Tanks in the streets

>> Gangway! Here come the sidewalk plows!

by PHILIP PREVILLE

It's a familiar scene: the snow is blowing on a cold winter night, and you're bundled up with a tuque as you walk to the dep. Suddenly you hear a noise from behind you, and turn around to see one of the city's "chenillettes," or sidewalk tanks, barrelling toward you with reckless abandon. You jump out of the way, and as the driver absent-mindedly speeds by, you marvel at the damage that could have been done to your person.

A) The city owns 102 sidewalk tanks, manufactured by Bombardier at a cost of $70,000 apiece. They can reach a maximum speed of 40 km/h, though city officials insist they never clear snow at that speed. They also have a horn to alert pedestrians to their presence; it remains uncertain whether or not drivers ever use it.

B) The tanks tend to slip on icy sidewalks, and that's when they can cause damage. No one keeps official statistics, but here are the city's educated guesses: they strike over 100 parked cars each year, and on another 200 occasions they cause damage to private property: staircases, fences, garden gnomes and so on. City by-laws require all fences to be at least 0.75 metres from the sidewalk; if it's any closer than that, the city doesn't have to pay for damages.

C) Everyone assumes that the military-like tank treads are made of steel, but they're actually made of rubber. City engineers requested this particular design change from Bombardier because they do less damage to the sidewalk and they're easier to fix.

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