Friendly Fall Driving Reminder!
 

Friends! Now that early sunsets and slick roads are upon us, wanted to make sure to deliver a friendly reminder to put a thought into a couple things.

VISION will now be worse with the rain and early darkness.
You might want to wipe the rain off your windows/mirrors before hopping in, turning on the mirror heater, adding mirrors, and being more cautious.
It's all up to you!

TIRES are also key once it gets wet!
Check out the production date on your tires, it's a 4 digit number that tells you when they were made.
The US Department of Transportation recommends running tires for NO LONGER than 5 years.

Consider running winter rated All Weathers if you're in a place where the temperature is consistently below 7 degrees.
Michelin Premier also has some trick hidden sipes to maintain water runoff capacity even as it wears.

Lastly, HEADLIGHTS!
Often overlooked, but they get DIMMER over time before they completely go out.
It's recommended that you replace them every 2 years with the proper bulb (HIDs in Halogen housing has horrible beam pattern).
Any 'blue' bulb with a tint surrounding the filament will have worse light output (kinda like the strip of tint on your windshield), and worse longevity (filament runs hotter to compensate for the tint.) Philips +100 Xtremevisions are my personal recommendation.

Find YOUR application here: Philips Automotive Bulb Look-up | Find bulbs for your vehicle
If you run 9005/9006 bulbs, you can also consider shaving the tabs off of HIR bulbs, which provide even better output than 9006 +100s.

PROTIP: Simply dimming your interior lights will help you see the darker roads.

Cheers, and safe motoring this winter.

Also, turn on your headlights. Daytime running lights are no damn good, 'cause the most important lights on the vehicle, your tail lights are not on unless the headlights are physically turned on.

What's worse is, newer cars have dash lights that are always on and there's only a small idiot light that tells you that the headlights are on.

I make it a point to turn the headlights on as soon as daylight diminishes. Highway driving on wet roads, even in the middle of the day, headlights and tail lights are a must. Spray off of tires from your car and others make it impossible for other drivers to see you.

If you have a car with LED lights, it's not going to tax your electrical system at all.

i'll play devil's advocate and say that rear lamps are not necessary for city driving during ideal weather conditions until it's actually dark out.

assuming you can clearly see what's in front of you...you should not rely on others' rear lamps.

which falls roughly in-line with the law

as counter intuitive as it is, in heavy rain you should put on your sunglasses to cut down glare, you will be able to see further ahead.

I try to have my tail lights on in the rain because Vancouver drivers forget how to drive or see when it rains.

As roads get covered in rain, the road markings may disappear. Pay attention to where you are in your lane. Approach with caution when the road starts to curve. I've seen countless times when corners are cut, causing cars in the next lane to either slam on their brakes or veer onto the shoulder.

And for the love of God, don't change lanes when the road line is SOLID white!

Just turn on the rear light. Not too hard, cost barely anything and make your car a much safer target from being rear ended. Less taxing on the driver behind you too, which is key. The weather can be gloomy during the day, the light will make it easier to see you and perceive you as a moving target.

After reading this thread some more and being confused at first, I've always left my lights on the "auto" setting and thought all was good...

I guess what you guys are saying is that I should always turn headlights on manually? Especially if it's raining hard during the day?

My daily has auto lights as well but when it's raining I manually turn on the tails. Better safe than sorry right?

I definitely need to upgrade my headlights. The stock bulbs that came with my Civic are absolutely brutal. I may as well be using a flashlight out the side window.

Great post. Thank you.

Note. Effective Oct 1st:

You'll need winter tires by this weekend for out of town highways - NEWS 1130

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you’re driving on the Sea to Sky Highway and some other major highways around the province, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got your winter tires on, with the rules kicking in for the season this Saturday.

The provincial government recommends you do your research ahead of any journey to find out the requirements of the roads you’re taking.

“Drivers who travel on high mountain passes and designated routes where weather can suddenly change need to make sure their vehicles are winter ready,” says Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone. “We want to be certain drivers are prepared for unpredictable and changing driving conditions. Make sure you are using winter tires that are in good condition, with solid treads, and adjusting your speed to match road and weather conditions.”

You can check to see if your tires meet the criteria easily enough — they’ll have either a mountain snowflake or a mud and snow symbol.

Beyond getting the right rubber around your wheels, you’ll also want to ensure you’ve got the correct air pressure because the cold weather can cause that to drop. Keep in mind the rules are in effect until March 31st and if you break them you can be hit with a $121 fine.

And remember guys, MOTORCYCLES are still on the road, please be aware. I know once the weather turns people put us out of their minds and don't expect to see any bikes on the road, but some of us are still out there. Thanks.

Useless, IMO - should require the mountain snowflake symbol instead of the M+S symbol which almost every tire on the road has. M+S means absolutely nothing - some SUMMER tires have them. :rukidding:

What is a Mud and Snow Tire? - Ben's Blog | Tire Rack

agreed 100%.

When you're on the S2S, duffy lake, 97c, coq, and the crow's nest pass, you learn to take your winter driving seriously. I see accidents every winter caused by folks who are going too fast for the conditions, or haven't prepared their vehicles for the winter. It's sad when your winter prepped vehicle is hit by some dipshit who is still on all seasons.

Even though I swap to full winters in October, I'm still extremely hesitant to drive to work when there's a couple inches of snow on the ground for that exact reason.
It's not me that I'm worried about, it's that dope in his summer tires that's going to slam into me that's the problem.

I had a guy get a tire stuck in the ditch on our rural road a few years ago. So being the nice guy I am, I brought the tractor down to help pull him out of the ditch.

We got his car out, and that's when I noticed he had bald summer tires on his shitty firebird. Long story short, his girlfriend had to pick him up because his car wasn't going anywhere.

She got stuck and we had to push her car up the hill.

idiots.

hypa, where do you live? Curious about your tractor lol.

I'm from Langley.
I pulled him out in one of these. Minus the bailer though. I had the plow attachment on in anticipation of the weather.

https://www.deere.com/common/media/i...4E-642x462.png

:D

Thanks for this. My son goes to school out in UBC, so I'll let him know and looks like I'm buying these for him haha.

Legally, tires with the M+S symbol will do. Some summer tires have them, and the rating looks more at the tread pattern than how well it actually does in snow.

I'd personally recommend Nokian WRG3 or Nordman WR (which is basically the Nokian WRG2) - both of which you can get from Kaltire. They're all weather tires that have the true 'snowflake' winter symbol. Great for the light snow that Vancouver gets, and better than dedicated winters for the rain.

Glad your'e keeping your son safe!

Thanks for the clarification, much appreciated. I was going to look for full out blizzaks!!! Clearly not familiar with BC's legislation though, but I'll take a look at the Nokian's for sure. Thanks again.

if it's just for meeting requirements...you don't need them unless you're going up sea-to-sky/interior.
i'm assuming your son lives close to the campus

Yeah he does, but he heads up to Whistler and sometimes to Whitewater or somewhere by Kelowna to snowboard.

I think the all weather tires would be good so then he can use them all year around for when he comes back to Calgary in April/May for summer break.

Man, some bulbs are so bright, I can't tell if they have high beams on or if they're just really bright. lol.

Also, polishing your headlamp lens might help, if it's badly hazed.