coe

Expensive new eyesight
treatment for leadfoot!

IMPAIRED VISION of a mysterious and so far incurable
type afflicts a large number of B.C. drivers. When their eyes
foc:'s on a speed limit sign labeled ‘‘50,’” what they actually

see is ‘‘70.”’

Put up a sign saying ‘‘80"’ and
they read it as ‘‘100.’’ Some
curious defect in the optical nerve
of sufferers from the disease
automatically adds 20 — in severe
cases 30 or 40 — to any number
telling them how fast they may go.

Now, however, eye specialists in

ANGUS fee ...shock therapy.

Solicitor General Angus Ree’s
department are experimenting with
a new shock therapy which they
hope will greatly reduce the in-
cidence of the disease: a $75 fine
added to licence penalty points
whenever a driver’s eyes play tricks
with speed limit numbers.

Only an occasional and com-
paratively mild sufferer myself, I
often wondered what the advanced
cases — zooming past me at 70
and up on Marine Drive — did
with all the time they were saving.
On kearing of the new Ree thera-

Fed with a few numbers re-
corded while cruising around
North Van on weekdays, Tandy
figured that, in normal city driving
with no traffic snarls, only two-
thirds of the mileage at most can
be driven at posted speed. The
other third — taking into account
traffic lights, stop signs, turns and
intermittent braking to avoid some
other idiot —- works out at an
average of about 17 kph.

On this basis a legal 50 kph
driver, said Tandy, will average 10
minutes for a 5km city trip. Under
the same conditions a muscle-car
driver doing 70 along those
unimpeded stretches where he
should be keeping to 50 will
average 8.9 minutes — a saving of
66 seconds. For cther distances in
normal city traffic, simply multip-
ly. On a legal 20km, 40-minute trip
our Indy 500 hero wouid save all
of four minutes and 24 seconds.

But that, of course, is op-
timistic. On many city trips in
heavy traffic, the possible max-
imum-speed component may drop
as low as ONE-third of the total
mileage, even without lengthy
snarls. In that case, announced
Tandy, leadfoct will shave a mere
36 seconds off a Skm journey of 13
minutes and 45 seconds — always
provided he shaves nothing else.

A $75 ticket, plus a further
hundred bucks or so on the next
ICBC bill, seems a pretty steep
price to pay for getting there
sooner by one minute or less.

My own occasionally impaired
vision has already improved a lot

just by thinking about it!

tourism can do for Tiddlycove,
this weekend is their chance to ask
questions, says Beverly Tanchak of
the Chamber of Commerce
Teurisin Committee, Its travelling
tourism information centre is in
Ambleside Park today, August 6,
until 8 p.m. and tomorrow,
August 7, in Park Royal South
from noon to 5 p.m. ... Water-
colors by talented young North
Shore artist Robert Florian are the
featured August exhibit at West
Van Memorial Library ... Holiday
weekend music outdoors in North
Van includes the jazz, swing and
Dixie quintet Brassroots entertain-
ing from 2 to 4 p.m. today on the
Lonsdale Quay plaza and the Met-

ropolitan Pops Band from 2 to 3
tomorrow, August 7 in Waterfront
Park ... From the Better-Than-
Never Dept., warm congratula-
tions and happy returns of the day
to West Van’s two new
centenarians — Dorothy Greer
who celebrated July 26 with four
generations of her family ... And
60-vear resident Lucy Elfiott, still
living in her own home with her
son, who chalked up the big

One-Double-Oh August 1...
Meanwhile, anniversary greetiugs
Tuesday, August 8, to Tony and
Betty Pritchard and to Richard
and Noelle Ruiledge, both of .
North Van ... And happy birthday
the same day to North Van’s John

Treijs. es

~ WRIGHT OR WRONG: Coopeza-

tion is doing with a smile what you
have to do anyway.

py, I put the question to Tandy,

my ever obliging computer. Not “** ANCHORS AWEIGHI...North Van's Jay and Laura Crandell just before sailing from Bunard Yacht Club tate
much, he flashed back, because POSTSCRIPTS: If Mr. and Mrs. last month oa their 51 £¢. sailboat for Mexico and points south. By last Thursday they had reached San Fran-
they save so little. West Van =.= kazy about what cisco.

iH ALE |

Fs Tee WILL BE IN

Buggy ballot

YNN VALLEY Super Valu’s recent demise is a
good example of the power wielded by the indi-
vidual consumer.

Even though the Super Valu had been an estab-
lished, well-known institution for years, it was no
match for the swing in customer preferences that
resulted from the advent of the cut-rate super stores.

Now consumers must ask themselves if they are
satisfied with the outcome of their actions.

If saving money is a skopper’s prime objective, then
the bargains offered at a super store fit the bill. If,
however, customers feel it is just as important to have
a smaller, more personal, supermarket close to home,
they must commit themselves to supporting their
neighborhood grocer.

Many people are finding that the warehouse-like
nature of many of the super stores is not conducive to
a pleasant shopping experience, but this is what we

might be left with if local supermarkets are deserted by Publisher ........... Peter Speck wtvorsormomrsano wrsr wncowven nisplay Advertising 980-0511
their once-loyal following. ; Managing Editor... . Barrett Fisher Ciascified Advertising 986-6222
Af this is the wish of the majority, then democracy Associate Editor ..... Noel Wright Hesiaeciie preeee
will reign, and rightfully so. It is important, though, Advertising Director . Linda Stewart ; Subscriptions 986-1337
SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY + FRIDAY Fax 985-3227

North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent
suburban F and qualified under Schedule 411,
Paragraph ttl of the Excise Tax Act, is published each
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free
See a ees recedes SSS 8 ao i
2. a ation a
Subsetiptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. 99,170 (average, Wednesday
Mailing cates available on request. Submissions are Friday & Sunday)
welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for
unsolicited ¢ frateriat including manuscripts and d pictures s
ac ni addres:
ic companies by a stamped, Son ONIGON

+ envelope.
Entire contents © 1989 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.
as “at” te ‘

fer consumers te realize that they are casting their vote
each time they push their buggy up to the check-out.
When those votes are tallied, shoppers will have no one
to blame but themselves if ‘the outcome isn’t to their

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