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economist sunsuntribune saturday jan 29 2005 f gmi stouffville e suntnbune a metroiand community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville on l4a 775 publisher jaw proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director production interactive media john futhey advertising director distribution director marketingpartnerships retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci circulation barry black direciok circulation- systems lynn pashko director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean bssmsb letters to the editor character community needs expanded road watch program re road watch depends on residents help jan 20 i commend york regional police and the town of markham on their joint ini tiative to launch the road watch pro gram in markham as a resident of markham who has submitted citizen reports in other juris dictions i believe this new program can improve road safety in our town im impressed markham is providing more userfriendly options for submitting the reports than other towns i would like to outline a few chal lenges with the road watch concept and some opportunities for improving the process the program relies on citizens reporting aggressive driving behaviour the most frustrating part is that the worst offences cannot typically be reported because the culprit speeds off before you can react quickly enough to document the incident on the other hand if i reported every act of mild to medium aggressive dri ving i have time to document i would be submitting 10 reports daily which would create an enormous administra tive burden the challenge becomes finding the middleground where you prioritize reporting offences that endanger peo ple with less emphasis on technical infractions or merely annoying behav iours id like to see markham provide a frequently asked questions faq sec tion to the road watch website id like to read more in future arti cles about what the markham program will be doing in awareness and educa tion to complement enforcement i believe there is opportunity to expand the scope of road watch to other areas markham prides itself on being a character community yet its common to see people illegally parked in clearly marked handicapped parking spaces the citizen report would be the perfect format for people to document this type of offroad aggressive behav iour i think the program would be enhanced by having a volunteer adviso ry panel of citizens who actually submit reports working with the town and police to devise ways to improve the program it can be difficult to stay motivated if citizens receive no feedback about what happens after their report is submitted we have to trust the process will work if enough citizens participate so that a repeat offender is eventually dealt with properly i would like to see an annual report from which the aggregate results could be reviewed with the advisory panel to gram and to facilitate discussion about improvements i am willing to partici pate on such a panel steve watson markham canada can learn from california fuelefficiency law o mandate or not to mandate that is the question at least that is the question environment minister stephan dion is asking about fuel efficiency standards for new cars sold in canada mr dion is in discussions with the auto industry and has suggested a 25percent improvement by 2010 the industry apparently isnt happy with this goal and opposes any mandated targets that will legally oblige automakers to meet deadlines instead the industry wants to continue with a voluntary approach given the auto industrys track record on this issue one must hope minister dion sticks with a mandatory approach more than two decades ago the industry fought fuel- efficiency legislation touting the voluntary approach and promising to make more efficient cars well were still waiting todays vehicles on average actually get worse gas mileage than they did then back before cell phones the internet satellite television and even wide spread use of personal computers it seems every other technology has man- david suzuki aged to leap ahead except for fuel efficiency in automobiles as part of a factfinding mission minister dion is in california this week to talk to governor arnold schwarzenegger about leg islating cleaner cars a republican governor may seem like an odd choice for advice on the subject but california has just legislated mandatory emission standards for all new vehicles sold in the state they have targets and timeta bles the industry must meet by law of course automakers have cried foul and are actually suing the state of california over the new laws they point to all the inno vative work they are doing on fuel cells and cars of the future unfortunately such innovations are decades away from being practical or afford able simply making cars more fuel efficient meets both those requirements today theres no reason why consumers should have to wait for the ultimate car of the future when solutions are available now this isnt the first time the auto industry has fought innovation in the 1970s the industry said putting pollution control mea sures on their cars was technically unfeasi ble and too expensive they only grudgingly made changes after legislation required them to do so yet now the industry boasts about how much clean er their cars are today the industry also fought air bags and refused to install them until they were required by law again the industry now boasts about how much safer cars are today california is not the only jurisdiction moving ahead in demanding cleaner cars europe and japan have also developed new standards in both of these regions automakers are required to make their vehi cles 25 per cent more fuel efficient automakers there have agreed yet the same automakers are vehemently opposed to better standards here china a develop ing nation is also seriously considering fol lowing europes lead and instituting stricter standards for the sake of canadians health one must hope minister dion will be encouraged by californias success after all if a hummer- driving republican can see the advantages of stronger fuelefficiency legis lation we must hope canadian political leaders of all stripes will be able to do the same mandating cleaner cars would go a long way toward helping canada meet its kyoto targets it would reduce air pollution slow global warming and save us money at the pump the auto industry has given us two decades of broken promises its time to stop asking questions and start demanding answers take the nature challenge and learn more at wwwdavid- suzukiorg letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters submissions must be less than 400 words and include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune 34 civic ave box 154 stouffville on l4a7zs 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