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Breathing Easy In The Cabin
Many new cars rolling off the lines and into the showrooms have been fitted with particulate filters to stop cars emitting quite as many nasties that people can breathe in. You also frequently find pollen filters on the ventilation/air con systems, meaning that if you drive and suffer from hay fever, you are less likely to have your eyes streaming, forcing you to pull over, if you are stuck behind a trailer loaded with pollen-stuffed garden rubbish
It seems to be one thing that people are thinking about more these days: the air quality and what we’re breathing in. And there’s no getting away from it: cars and other motorised vehicles are the number 1 producers of carbon monoxide, NOx gases, ozone (fine in the upper atmosphere to keep out the UV but not so good down at ground level) and all the rest of it. But have you ever stopped to wonder how much of this stuff you’re breathing in when you’re in your car? After all, when you’re in a car, you’re usually sitting in a queue of traffic, and every single motor vehicle in that traffic (apart from the electric cars) is putting out a lot of air pollution.
Unfortunately, it seems to be the conclusion of many studies from around the world that riding in a car (either as passenger or driver) is the second-worst way of getting around when it comes to personal exposure to pollution levels (motorbikes cop it the worst). In case you’re curious, the modes of travel that scored the best were subway (underground railroad), walking, and biking on a cycle track out of the main stream of the traffic (above-ground trains, buses and biking on the road were in the middle). However, many of these studies found that how you set your car’s air conditioning, windows and the like has an effect on how much yuck you breathe in.
So what do you do if you don’t really want to give up your car? Apparently, the best way to minimise pollution inside the cabin of your car is to have the air conditioning on (or the climate control) and to have the windows up. The second best option is to have the windows open. The worst option is to have the windows closed and the air vents open. As far as I can tell, the research on air pollution inside car cabins didn’t look at convertible vehicles or vehicles with sunroofs – they tend to stick with “typical” cars and use things like Toyota Corolla sedans. Common sense would suggest that opening the hood of a convertible would improve conditions and make riding in a car more like riding a bike on-road, at least pollution-wise (now, there’s a good reason, if you needed one, for buying a convertible!), and that opening the sunroof as well as the windows, assuming that it’s not raining, would do you good.
Apart from using the air conditioning and opening the windows, what’s a driver to do?
- Switch to an electric car, as these don’t produce as many nasties when going slowly. The fewer vehicles there are producing noxious gases on the roads, the better off we’ll all be. Also, many of the gases that get into a car’s interior are produced by that car.
- Make sure your car is well serviced. Cars that have engine problems or that have been neglected tend to pump a bit more awful stuff into the cabin.
- Go for diesel. Modern diesel engines are fitted with those particulate filters to reduce the amount of ick getting into the air.
Of course, if you’ve been smoking in the car, your personal exposure to air pollution will be much higher, and a lot of that smoke will linger in the car to be breathed in later. You’ve heard it before: QUIT SMOKING. Even if you take the subway to work.
Electricity and Peugeot make Serious Grunt.
Electric cars are somewhat of a novelty on our roads, and yet they are likely to become more and more common as people become aware of their value. No emissions, for a start. And it’s not very hard to plug in a cord at home or a commercial outlet in order for you to charge up your electric powered mode of transport. But how sporty can you get with an electric motor? And just how feasible is an electric motor for generating serious grunt? I mean there are some of us that may well be addicted to the electric motor’s smellier and noisier cousins. Surely an electric powered motor vehicle couldn’t match a petrol or diesel-donk. Could it? Recently, Peugeot’s latest EX1 gob-smacked the latest Paris motor show. Read on, and you’ll find out why.
Silencing any critic who might suggest an electric motorcar is as slow as a wet week might not be an easy task. However, it could well be made easier when discovering that Peugeot has created a new meaning for ‘plug-in power’ with its EX1 sports car prototype!
Made from carbon/honeycomb composite to optimise weight and rigidity, the very sleek looking Peugeot EX1 has a low centre of gravity and a suspension set-up that ensures a very high level of road holding. Particularly from the front, the EX1 looks very sporty, even a little aggressive and reminiscent of a bat mobile.
