Over 700 Tsuu T’ina band members voted earlier today on the SW ring road deal and only 38% voted in favor of selling over 400 hectares of reserve land to the Alberta Government for the construction of the massive ring road project. Details of the proposal were not made public but the Calgary Herald obtained documents showing the Provincial Government offering up to $275M with a minimum $240M held in trust by the Federal Government. The band would have also received 2000 hectares of crown land on the northwestern border of the reserve in exchange for 400 hectares needed for the construction of the roadway.

“The agreement did not guarantee that the Nation would receive additional reserve land,” Chief Big Plume said in a news release following the vote, “Tsuu T’ina tried to solve that problem at the negotiating table. We regret that we were unable to do so.”

The City of Calgary will now have to work on an alternative plan with the Provincial Government and decide if the SW portion of the ring road will ever be built. Alberta Transportation planners have been looking at constructing a SW freeway like the ring road since the 1960’s and with today’s vote it may be another 50 years before we have improved north-south corridors in the Calgary area.

I’ve read on the forums about this proposal, and I think it just might work. Instead of transferring $275 to the Tsuu T’ina band, why not buy up all the properties in Lakeview along 37th street and tunnel under the weaslehead area? Of course with the alignment of the ring road running along 37th street there will be no more access to the Grey Eagle casino on the Tsuu T’ina reserve from Calgary but I say we leave that problem to the band members to deal with.

Taxi drivers in British Columbia are exempt from wearing their seatbelts if they are travelling at less than 70 km/h. I have never understood why this exemption was necessary, particularly in light of the fact that doing so actually endangers their passengers. No one in a vehicle that I drive is exempt from wearing their seatbelt and I have been able to convince my taxi driver to follow suit.

My collision reconstruction experience made me well aware of what happens to people who fail to wear their seatbelts and are involved in a motor vehicle collision. I have seen front seats torn out of the floor by unbelted rear seat passengers as they faithfully followed Newton’s first law of motion during a crash. These “backseat bullets” very likely contributed to the death of the passenger in the front seat in one case I investigated.

Similarly, during collisions that are not head on, unbelted vehicle occupants in any seating position become heavy projectiles capable of doing significant damage to themselves and others.

During collisions seat belts keep the driver behind the wheel and more likely to be in control of the vehicle post crash. They may still be able to steer and brake, perhaps keeping you out of a second crash in the oncoming lane or with roadside objects or other road users.

When I entered the cab, I simply told the driver that I would appreciate it if he wore his seatbelt. His response was that he was exempt and he made no move to put it on as he pulled away from the curb. My next step was to ask him politely to pull over and let me out. I would find a cab driver willing to wear his seatbelt while he drove me to my destination. My driver was not happy, but put on his seatbelt. I felt safer for both of us.

Reference Links

Laps 60
Circuit length 5.141 km (3.20 mi)
Race length 308.355 km (191.60 mi)
2008 Winner: Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 1h 39m 09.440s (186.585 km/h)
2008 Pole Sitter: Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren - 1:21.049
Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher - Ferrari - 1:18.739 - 2004

TV Schedule
FRI Practice 1 June 19, 3:00am
FRI Practice 2 June 19, 7:00am
SAT Practice June 20, 3:00am
SAT Qualifying June 20, 6:00am
SUN Race June 21, 6:00am

Its been a couple weeks since the Turkish Grand Prix, and this weekend the action arrives at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. Silverstone is owned and operated by the British Racing Drivers Club and opened for racing in 1948 using the runways and service roads of a wartime airfield. Despite constant development to the track, much more work needs to be done to bring it up to super circuit standards. As a result, 2009 will be the last time that Silverstone will host the British GP. For 2010 Donington Park will host the festivities.

The British GP will be the first race of the year that Hamilton will be racing without KERS. After the Friday practice sessions, Hamilton said his car was very consistent but lacked speed in the faster sections. Kovalainen said he felt that KERS helped his lap times. Button had some difficulties finding grip in the BGP001 because of the strong winds at the track affecting the car. Red Bull may be the team to watch this weekend as they reportedly have some serious aero upgrades.

The race this weekend has been overshadowed by the latest Formula 1 drama. As the deadline for 2010 entries has come and gone, 8 teams have announced they intend to form a breakaway series.

“The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship,” said a statement issued by FOTA after the meeting.

“These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

Perhaps the breakaway series will make a stop in Silverstone in its first year? ;)

VW 1.4L TSI - International Engine of The Year

The 1.4L twin-charged TSI motor earned 354 points (just 4 more than BMW’s 3.0L Twin Turbo) to capture the Engine of The Year award for 2009. The VW victory prevented a 3 year sweep of the award by BMW and comes at a perfect time as many people are increasingly looking for smaller engines with better fuel economy. The engine also took home the award for Green Engine of the Year and won the 1.0L to 1.4L category.

