Encouraging sign from Autoplan?

[jaggedfish]

Hi all,

Just yesterday I had cause to re-insure my little red hotrod pickup - Sleepy Hollow Rod Run weekend up here on the Sunshine Coast. When I was at the insurance place the lady going through my papers asked... "is this a right hand drive?"... Technically the answer should have been obvious and I was surprised by the question. I politely answered "no" and quizicly followed up with "but my other vehicle is". She explained to me that because of the greatly increased popularity of RHD vehicles, the Autoplan computers - thus ICBC - now have a reference in the insurance documents to which side the vehicle is driven from...

I hope this is encouraging news for us RHD-ites that the level of acceptance has been kicked up a notch (even if it's small) and that we will continue to be able to import and drive our kooky little buses we enjoy so much.

Cheers!

[mriguy]

i'm not sure if encouraging would be the word i use. when i registered my deli just over a month ago, it was the week ICBC started keeping track of RHD vehicles, and the RHD-friendly agent gave me a bit of insight into the matter. While it "might" be recognition of wider ''mainstream'' acceptance, it also allows ICBC to keep track of how many RHD vehicles are out there, and how many accidents they are involved in. More to the point, it allows them to more easily keep ''stats'' that may serve ICBC's agenda to prove RHD vehicles are ''unsafe.'' Be wary indeed! Big Brother is officially watching now!

[loki]

this will also allow them to have separate rates like for sports cars, wagons, 4-door, rhd which will in turn make it easier for them to charge a higher rate.

[marsgal42]

With some real data to play with we can only hope ICBC analyze them properly, unlike that ridiculous report from last year. Which they are not repudiating, even though their subsequent actions show that the report was flawed.

Inexperienced drivers in powerful cars are going to cause accidents, regardless of driver position. Folks trundling around in Delicas won't. I hope ICBC's data - real data this time - bear this out.

Gumdrop's renewal paperwork will be here soon. A year already!

...laura

[Fanny Bay Delica]

ICBC would not be gather this type of data for our benefit, I don't see how this can possibly be good news!!!!

[Profister]

I do not expect ICBC to do anything to reduce their profit. It never happened before and it will never happen. It is a money-sucking monster. So far with a Roadstar discount my insured 'for pleasure only' 16-year old Delica costs me the same as my fully insured brand new Suzuki SX4 ($30,000 value). I would not be surprised with my Delica rate increase because of their new "study" or whatever they do behind the scenes.

[psilosin]

Thumbs up if they are actually collecting valid data for valid statistical analysis. Way better than trying to create a statistical analysis from false data. If it is done properly the collected data is neither a good thing or a bad thing, just numbers.

[mriguy]

instead of asking if your vehicle is RHD, i think a more valid question/heading from ICBC when insuring a vehicle should be how many horses your pushing! I would guess that nissan skylines are costing ICBC more $$$ in claims than delicas!

[konadog]

I'm all for ICBC collecting stats on RDH vehicles. I would even like to see data just on delicas... If RHD is as safe as LHD, and all of us here know it is, we've got nothing to fear - We all also know anti-RDH sentiment is bred of ignorance and fear of the unknown. I admit I was concerned about driving "way over there!" until I actually got behind the wheel and realised it's irrelevant. Having this proven with real stats should help allay the suspicion. The real issue is driver awareness, focus and skill. LOTS of people just don't take driving seriously, and if you're careless and reckless you're more likely to crash, no matter what you're driving.

[dfnder]

I was talking with a fellow worker today and he mentioned that RHD vehicles are 40% more likely to be involved in accidents than LHD and that he expects rates to climb for us.

Now this guy likes to pull peoples legs but he generally knows what he is talking about when he is not kidding around.

[Green1]

well, he read the junk ICBC report, but not the data behind it... the data proves it is garbage, and the author has shied away from it, unfortunately it makes great FUD so ICBC won't drop it, the big auto dealers won't let them!

[joostio]

I also don't see this as being good. If the data indicates in our favour regarding liability of RHD then our rates will go up due to expense of parts such as body panels or some other crap excuss to raise our rates. If the data is against us it will be published all over and our rates will definently go up. As far as Skylines costing ICBC more then Delica's, this depends on the numbers being put on our roads. I suspect many more Delica's are imported but I have nothing to base that on. I am always a fan of the "Under the Radar" approach. Looks like that is over now.

[jaggedfish]

I'm so glad to see none of us are bitter about ICBC...

In the long run, stats are stats and they can be twisted any which way to support or de-bunk theories. Personally I think it's a little paranoid to just assume we are all being targeted for elimination by way of being recognized....

Heck... you hear the stats for the housing market being reported as falling every day but if you actually read and listen carefully, the story is being twisted by the media in a subtle way to make the consumer fearful that the entire market is crashing... not true at all... moderating, yes... crashing, no. Those that read and pay attention can see the holes in the stories.

When asked by the insurance agent about my thoughts on driving an RHD, I was quick to explain what I liked and what I thought was safer about them... I've been driving cars and motorcycles for over 1/4 of a century.... I SHOULD know. I don't claim to be an exceptional case of driver ability - I've had my share of accidents - but I do know that in some cases, I have braked sooner because I can see further ahead of the traffic being on the right side and can react to a potentially dangerous situation saving the people in front of me from being rear ended, myself from being injured by that idiot sitting 5 feet from my rear bumper, and THAT idiot too.

It was said before and it needs to be said again... it's not what we drive, but how we drive. The horsepower argument has been fought in the motorcycle community for years because a factory 750cc superbike that can do a wheel stand from here to kingdom come is waaay cheaper to insure than a 1340cc cruiser that prefers to lumber off the line... has ICBC learned from those stats or adjusted it's premiums to reflect the danger?... no.

It IS all good food for thought and discussion tho and recognized we all have our personal thoughts and opinions.

Cheers all!

[jessef]

I was talking with a fellow worker today and he mentioned that RHD vehicles are 40% more likely to be involved in accidents than LHD and that he expects rates to climb for us.

Now this guy likes to pull peoples legs but he generally knows what he is talking about when he is not kidding around.

What he's talking about it is news over a year old.

http://www.cavi.ca/media/

http://www.ivoac.ca/pn/index.php?name=P ... pic&p=8369

http://www.icbc.com/inside_icbc/august2007news.asp#5

It was already debunked and proven to be false.

[marsgal42]

I got Gumdrop's renewal paperwork from ICBC yesterday, so I'll see what happens. A year already! Where has the time gone?

The only other person who has driven Gumdrop is my Mom, who agrees that the visibility is so good that it doesn't matter where you sit.

...laura