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PAGE 20, WH1TBPMEEPRESS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1992 I i m01 Auto qiz By Gien Koeiorwsk 1. What division of GM uses the numbors 442 te, name one cf ita :modèes? 2. MGe were made In what country ini Europe?* 3. Air-coled-engined Perches bave the mater maunted ini the front or the rear ef the car? 4. The . Ford 'Thun derbid was lntroduced in 1955. True or Yokoha cars? 6. The ZR-1 refera type of Chev? 7. MB is the initiais for what mgjor German car inaker? Answers on page 31 Firestane and make what for ta what Car dealers declare war on 'curbsuders' Tiates the message car buyers aegeto gfe gup Of The associations bave released poserstatheir members that focusron othe *riéks they *say consumera take when b~ from curboiders. The posters wMll bo hlghly visible at deaerships ail over the province. 'Curbeiders' are people Who pose a private individuals and ieaiy .seli used cars ta, unsuspecting consumera. "Our computer studiesshow. that when ou phone a private ad, you bve a one-out-of-four chance that you'l be taking ta aa curboider," claimed Bob Beattieof the Used -Car Dealers Association of Ontario (UCDA). The associations contend that if consumera are aware of the hazards, deaiers wili bo on a level playing field with the honest private seller. TAGE SPIECIAL Cil Change & Filter $ 14.95 1751 Wentworth Streéet Hw I40 432-1304 ~ m~ Icwý DRI VINGr;e SAFELY ~l with RANDY RANDY McLEAN 19 A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER WHO SPECIALIZES IN TRAFFIO SAFETY. M.Mctean lias reviewed thousawds of lndividual motor vehîcle accident reports and his close working relationshlps wllh police agencles, goverrvilents. safety associahions, lndus:ry and the public, have givenhim a true overview 'of- trafflo safety Issues, problemns and solutons ln Canada. SHARE TEINORMTION Téday' columnn is flot about safe driving, iWs about saferoade. Or at least how inter- governmrental co-peration might make our roads a littie safer. Each year, in Ontario alone, more than 1,000 people are killed and 120,000 injured ini traffic accidents, and property damage is appiroaching $1 billion. The écos of medical care and police nioeent are aise increasing fàiter than Our tax base cari afford. In order te set priorities and implement coSt-effective improvements, trafflc engineers muet bo able ta correctly identi1y safety problems. .Fortunately, with the aniount of information (weather conditions,* road conditions, light conditions, direction of travel, driver action, sequence of events, etc.) recorded by the police For each reportable accident, there is a wealth of statistical data available for analysis. The onlY good thing about having 200,000 reportable accidents each year may be that we build up an extensive database in a relatively short period of time. Unfortunately, there is a critical flaw in how this database is used, or rather flot uei If's important ta, understand that years Of research went into developing the standard Motor Vehicle Accident ]Report Form now used by al police 'forces in Ontario. In addition ta documentation for insurance dlaims and lega action, the form was speciflcally deuigned ta 1 Identify this car and you could win a prize worth $75 donated by Motorcity Saturn SAAB Isuzu. Answer: Name: Address: Phone #: Send your entry ta Auto Section, Whitby Free Press, Box 2069 Whitbye Ont. LIN 581. A draw will be made of ail the correct entries received by May 6, 1992. The winner will be notified by phone and will be announced in the next edition of the Auto Section. Only one entry per persan. Principals and employees of the participating companuesare ineligible. Hint You will find cai or at Motocity Batura SAAB hsumu i I I I I I I L What' s So Special About Mc L SATLRN ECONOMY & PERFORMANCE "Highest rating for mechanical reliability in two decades." CONSUMER REPORTS MAGAZINE Saturn SL From. $9,99500 m OTORCITY ISATLRN M*quSAAB1Is u 2u ,,ï.,,1520..DUNDAS ST.iE.,.WHITBY,430.2350: 77-7-777- 7 7777,77 7777 77 1 collect information necessary for traffic engineers te identifr safety problems. Police officers are trained te accurately coilect this information and they spend valuable time interviewing drivers, passengers and witnesses ta ensure the information is comploe. After ail the paperwoek i comple a copy af the accident report fori is sent ta the Ï£nistiy'of Tranoportation where the information Io enteïred into, a cermputer file. This information is used by the niinistry te develop policies <e.g. seat boit legstin> and identify problem areas on provincial highways. Se far, se good, but hers cernes the flaw. Municipal traffic engineers de net have accesn ta theose computer records. If the municipal officiais want to analyze accidenta in their jurisdictien they, bavete keep their. own records. This can be expensive. Some municipalities keep only partial records for this reason. Only a few I knew of use compnuters; moet keep their records manually whic makes analysis veiy difficuit and tinie-consurning. And, there i. something inherently wrong in manually .analyzing computer-stored data. In any event, there is a duplication cf efforts by two levèes of governinent. The sanie information the Ministry of Transportation enters into a computer fileli also recorded in a separate file by local mumcxpal staff. Accident data i. critical ta municipal traffic engineers. Without it, answering even seemingly simple questions like 'what were the 10 hiqhest accident locations, and how many ccdenta occurred at each location last year'i is a tizne-consuming task. Trying te in prave traffic safety without accident data is a let like trying ta run a business without any financial records. You inay neyer Icnow how youre doingr until iette late. The PrOlvince of Saskatchewan- recently introduced a system te aflow municipal officals access ta provincial motor vehicle accident data files. The Province cf British Columbia has provided customized dat summaries ta local municipalities for several years. I hope the province of Ontario i. 'net far behind. The money new spent ta maintain duplicate records and manually analyze data could be botter used ta implement safety improvements. Drive safely. 2-ik fa %e %tu 1 - 1 -Il Freiight, Tax and License, extra. GM Employee Option Plan 2 Applies.