International Engine of The Year
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta)

Best New Engine of The Year
Porsche 3.8-litre flat six (911)

Green Engine of The Year
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta)

Best Performance Engine
Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)

Sub 1L
Toyota 1-litre 3-cylinder (Aygo,Yaris/Echo/Vitz, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107, Subaru Justy)

1.0L - 1.4L
Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (VW Golf, Touran, Tiguan, Jetta)

1.4L - 1.8L
BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo (MINI Cooper S, Clubman, Peugeot 207, 308)

1.8L - 2.0L
Audi 2-litre TFSI (Audi A4, A5, Q5, VW Scirocco, Golf GTI)

2.0L - 2.5L
Mercedes-Benz Diesel 2.1-litre (BlueEfficiency E-Class & C-Class)

2.5L - 3.0L
BMW 3-litre Twin Turbo (135, 335, X6, Z4, 730)

3.0L - 4.0L
BMW 4-litre V8 (M3)

4.0L+
Mercedes-AMG 6.2-litre (CLK, S, SL, CL, CLS, ML)

For a complete write up on each of the categories, click here.

The 77th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place from June 13th to 14th. Speed Channel will show 19 hours live on TV, starting at 6:30 AM Mountain (pre-race at 6 AM), and the other 5 hours will be streamed live on speedtv.com. As a warm up, Speed will be showing Truth in 24 Friday at 7 PM Mountain (more on this below).

Circuit de la Sarthe is 13.65 km long. It’s a combination of dedicated racetrack and public roads. On the back side, the Mulsanne Straight used to be an insane 5 km long! Imagine a Formula 1 track with no corners. Two chicanes were added to it in 1990 due to an FIA rule change. This was because, in 1988, the cars got up to 405 km/h (251 mph). Holy crap, that’s approaching Bonneville Salt Flats territory!

Four classes of cars compete in the race (at the same time). The fastest GT2 cars are almost as fast as the slowest GT1, and so on for LMP2 and LMP1 (LMP stands for Le Mans Prototype). The speed difference between the classes makes the race more perilous for all involved. Slower classes must always be checking their mirrors and faster classes have to be very careful when overtaking.

Audi has won the last 5 years in a row. This year’s new Audi R15 TDI already set a record while winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, so once again Audi is favoured. The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP will be its closest competitor. Both run on diesel because it provides better fuel economy.

Each car has three drivers who switch during pit stops at various times during the race. Le Mans cars cost about as much as Formula 1 cars, so it will come as no surprise that many of the drivers in LMP1 will be known to F1 fans. Since Le Mans falls on the weekend between the Turkish Grand Prix and British Grand Prix, Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais is available to drive for Peugeot. Former F1 pilots taking part are: Allan McNish, Pedro Lamy, Christian Klein, Franck Montagny, Marc Gené, Alexander Wurz, Tiago Monteiro, Olivier Panis, Narain Karthikeyan, Christijan Albers, Anthony Davidson, and Jos Verstappen. There will be three relatives of former F1 drivers in LMP1 as well: Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna (he will probably be in F1 very soon himself); Vanina Ickx, daughter of Jackie Ickx; and Alain Prost’s son, Nicolas. Mika Salo will compete in GT2, as will Nigel Mansell’s son, Leo. Also in GT2 will be actor Patrick Dempsey from Grey’s Anatomy, driving a Ferrari F430.

Truth in 24 is a documentary about Audi’s 2008 race. It’s a free download on iTunes USA, but so far not on iTunes Canada. Truth in 24 is of course being compared to the 1971 movie Le Mans, which starred Steve McQueen, and featured tonnes of actual footage from the race (they even put a camera on a Porsche and entered it in the race). I just watched Le Mans for the millionth time last Saturday night, and if Truth in 24 is anywhere near that good, it’ll be well worth it. Some say Truth in 24 is better. I’ll find out Friday night, unless iTunes Canada comes around before that.

Emergency workers are very happy with BC’s new slow down, move over law that came into effect June 1, 2009. When they are stopped at the side of the highway and displaying flashing lights, red, blue or yellow, approaching traffic is required to slow down and move over. This will provide a safe workspace for the emergency workers and hopefully also for those who are driving past.

The slow down half of the law requires overtaking motorists to slow to 70 km/h on highways posted at 80 km/h and higher and to 40 km/h in all other speed zones. My guess is that when this speed is enforced, very little, if any, wiggle room will be allowed. If you choose not to slow down to at least match the limit if not a bit less, you choose to risk a ticket.

