N.L.’s ‘insane’ driving culture under microscope

Tom Hickey says he feels safer on the roads almost anywhere else in North America — Toronto, New York, L.A.

“It’s insane,” said Hickey, president of Wedgwood Insurance, one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s major providers. “And it’s not just the speeds at which people drive. It’s the aggression and the way they drive.”

Nineteen people have died in 12 crashes in the province since Aug. 1, including a 65-year-old man killed Wednesday in a single-vehicle accident on the Trans-Canada Highway southwest of St. John’s.

Despite that deadly toll, officers say they still clocked drivers racing up to 173 kilometres an hour during a blitz last weekend.

“You go to a city like Toronto and people merge, traffic flows,” Hickey said in an interview. “But here, if you’re trying to merge in, the person in the lane is like, no, you’re not getting ahead of me. I’m not going to let you in.

“I feel safer in California. I feel safer in New York. I feel safer in Ontario.”

Social media updates from traffic officers tracking multiple drivers hitting over 140 kilometres an hour prompted Hickey to send a blunt notice this week to clients across the province.

“While there are many factors that influence accidents, there is one that we see that comes up over and over,” it said. “Speed kills. So here is our message to you drivers doing 144 km/h: We don’t want your business.”

The note goes on to say: “We’ll do everything within the rules to see that you end up in Facility Association where the worst drivers belong at the highest prices. Maybe that will slow you down. Why? Because we want to protect our good clients from you.”

Hickey has been “bombarded” with calls and messages of thanks since he spoke out, he said.

“I’m sort of shocked at the reaction it has got but obviously there’s an undercurrent here of frustration at what’s going on on our highways.”