After proposing the over 50 kph suspension and winning the hearts of politicians allowing it to pass.. he's at it again:

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_30333.aspx

The focus here, I really think should be to make a provincial mandatory requirement to teach winter driving skill and test that in order to get a driving license..

Traffic safety starts with proper driver training/education, NOT end of up pipe solutions of imposing fines and penalties which is has more to do with a cash-grab than the true interest of safety of people.

 

holy ****...makes me NOT want to move to Ontario ever.

 

That's a load of SH*T!! I could see that if winter tires are mandatory, and if you are in an accident without them, you have to pay, not the insurance company (i.e. BC). Someone can still be cautions (ME) yet still crash (hope not) and what I would have to pay. *** that!! I am cautious cause I love my car and don't want to *** it up. If this was the case I wouldn't bother having insurance on my car...what's the point?

I crashed my dad's car heading up to my cottage going 40km/80km zone an hour, around not a sharp turn, just slid off the road, nothing I could do. I should pay? Whatever!!

There has to be something better than that to reduce the accidents. Like what Footman said, studs maybe, decrease speed limits on snow days etc

GAYNESS!!

 

It's easy to blame the drivers and use that as a revenue stream "in the name of safety".. where as TRUE SAFETY, where it starts at the foundation of proper driver training will COST the gov't money to implement, and that is something they are not truly interested in.

I never trust the gov't as being really interested in the safety and well-being of the public. It's all about money.

 

On the other hand....

We've just had 4 days of snow in Vancouver.

The number of cars that have no snow cleared from their side/back windows, and are sliding around on summer or all-season tires makes them a real hazard.

People (especially the compact 4x4 sport utes) think they are invincible. They drive too fast to STOP - physics plays no favourites.

I've watched people spending 10 minutes getting out of their driveways, getting stuck on the sidestreets, and then going out to 'play' in traffic. What is their first / second / third clue that they are not properly equipped?

I believe that there are very few "Accidents". The cause of most crashes is poor judgement on somebody's part.

If you don't have the skill or the equipment to go out safely given the conditions, and you choose not to slow down to a speed where if you do slip, you don't crash; then I think a discussion with a judge is not necessarily a bad thing.

My 2 cents....

 

Yeah, guys, I think you need to calm down a bit about this. I think this is actually not a bad idea assuming it is implemented properly. Yes it is a cash grab, but, it states you'll only be charged if the driver is deemed irresponisble.

Sliding off the road at 40KM/H or 10KM/H in an 80KM/H zone I beleive would not qualify. However, sliding off the road at 80KM/H in a snowstorm should count.

I think that the corolla I saw spin out twice in a snow storm in a matter of 2 minutes (after riding my *** for five minutes) would think twice after he pays for his sinlge car accidnet (which I am sure has happened by now).

Way too many people out there fly around in the snow and have no clue what they are doing, but think they do. A lot of people can be taught, preched, and schooled in safety, but they will never learn. A lot of people respond to finiancial consequences more.

 

That Fascist bastard!!!!! How about first proposing the law that makes it mandatory to have winter tires instead of that...........

 

What Rotary Mike and Silver06 said I agree!!!
The crappy thing is that I eventually have to pay for these irresponsible drivers who will eventually put up an insurance claim for their damaged car.

They should make winter tires and winter driving mandatory. You would think they would cover their costs through the price people have to pay.

I know when my daughter is old enough to drive, I am going to teach her everything I know, and send her to all the training she can get. Why? Because she is my daughter and I want her to be prepared for everything and anything. I can't believe a lot of parents let their children drive irresponsibly or unprepared and not even blink an eye.

 

Alright... you have a point that a number of people get over confident because they drive a 4x4 (I can't count the number of times I've seen Audi's in the ditch after a snow storm). However what this would be doing is impossing punishments on not just the bad drivers, but also the good ones who ran into something completely unexpected.

