CADA Seeking federal ban on RHD imports in Canada!

[jrman]

Getting to the core of the matter is that the existing 15 year rule is in place to protect the domestic auto industry - full stop. The USA is more pro domestic industry compared to Canada - thus a 25 year restriction. Quebec is more pro anything Quebec so will reject anything outside Quebec - thus the 25 year restriction. PEI - well, they are an island...and though beautiful and quaint - they too clearly have a highly protectionist mentality relative to the balance of the country (apologies to the open minded Islanders from around the globe, just a personal observation and clearly at risk of over generalization). So, 2 comments;

1 - Having driven RHD for over 3 years now, absolutely nothing would convince me of any statistics that would suggest driving RHD is any more dangerous than driving LHD. Higher horsepower and younger average buying age might be a factor (ie, GTR crowd etc), but not RHD specifically.

2 - Instead of being on the defensive regarding 15 years. Is it possible to go on the offensive and lobby for a reduction to 10 years?
I don't see how to conact the original writer of the article, but fighting fire with fire....wouldnt there be some media person who wishes to do a report on the actual RHD drivers and help get our story out there? It seems that the CADA can do it, and ICBC can get attention, nobody I know from the non RHD crowd seems to understand the reality of the issue...that it's about protecting domestic auto sales.

That in itself may not get the general public support (because joe average would may think "good, lets protect domestic auto industry" without understanding the risks and proven results of overt and unnecessary protectionism (suggesting here are some situations where it may be warranted). But at least the discussion could come back to reality instead of continually being pointed at the fallacious argument of safety.

[snelson]

Global News Calgary picked up this story and did a report on it
Somewhat un-bias.

Unfortunatley the RHDriver interviewed was driving a BMW missing the front bumper which didn't look too good IMHO.
You'll have to forward the newscast to about the 35min part of the newscast.

October 21st broadcast
http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/video/index.html

[dennis_lambert]

In my opinion,With all due respect Its the young kids with fresh licenses importing 500 HP Skylines ETC that are giving RHD Vehicles a bad name...They Race them and crash giving ICBC the Stats they need to attempt to Prohibit RHD Import Vehicles.
Question,How do they Prohibit RHD Vehicles when all our Postal trucks are RHD?Or is the Intent to allow RHD Vehicles as long as its Domestic manufactured....Ok I get it this is simply about car manufacturers protectionism and nothing about saftey..What happened to free enterprise.
Sorry I am rambling..

[RichD]

I've only received a handful of emails regarding the meet/conference call. If you are interested in showing your support, expressing your opinion about a BC (and Alberta maybe?) non-profit focused on RHD, please send me an email. radagenais@gmail.com

[Profister]

You might know already how things work but I would like to make it clear. As pointed by M3ti Compact this is how it started: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/arch ... c4193.html
Emily Reid on behalf of Michael Hatch, the 'safety expert' of CADA posted this stinking dirt for a small fee (my guess it was $300) and other 'jounalists' did a copy-paste job. Very professional. There is no reason to pay attention to some odd media like Toronto Sun http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2 ... 66591.html and a few people actually read news on CBC site but The Globe And Mail is worth dealing with. The author of the publication Jane Taber is not a novice and should do a better job with providing a balanced information. She can be reached at jtaber@globeandmail.com. Why don't we compile and post our story on newswire.ca as the first step? There is an army of 'journalists' willing to practice in copy-pasting business these days. Is it a big deal to raise a few $$$ to fight back? I am in! Making noise on all related blogs and Facebook is a good way to reach public and media too. Also I agree with jrman that we have to act offensively. I would demand lifting the 15-year ban completely! What is wrong with that? I am not sure if we need another organization as we can join IVOAC that is already on our side.

[docsavage]

Don't forget the other social media out there. All MLA's and MP's are on Facebook. Mine is John Rustad, he has almost 3500 friends. I'm sure the rest of them have as many. Bring up the question with them on Facebook and see if we get more reaction. Might also be worth setting up a new Facebook group, maybe put some targetted ads up, get more statistics (Facebook is a great statistics generator of hits and likes), try to searech for people who like cars in the likes and dislikes, the list should be long.

We must also remind people that the CADA has been knowingly importing and selling deadly cars from Toyota, who admitted to purposely producing faulty cars. And I see that Toyota and Honda are recalling millions more, for faulty brakes:
http://autos.aol.com/article/toyota-honda-brake-recall/

How about a good old fashioned attack ad compaign against them for knowingly selling brand new unsafe vehicles. We have to undermine the publics percewption of the CADA as being there to help them buy safe vehicles.