What slings this little rocket along is the two electric motors that produce 125 kW each. Effective straight away is the twist of 240 Nm of torque at the front and the rear axles – which not only provides an ideal weight distribution, but also unbeatable all-wheel-drive traction.
Being just a two seater, one would think that the EX1 might be a little light in an accident. It may well be, however Peugeot note that the little high speed roadster incorporates a specially designed passenger cell, which has sufficient overhead clearance to include a roll-over protection bar. They also state that you can drive this daily to work with out a helmet.
The Peugeot’s futuristic looks are exemplified by the way the driver and passenger climb into their seats through reverse-opening doors. An awesome go-kart like experience is promised when both occupants sit virtually at road level. Two joy sticks control the car’s steering.
Unlike many other prototype vehicles, this is one prototype that is in full working order. And the Peugeot EX1 holds many world records – already. Standing-start acceleration is phenomenal in the EX1, and so in the class for vehicles under one tonne, the Peugeot EX1 holds the ⅛ mile, ¼ mile, 500 metres, ½ mile, 1 kilometre and mile world records. The very swift time of around 3.5 seconds from 0 – 60 mph (0 – 96 km/h) is in petrol supercar territory.
Certainly, the Peugeot EX1 would suggest that electric cars are from dull. It’s amazing what the very first light bulb has turned into! Thomas Eddison would be extremely proud, I’m sure!
Thoughts In a Traffic Jam
It’s a familiar picture. You’re sitting in a traffic jam going along at a crawl during rush hour wanting to get home, and you start thinking “This is crazy – why don’t they make decent roads so we don’t have this problem?”
Well, rest assured that all the experts at Austroads and all the consultants they contract for research are keeping busy dealing with all these problems and are always working to make sure that Australia – and New Zealand – has good roads. Congestion is viewed as a problem not just because it drives the average citizen nuts: all those cars sitting there going nowhere with their engines chugging are putting out a lot of pollution… unless they’re electric cars that are designed to use electricity rather than diesel or petrol in just this situation. Take a look at this pic. Rest assured, this is not in Autsralia, yet! It’s in China.
Sometimes, the findings of all these experts may come as a bit of a surprise to the average driver. To take one example, I’m thinking of an intersection near my place. At the moment, it’s got a roundabout (with a single-lane circuit) that gets a lot of cars, trucks, pedestrians and cyclists going through it every day, plus a few buses. During the morning and evening rush “hours”, the traffic backs up for several hundred metres, and more than one driver looks at all the cyclists and pedestrians whizzing past them and wonders why on earth the local Powers That Be don’t put in a set of traffic lights instead.
Well, the reason why they won’t put in traffic lights is probably for a very simple reason: sure, the traffic’s really bad during rush hour, but the rest of the time, there’s no problem. Traffic lights work all the time, so even if things go a bit more quickly during these busy periods with the lights installed, you’re going to end up with someone sitting at a red light waiting for ages with nothing on any of the other roads – another thing that really bugs drivers. So don’t stew next time you get stuck in a queue of snails – the experts are doing their best and it’s impossible to please everybody all of the time.
So what can you do to prevent the dreaded snail crawl and the frustration of sitting in a long queue of traffic? Sometimes, you just have to be patient and put up with it, frustrating as congestion may be, but at times, you can take action. How about the following?
- If your work situation allows it, change your travel time to avoid the busiest period. Depending on where you are, half an hour can make a huge difference between traffic going at a crawl and almost empty roads. Web cams on traffic websites (such as this one for Sydney) can help you plan when to go.
- Look for alternate routes, even if they go through a few more twists, turns and corners. It may be longer on the map, but you won’t take as long driving. You may need to switch off the GPS for this, depending on the type you have.
- Car pool to work or when taking kids to school. If fewer cars are using the road during rush hour, less congestion is likely.
- Look at other transport options – can you or your kids bike, bus or walk to your destination? If the traffic’s busy and the journey’s short, walking or biking can sometimes be quicker than using the car.