Going home last night there was a bit of slush on the road but it had been plowed and for the most part the road was clear. There were three cars abreast (I was in the outside lane) and as we rounded a bend in the road, my lane suddenly stopped. For some reason the plow just decided not to bother plowing the lane I was in anymore. As a result of this I pretty much lodged myself into the snow bank because I had no where to go. No damage was done.. but if there had been I would have been instantly liable. I don't quite follow that math. The city is responsible for maintaining the roads.. which then had done for the most part. It's a pretty reasonable expectation that the lane would continue to be clear if the past 3km had been. blah. No point in trying to think about it. Laws don't need to make sense. Then only need to make money.

 

this pisses me off. i pay for collision insurance on my car. they shouldn't be allowed to force me to pay for it because they deemed my driving unsafe. if i've broken laws that caused my accident, thats a different story. it seems every week we are hearing about another stupid law trying to be passed that will ultimatly screw the good majority of us over and only punish a few of the idiots that need to be stopped.

Greg

 

As a matter of principle, Fantino shouldn't be allowed to talk like this and needs to be slapped for doing so. His job is to enforce the law, not make it. He's crossing the line by saying this and if politicians don't do anything, he's just going to continue to undermine them.

 

Wow! What a seriously terrible proposal! I imagine it would only be a matter of time before something like this came to the US.

I don't know how insurance is run in Canada but most US states now make it mandatory that you have some form of car insurance. Sorry but if I'm forced to pay it there no way I'm going to allow coverage only in good weather. Sounds like another method of pandering to insurance companies so they can keep more of their money.

I agree that driver saftey starts with proper teaching. I wish the US would enforce mandatory driving tests every 10 years and subsidize high performance driving classes with insurance breaks. The Bondurant Racing School here in Phoenix teaches a teenager driving course on accident avoidance, skid pad training with over/under steer and track driving techniques.

I hope you guys don't see legislation like that get passed.

 

Apparently, according to fantino... his proposal is "modelled after many US states which already have such rules?"

I'm not from the US, but you said that "you'd fear when something like this eventually comes to the US"...

Does that mean fantino just made that statistic up just to convince people?

 

He's already backed off the statement about people being forced to pay out of their pocket. He said that that would be a "civil" matter and it's not up to him to decide. He just wanted to get his point across. BS.

As some of the other folks here and else where have said, 90% of these accidents could be taken care of with proper lessons (training). The finnish have some of the best drivers in the world (want to argue, just look at their rally drivers). Their driving lessons cover things such as maintaining control in adverse conditions (skid pads the whole bit). If you want less accidents, then focus on better means of testing. The number of people here who go through driving schools where they don't learn how to drive, but rather learn how too pass the test is alarming.

 

I think all those Doghnuts and coffee is getting to his head he needs to get off his high horse...I pray he doesn't go into politics

 

I have never heard of such a proposal being used here in the United States. Insurance is required to cover you in any situation as long as you were not driving drunk or using drugs. There might be instances where you would be dropped after a claim has been filed but if you wreck during bad weather your insurance company must cover you.

Does Fantino understand that most people don't have a choice of driving in bad weather? People have to get to work!

 

No wonder we always get shafted here in Ontario, there are always some liberal wackjobs who are quick to say "hey, great idea if properly implemented." Yeah, just like our street racing laws were properly implemented...

Fact is, Ontario (by the MTO's own admission) had among the safest roads in Ontario BEFORE Fantino and McGuinty came along and imposed draconian - by far the most severe laws in NA - with many more being tabled today that I can go on about.

To support aything that guy says makes you a tool of the highest order in my book...

 

He already is a politician, that's the problem. As the OPP chief he has no business dabbling in the legislative end of the business. It is highly inappropriate.

If there is a textbook definition of a douche bag, Fantino is it.

I do think the time has come for Ontario to phase in mandatory winter tires. There is no way you could have driven safely around the GTA in the past 3 weeks on all-season tires.