Where I live it is extremely difficult to help at meetings etc. But I will pester my MLA and continue to supprt the fight however I can.

[RichD]

Several more emails have come in from people interested in forming a non-profit for the JDM scene in BC and possibly Alberta. I'll restate that the mission of such an org is not RHD fight, but to raise funds for all kinds of services to support our membership INCLUDING supporting the RHD fight.

I think that a lot of these posts about RHD fight are terrific, although possibly the best place for that today is IVOAC's forum. If there is anything that comes of this thread is that more of us should register on the IVOAC forum and get aligned with them.

[Ol'Lefty]

My understanding is BC is one of the few places you can change lanes in an intersection.

That being said it has to be safer changing in one direction in LHD and in the other direction in RHD.

Actually, (if you're in BC) have a look next time you're coming up to an intersection. When the white divider line goes solid, that means that you're not supposed to change lanes until after the intersection. To the best of my knowledge, (and my wife just had to go through her "Learner's" exams and training) it is illegal in BC to change lanes in an intersection.

"If an act or statute does not clearly and unequivocally state the previously existing right that it is meant to affect, then it has no bearing on that previously existing right." - Robert Arthur Mernard, quoting law (check him on YouTube) VERY interesting guy, talks a lot about ICBC and the Motor Vehicle Act. Not RHD in particular..

I would have a feeling that this COULD also apply to this act that they may attempt to enact.

[RichD]

"If an act or statute does not clearly and unequivocally state the previously existing right that it is meant to affect, then it has no bearing on that previously existing right."

Sounds like a mix between "Everything that is not expressly permitted is disallowed." and "Assumption is the mother of all f**kups."

[Ol'Lefty]

Theres people in BC who are driving around without insurance from ICBC (the monopoly) because the MVA doesn't mention the previously existing right to travel. The right to travel means that you can use any means of transportation to get from point A to point B. There's youtube vids of police encounters with some of these people who don't have insurance or a license, and they're allowed continue on. Just an addition to this whole RHD dilemma...

[RichD]

Theres people in BC who are driving around without insurance from ICBC (the monopoly) because the MVA doesn't mention the previously existing right to travel. The right to travel means that you can use any means of transportation to get from point A to point B. There's youtube vids of police encounters with some of these people who don't have insurance or a license, and they're allowed continue on. Just an addition to this whole RHD dilemma...

The last thing that the RHD lobby needs is to be branded libertarian kooks.

We're not doing anything weird here, we're just trying to operate vehicles we can afford. You want to talk about rational arguments:

Environment - recycling and maintaining a vehicle is, with few exceptions, lower impact that buying a new car. Most arguments to the contrary ignore the carbon impact of manufacture.

Economy - maintaining a used vehicle injects money right into the economy where it needs it, on the ground floor. Buying a new car puts money in the pockets of big business and banks. It takes longer for that to end up back in circulation.

Safety - we've already debated this six ways from Sunday; for the most part when comparing within vehicle classes, safety is a driver issue not a vehicle issue; i.e. all RHD vehicles should not be painted with the same brush as RHD sports cars. Also, there are other more dangerous classes of vehicles on the road (motorcycles), being imported from Japan too, and nobody is complaining.

Consumer Rights - this is where your thread of discussion might start to apply. There is a reasonable expectation that you have the right to CHOICE and to maximize the value you get from a purchase. Since these vehicles are essentially the same as domestic vehicles, there is no reasonable argument on behalf of public interest to ban them from the roads.


You want to go after this, you focus on CADA and expose their motives.

[thedjjack]

You can change lanes in an intersection in BC.

Source: http://www.drivesmartbc.ca/intersection ... ersections

[RichD]

You can change lanes in an intersection in BC.

Source: http://www.drivesmartbc.ca/intersection ... ersections

Not without being a douche.

[thedjjack]

You can change lanes in an intersection in BC.

Source: http://www.drivesmartbc.ca/intersection ... ersections

Not without being a douche.

I agree it is a bad idea to change lanes in an intersection. But it is legal (unless they charge you with unsafe lane change). Just pointing out the lack of law, not endorsing it.

[Profister]

Just to bring you back on topic: http://www.gtcars.ca/2010/10/auto-deale ... -vehicles/