accident carries the highest number, at seven demerits. The repercussions are more serious the faster the demerits accumulate. If you rack up 15 in two years, you lose your licence for a month. Get two suspensions in a year and you'll need a three-month bus pass. Get three suspensions in two years and you'll be bussing it for six months, and you may have to appear before the Alberta Transportation Safety Board. Demerits last for two years after the issue date, but drivers can reduce them sooner by taking an approved safe driving course, such as AMA's online demerit reduction course. –M.L. STOP, LOOK, LISTEN — advice we all remember for crossing the street. Some Alberta munici- palities are helping pedestrians follow this time-tested childhood advice by installing a new breed of crossing signal: the countdown timer. These signals display a second-by-second countdown in addition to the walking man and fl ashing hand so that pedestrians know how long they have to fi nish crossing before the light changes. The same rules apply for countdown signals 2 3 as for regular pedestrian crossings: begin cross- ing when you see the walking man. When you see the fl ashing hand (or the fl ashing hand with the countdown), you can fi nish crossing, but don't start. A solid hand means do not cross. The most important takeaway here: don't 4 5 sprint into the street when the hand is fl ashing, even if you can see there are 10 seconds left on the clock. Your mother will thank you. —M.L. iStock WINTER BOOTS? It's a no-brainer when you're heading out on a snowy day. So why wouldn't you take as much care with your wheels as you do with your feet? Winter tires, much like winter boots, improve braking, traction and directional control on slippery, icy surfaces, yet only three out of 10 Albertan drivers use them. All-season tires harden at around 7 C, which means they lose traction and won't stop as quickly as at higher temperatures. Winter tires — marked with the snowfl ake logo — are made with a softer rubber compound that grips the road down to –40 C. Think throwing on two winter tires will give you 50 per cent more traction? Not so much. Mixing and matching actu- ally reduces your overall grip, so always use four identical tires. —Matt Law

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