Some kL oar By Trevor Doré any students who attend Douglas College live far enough away from campus that taking public transit just simply isn’t practical. The time that it would take to arrive by bus or by SkyTrain in some cases is double the time it takes to drive. For some students, the decision to comfort and convenience. The ability to get up and go whenever accompanied by the luxury of single occupancy is simply priceless. For others, it comes down to a simple cost-benefit analysis. Is the extra time spent taking transit really worth the potential savings? A vehicle can provide efficient comfortable transportation provided it is maintained properly. The following are some tips on how to keep your vehicle ready and reliable: * Fluids: the number one most important thing is fluid maintenance— fluids are the lifeblood of all automobiles. o Engine Oil: maintaining a proper engine oil level will significantly increase the lifespan of your vehicle and is easy to check when filling up with gas. Changing your engine oil and filter every 5000 kilometres will make the engine bulletproof and increase the resale value of your vehicle. Many places offer oil change services that are quick and cheap. If you do nothing else—do this! MP g ,-- Car maintenance drive rather than take transit is a matter of o Coolant: somewhat like our bodies, vehicles run best when they are hydrated. Not enough coolant can cause your engine to overheat in the summer and run cold during the winter. If you have an aluminum engine make sure to use aluminum compatible anti-freeze (it will say so on the bottle). If you're thinking water will do the trick, think again. While it is okay as a temporary fix in the summer, if you forget to change it in the winter you could be left with a cracked engine block, which works great as a boat anchor. o Others: brake fluid, clutch fluid and transmission fluid are all very important. It is important to ensure that they are always at the proper level and changed at proper intervals. Windshield washer fluid, while it is not necessary for the proper function of the vehicle, it is necessary for the safe operation—make sure it is topped up, especially during the winter months. ¢ Body: a well-maintained auto body can enhance aesthetics as well as performance. Keeping your vehicle cleaning will prevent corrosion. This is especially important in the winter months when corrosive salts and sands are spread on the roads. These corrosive materials will eat away Pres at the paint and expose the bare metal, eventually resulting in rust. These are just the basics and most of this Rust is automotive cancer—once information and more can be found in it starts to spread it’s hard to your owner’s manual. If you are having stop and can have devastating any difficulties with the maintenance results. Wax is a great way to or are not comfortable doing it on your protect and maintain that new car own, take your vehicle to the local garage finish. A clean vehicle is also a where the friendly mechanics— who have more aerodynamic, fuel-efficient all of the tools—will gladly give you a vehicle. hand. * Tires: tires are constantly in Remember, repairs may seem like a contact with the pavement, which __ burden but if left unchecked, they could causes constant wear. Maintaining _lead to the demise of your entire vehicle; proper tire pressure will help that $200 bill you were once looking at reduce this wear, prolong the life has all of a sudden become a $2000 bill. of your treads and increase fuel Every time you do something or efficiency. Tire gauges are cheap have something done to your vehicle, and easy to use. If you notice that make note of it. When it comes time to they are a little low, be sure to top _ sell your vehicle, you will be able to them up the next time you are a show that all of the regular maintenance gas station. has been done—a surefire selling feature. S Growing problem of jaywalking needs to be addressed We’ve been successful in discouraging drunk drivers; why not jaywalkers? By Siavash Emamzadeh hen it comes to the number of public awareness campaigns, jaywalking often takes a back seat to other offences such as drinking and driving. While there’s nothing wrong with that, there does seem to be a shortage of frequent, large-scale warnings about the dangers of jaywalking. It would be well worth the effort to remind people about the immediate consequences of illegally crossing the street because as it stands, the act is easily observable at almost any given time. Just recently in fact, I saw a rather eye-popping example of this brand of unlawfulness when a woman pushing a stroller while at the same time holding the crumpled end of a Chihuahua-guiding dog leash began to eye the other side of the street. I could tell that she wanted to cross the two adjacent lanes, hop over a thin concrete median and cross two more lanes to get to the opposite sidewalk. Fortunately, she somehow managed to complete this task despite having to hastily make her way across while keeping an eye on her stroller and trailing dog. Although I can’t identify with this woman, I do have a sense of what must be going on in the mind of jaywalkers. They must be thinking, “Time is money.” Why “It’s hard to expect that warnings alone can prevent people from a lot of people that puts their lives at risk. of the scene. It’s definitely enough to make But it would be reasonable to expect people think twice about crossing the street instances of jaywalking to trim down anywhere else than a designated crosswalk. over time. One way to do this is to mimic Certainly, people will be less inclined some of the campaigns aimed at curbing to jaywalk if they are regularly reminded drinking and driving. In particular, staging of and really understand the severity of its a mock accident of a jaywalker-automobile dangers. After all, when it comes to the issue of car-pedestrian incidents, it’s a two- way Street: drivers should avoid alcohol and unlawfully crossing the street. After all, jaywalking is like the pedestrians should avoid jaywalking. criminal equivalent of an epidemic. It’s a behaviour carried out by a lot of people that puts their lives at risk.” take the time to go as far as the pedestrian crosswalk when I can just cross the street now? Ironically, their motto is inconsistent with what they do. Jaywalkers risk being seriously injured or killed on a regular basis, so any remaining time or money is always at stake. Furthermore, it’s hard to expect that warnings alone can prevent people from unlawfully crossing the street. After all, jaywalking is like the criminal equivalent of an epidemic. It’s a behaviour carried out by encounter may prove to be very effective in getting the message across. As a matter of fact, I’m reminded of a police incident that I once witnessed. I vividly remember the image of a person’s body lying on the ground in the midst of police cars and caution tape. Now, even though people know that mock accidents are not real, the re- creations can be terrifyingly realistic—it’s not uncommon for the portrayals to be gory. Viewing them can trigger strong emotions and lead to a prolonged memory