The move over portion requires that if it is safe to do so, you will move into the unoccupied adjacent lanes. This could mean the adjacent lane in the same direction if there are multiple lanes, or the oncoming lane if there are not. Remember, if you have to use the oncoming lane, you have no lawful excuse to encroach on it when there is oncoming traffic.

Will the law increase safety? Only if drivers think and then act before they approach closely. Many times in the past I have watched vehicles overtake my stationary police car at or over the speed limit a foot from my door instead of slowing down and moving into the empty lane.

Reference Links

I thought I’d take a second to thank everyone who came out for making yesterday such a great event.  We had about 50 cars show up, some brought food/beverages (despite the fact that apparantly we can’t start a fire for the life of us), and overall it was a really great time.  We didn’t have ANY issues with the police/RCMP, though we did have Calaway Park ask us to high tail it out of there.  Despite that, I’d like to thank Calaway Park for giving us the time that they did :)

The weather actually held out for the majority of the day and the cruise was great.  Some very cool cars came out.  The group held together very well, and nobody decided it was time to be a dumbass on the highway.  Very cool.

I hope to see you all at the next cruise!

Despite the snow, hail and rain we’ve received in the last 48 hours the 2009 Spring cruise is going to go ahead as planned tomorrow. With some luck, maybe the weather will warm up a bit so the BBQ wont be in freezing conditions :)

In order to help keep the group together at the start the meeting location has been moved further west this year to the Callaway Park parking lot. This is just about 5 minutes west of the city on Highway 1. The cruise destination will again be Cascade Pond inside Banff National Park. This means you will need to get a park pass or risk getting a ticket.

For more information on the cruise and the latest updates visit the Spring Cruise thread on the forums.

Laps 58
Circuit length 5.338 km (3.317 mi)
Race length 309.396 km (192.250 mi)
2008 Winner: Felippe Massa - Ferrari - 1h 26m 49.451s (213.808 km/h)
2008 Pole Sitter: Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 1:27.617
Fastest Lap: Juan Pablo Montoya - McLaren - 1:24.770 - 2005

TV Schedule
FRI Practice 1 June 5, 1:00am
FRI Practice 2 June 5, 5:00am
SAT Qualifying June 6, 5:00am
SUN Race June 7, 6:00am

Turkey made its debut on the Formula One calendar in 2005 with an all-new purpose-built circuit in Istanbul. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track was designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai, and features 14 turns - eight lefts and six rights - with the cars reaching speeds of up to 330 km/h.

An unusual feature of the venue is that the lap runs anti-clockwise, making the Turkish Grand Prix one of only two races on the calendar to do so ( Brazil being the other). It possesses a wide variety of corners - including the notorious multi-apex Turn Eight - and while perhaps not as technical as, say, Shanghai, it definitely provides the drivers with real challenge.

The character of the circuit is further enhanced by plenty of gradients - the track is built on four different ground levels. There may be fewer obvious overtaking opportunities than at some other Tilke circuits - it doesn’t feature the long straights followed by tight hairpins that characterise the likes of Sepang and Shanghai - but the potential for a driver under pressure to make a mistake here means no shortage of passing.

As you’d expect from a new venue, spectator facilities are impressive - organisers knew they had to rival the very high standards set by Bahrain and China. Seating capacity is around 130,000, with 25,000 of those in the main grandstand, and parking is available for 12,000 cars. Dominating the circuit’s skyline are two seven-floor VIP towers at either end of the paddock.

Beyond.ca is excited to announce that Mercedes Terrell will be coming to Calgary on June 13, 2009 for the Driven 2009 Car Show at the Big Four Building. We had such a great time with her last time she was up here so we decided to fly her up again so all of her fans up here can meet her. Mercedes Terrell will be signing autographs and will be available if you want to take a picture with her. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet her!

Driven 2009 is less than two weeks away, so if you haven’t already marked it off on your calendar, do so now as this years show is going to great. Besides all the hot rides that will be present at the show, there will also be a performance by a hometown boy Miles Faber who was a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. As is the case every year at the show, there will be plenty of beautiful models roaming the show floor. This year, we have been told that the eye candy level will be at an all time high.

Driven 2009 - Calgary Information
Show Hours: 1:00PM to 10:00PM
Admission:
Adults (Age 12+): $15.00
Children (5-11): $10.00
Seniors (65 or better with ID): FREE
Infants (4 and under): FREE
Tickets available at the gate on event day only.

You can check out Mercedes’ official website here:
http://www.mercedesterrell.com/