In the Times Communist today

[kb&2dogs]

these two letters were in the Sunday Times Colonist - one for (sort of) and one against.

It is high time that ICBC took steps to limit or ban the sale of right-hand-drive vehicles from Japan. These vehicles are dangerous, as the ICBC study to tally the number of collisions indicates. Also, these vehicles are not crash-tested to North American standards.

Doug Lee

Victoria



With 70,000 right-hand-drive (RHD) vehicles here already, it is too late for ICBC to be talking about a ban.

I drive a RHD 1990 Nissan. I have no safety or visibility concerns, always optimizing my road positioning to maximize my sight lines and safety margins. RHD is much safer at right turns, where B.C.'s road rules put cars and pedestrians on a collision course.

My RHD Nissan has an all-wheel-drive system designed for wet and gravel roads. It is therefore very safe.

By all means consider a ban on further imports, but please allow existing cars already here to still be used or fully compensate owners. If there are more accidents in RHDs, then ICBC needs to analyze the driver experience. Penalize those drivers who've made a claim, but don't penalize the ones who haven't, regardless of what they choose to drive.

Mike Aston

Pender Island

[konadog]

A letter from a misinformed control-freak ass and a response from a RHD owner that's even worse - "By all means consider a ban on further imports..." What a limp response I just hate all this nonesense

[kb&2dogs]

By all means consider a ban on further imports, but please allow existing cars already here to still be used or fully compensate owners. If there are more accidents in RHDs, then ICBC needs to analyze the driver experience. Penalize those drivers who've made a claim, but don't penalize the ones who haven't, regardless of what they choose to drive.

Mike Aston

Pender Island

Why would a ban on imports do anything to change the perceived danger of RHD vehicles?? And who the hell said I want to be "compensated" for my choice?? We love our Delica, and we wouldn't be able to purchase an equivalent American made vehicle for ANY amount of money. And just by the way, I believe that drivers who make a claim are penalized by way of higher premiums. It doesn't matter what side of the vehicle they sit on to drive. An accident is an accident, the powers that be decide who is at fault and they pay for that, either with higher premiums or a citation for whatever law they broke, or both. The last we heard, this is a free country, and I can still make personal choices. If ICBC wants to ban dangerous cars, perhaps they should start by bringing back mandatory vehicle testing (from the 70's if you remember that), and get some vehicles off the road that are mechanically unsafe and/or belching black smoke or in danger of shedding body parts every time they hit a pothole in the road. JMHO