Extreme weather driving
The colder, darker days are now upon us, with the winter solstice (the shortest day) less than a month away. For those in the hotter bits of our country, this will come as a bit of a relief. However, for those of us who are tucked down in the more temperate parts, winter can bring some motoring challenges.
Whether we do our driving on the open road or around town or a mixture of both, the cops and other experts tell us that we should drive to the conditions and that the speeds and driving styles that suit fine sunny days with no wind aren’t quite what’s appropriate when things are darker, wetter, windier, frostier, etc. The civil engineers and traffic analysts who study crash patterns so they can make roads safer always record whether an accident took place in rainy weather or something other than fine days.
If you haven’t already had some advice on how to drive in the curlier weather conditions that winter can throw at us (and other seasons – let’s admit it), then here’s some tips to follow.
Rain: Slow down. Water reduces friction, and the road surface is covered with it. The slicker the road surface and the slicker your tyres, the more likely you are to get into a skid. Allow extra distance for braking on corners or in when following. If you don’t have the rain-sensing window wipers, then make sure that you use your wipers and get them at the right speed. It’s usually wise to check your wiper blades at the start of the wetter weather and make sure that they’re in good nick – replace them if necessary. Try to avoid going near or crossing rivers that are likely to flood.
Hail: Hail is like rain but more so. Ice is even more slippery than water and hail can sit around on the road for longer until it melts. If hail is particularly heavy, pull over and wait until it eases. It doesn’t happen often, but you do hear of hailstones that are big enough to smash windows, and you don’t want to be travelling at speed if one of these falls and collects your windscreen.
Strong wind: Very strong winds can make taller vehicles unstable, especially vans and trucks. On other vehicles, cross-winds and headwinds can exert quite a lot of pressure on your car. Watch out for places where you go from sheltered spots to exposed spots so the wind doesn’t take you by surprise. Always watch out for whoever’s in front of you. Motorbikes and bikes may be overbalanced by sudden gusts, so be prepared to stop or swerve to avoid them. Also watch your load if you are towing a trailer – stuff is more likely to be blown out in a high wind, so make sure your load is covered properly. Watch out for debris when driving in a high wind. Normally, an old newspaper isn’t much of a driving hazard, but if it lands on your windscreen and gets caught in the wipers, it will be. Also watch out for trees and power lines coming down. If you do get a power line coming down and the wires fall on your car, turn your engine off, stay in your car and don’t touch anything metal. You’ll have to wait until the experts come and get you out, so find some way of amusing yourself.
Fog: Slow down and put your lights on dip, unless you have fog lights. If you do have fog lights, turn them on! Depending on how thick the fog is, you may need to slow to an absolute crawl to make sure you can stop or turn in time when something looms out of the fog. In our neck of the woods, a mother and her daughter were travelling home at night and ploughed into a mob of cows while driving in foggy conditions. Thankfully they were ok, but the late model Commodore was a complete right off!
Frost: Be careful on corners, as you will have next to no traction. Slow down, and brake gently well in advance. Be especially careful on bridges during light frosts, as bridges don’t have the insulating effect of earth underneath the middle and can be frosty when other bits of the road aren’t – I’ve had a close call with these conditions. If you are going over the Tasman for the winter, you may find that some New Zealand roads have loose grit put down on them do increase the surface area of roads in frosty conditions – drive these like a regular gravel road.
Snow: We’re unlikely to get the sort of snow that blocks the roads for days over here, but it’s always best not to drive in snow if you can avoid it. If you do have to drive in the snow or if you want to have fun in the snow – for example, if you’re a ski bunny – carry chains and a shovel, and slow down. You’re handling ice, so watch out when cornering.
Thunder and lightning: Treat this like you would rain and hail, and be prepared to pull over and stop if things get really hairy. Your car is pretty well insulated, so it can take being struck by lightning, so stay in your car during a thunderstorm, even if you break down.
Tornadoes: These are unlikely, but you never know – they had a fatal tornado across the Tasman, so we might get a nasty one here. Advice from the US suggests that you shouldn’t try to out-drive a tornado but you should get out of your car and get into a building as soon as possible.
Level 2, 9 Help Street