Stats don’t tell the whole drunk-driving story
The biggest news story this week was the tragic accident in which four people — a grandfather and three children — were killed when their van was T-boned by an alleged drunk driver.
The horrific nature of this story overshadowed a number of others in which intoxication was a factor and which would appear to indicate that drunk driving is on the rise.
For instance, on Sept. 22, a woman with four times the legal limit of alcohol in her system drove off the road in Halton Hills, crashing into a natural gas line and causing a fire.
On Sept. 24, a woman wrapped her pickup truck around a telephone pole on Lake Shore Blvd. W. near Royal York Rd. in Etobicoke and was ejected from the vehicle. She lost a leg in the crash.
Tuesday evening, a drunken Oshawa man crashed his Lincoln into a tree and utility box, ending up on a residential property. He was arrested and charged at the scene.
Memory serves that in recent years, holiday season RIDE spot checks turned up next-to-no impaired drivers on the roads. But when I called to check, Toronto Police spokesman Clinton Stibbe pointed out that, “RIDE numbers are not the most effective gauge for these types of incidents.
“The vast majority of impaired drivers are spotted by the general public and we are notified by a 911 call to respond.”
Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada representative Carolyn Swinson attributes some of this public reporting to a recent MADD campaign that urges the public to dial 911 when they see a suspected drunk driver.
Stibbe says arrest statistics for impaired drivers in Toronto has stayed static recently, with 981arrests this year compared with 979 to date last year.
In Durham Region, there has actually been a downward trend this year, with 512 reports of impaired driving compared with 551at this time in 2014.
MADD is pushing lawmakers hard to have the limit reduced from the current 0.08-per-cent limit to 0.05 per cent. Additionally, Swinson says the organization is urging the government to allow police to administer mandatory alcohol screening for those who are involved in a major collision, along with allowing random roadside testing as part of routine traffic stops.
Pfaff holds open house for insurance industry There has long been a somewhat tenuous relationship between everyone involved in the collision-repair process.
Consumers want their car fixed correctly and on time, while not totally trusting that either the body shop or the insurance company is truly in their corner.
Body shops struggle to be paid a fair rate by insurance companies, while insurers focus on preventing repair facilities from spending too much of their money.
The reality is that history has given consumers reason to be wary. There have been — and are — some unscrupulous shops out there.
Body shops are facing pressure from insurance companies to control costs. Insurance companies are determined to cut costs in just about every aspect of collision repair, from health-care costs to vehicle repair.
Meanwhile, as modern vehicles become more complex than ever, the use of exotic construction materials has filtered down from ultra-exotic cars to everyday vehicles.
These exotic materials, from aluminum to composites, require very different equipment and techniques to repair properly. Many of the old-school body shop methods cannot be used with many modern vehicles.
One of the most respected outlets in the industry, Pfaff Auto, operates a state-of-the-art collision repair centre in Vaughan, equipped with the latest in tooling and with staff who receive ongoing training from manufacturers to remain in step with the needs of modern technology.
Pfaff recently held an open house — its second in two years — to bring key insurance industry staff together with manufacturer representatives to allow both sides to learn about the other.
Jeff Pabst, general manager at Pfaff, explained that the attendees included a variety of insurance personnel from front-line appraisers to upper management.
Collision experts from BMW, Porsche and Volkswagen Audi talked about the different types of materials used in modern manufacturing
and explained that they have specific protocols for repairing modern vehicles that often require more time than the old methods.
They said insurance companies must be aware of this when working through repair quotes with repair facilities.
“Our tag line at CAA Insurance is, ‘We are obsessed with member safety,’ ” said David Caldwell, appraisal supervisor at CAA Insurance, in explaining why he was on hand.
Caldwell said the biggest challenge CAA faces is educating members to understand just how important it is to repair a vehicle correctly in the face of external opinions from outside influences who may not really know what they are talking about.
With increasingly complex vehicles on the road, collision repairs are going to be even more challenging. Events like this one are important to ensure that everyone understands this.
GM Canada appoints communications head Since the departure of Faye Roberts this year, General Motors of Canada has had a bit of a hole in its communications team. To fill that role, the company this week named Bruce Logan the new director of communications.
Logan has 15 years of experience in communications and corporate and government relations, including luxury automotive marketing and communications.
GM, Toyota beef up rewards card programs For years, consumers had the option of using a TD Visa card to collect rewards in the form of cash discounts if they bought a new GM vehicle.
That campaign ended a couple of years ago. A new partnership between GM and Scotiabank comes with a new card.
The Scotiabank GM Visa has no fees and gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 5 per cent in “GM earnings” toward the purchase of a new GM product on the first $5,000 spent annually. Purchases above that will earn 2 per cent. Learn more at gmcard.ca. Toyota Canada is taking a different approach, by partnering with Aeroplan.
With this program, which will roll out in the coming months, Aeroplan members will be able to earn Aeroplan miles on the entire vehicle ownership cycle, from test drive to purchase and right on through to vehicle service.
Details on this program will be available soon on the Toyota Canada and Aeroplan websites. Gary Grant is a regular contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. To reach him, email wheels@thestar.ca and put his name in the subject line.