Obama’s Emissions Plan Fits Seattle Drivers

President Barack Obama made his message clear when he set new emission standards for new cars starting in 2011. Cars will be cleaner and more fuel efficient than ever before. The president will direct the Enviornmental Protection Agency to review whether California, Washington along with other states can impose stricter emission standards to battle green house gases. Read more

No Surprise: Cell Phone Ban Not Working

In news that’s probably unsurprising to most Seattle motorists, the cell phone ban passed 6 months ago has not been effective. According to Sgt. Freddy Williams of the State Patrol, who spoke with the Seattle Times, nearly 1 in 3 drivers on the road are using their cell phone. Read more

Seattle Passes on the Salt for Snowy Streets

The city of Seattle is taking a stand and NOT using salt on the snow and ice. Many large metropolitan cities like New York and Chicago still apply it after a heavy snowfall, because it works.

However, Seattle’s department of transportation will go green on the white stuff. The belief is the salt isn’t good for the environment and is corrosive for streets and cars.

Instead sand and rubber plowing has been the major method of clearing road ways. It isn’t the most effective way, just the cleanest way to deal with snow/ice. Even the Seattle police have to live with this decision, and will respond to many calls on foot, rather than drive up a snowy hill.

There’s a debate brewing about the uses of salt on Seattle roads, and if the method is truly madness.

Reporter Kathy Mulady and Robert McClure of the Seattle PI covered the unsalty streets on Seattle.

 In the mid-1990s, the city decided not to use the more corrosive salt, and instead it uses GeoMelt C, a liquid blend of calcium chloride in a soy base. The de-icer is thought to be gentler on the environment and considered better for the Puget Sound waterway, where eventually much of it will end up.

 

In that same Seattle PI article, a 2005 study found that some streams were one-quarter as salty as sea water, and were killing animals and fish. A second study, that year found that the use of rock salt to melt street ice had increased a hundredfold nationally since 1940.

Will salt less on Seattle streets hurt or help more when everything melts?

Tips for Driving in Snow!

The snow will be here. When will it come? How long will it stay? No one knows for sure, but when it’s icy on Seattle roads, it’s always better to play it safe and carry a charged cell phone.

Drive slow , but remember when you’re going up hill you must have momentum. Going too slow will get you stuck. If you stop in the middle of an incline, you could get stuck. Plus, never abandone you car in the middle of the street or hill. It creates a hazzard for everyone after you.

 

Here are some helpful snow driving tips to remember

• Slow down.
• Leave a cushion between the car in front of you. That means, allowing plenty of distance at least 2 car lengths.
• Tap rather than slam. Keep your heel on the floor and use your toes to apply gentle pressure to the brake pedal, enough to keep from skidding. Basically tap the brakes.
• Take it outa gear. If you start to skid, ease your foot off the accelerator or brake, take the transmission out of gear, and steer in the direction of the skid.
• Use the kitty litter. If your car gets stuck, sprinkle cat litter or rock salt behind and in front of your car’s drive wheels. After that rock the car forward and backward. You should gain enough momentum to free the car.
• Seattle has hills so keep it under control by driving in a lower gear.
• Going uphill, try to gain momentum on the flat before the hill, and maintain a steady speed as you ascend, keeping well behind the vehicle ahead of you.

“Death” Warning from DoT Regarding Daylight Savings

In what can only be called the most sensational headline ever for a mundane driver alert, the Seattle Times reports “WashDOT warns of death after daylight savings”. Read more