The car that cried wolf. I suppose I should give you points for using your indicator too many don’t, see number 2 but when you snap it on and
leave it on, you become a passive, annoying factor for all those around you. Will they? Won’t they? Now? Soon? Ever? If you can’t hear the clicking, you should be able to see the flashing arrow. If you don’t notice either, you shouldn’t be driving. So you think I’m the Amazing Kreskin. Sadly, no, I do not know what you’re thinking, nor do I know that your surprise lane-change is about to cut me off. There are many things in life that should remain a mystery: the Cadbury Secret, what hotdogs are made of, what your kids do to the house when you’re away on vacation. What you’re about to do, whether at 30 km/h or 100, should not be one of them.
You’re sure of a big surprise…
Okay, if you go car shopping, you won’t exactly stumble onto a teddy bear’s picnic, but the landscape will certainly be different from anything you encountered pre-COVID. Not just the need for an appointment, the sanitizing stations, and miles of plexiglass; the industry is navigating unprecedented times, and no matter how much you’re sick of seeing that word, it’s the one that applies.
Daniel Ross, a senior auto analyst with
Canadian Black Book, calls what is happening an almost perfect storm. “COVID hit our shores in March of 2020, and plant closures meant no cars were being built, which put new car inventories at a heavy disadvantage.” The worldwide impact of the pandemic affected the entire supply chain. Components of the cars we buy come from all over, and repeated waves of closures and shortages have left manufacturers struggling to produce enough vehicles.
Off-road impairment is a significant problem. If police can only track down a portion of the inebriated on our roadways, it stands to reason it would be an insurmountable challenge to get to those in the wilderness. According to a 2021 StatsCan report, half of snowmobile fatalities in Canada are due to drug or alcohol impairment. We average 73 deaths a year, and they are overwhelmingly (89 per cent) male. The lax attitude combined with little oversight is deadly.
It usually takes a crash or injury to trigger a charge, as this golf cart pilot near Barrie allegedly discovered a couple of years ago. If you’re on any of the many bodies of water in this country in the summer, half-cut captains are hardly rare. Some places see stricter enforcement, but many charges are triggered by injury or death. This is another area where we need to rethink the wording we use: boat crashes caused by impaired operators are not “accidents.”
85 per cent of Ontario drivers admit to speeding, which is hardly a big revelation. 57 per cent admit swearing (in the protection of their vehicle) and “making hostile hand gestures.” Who hasn’t wanted to flip the bird to the idiot who just cut you off? A further 63 per cent confess to tapping their brake when they’re being reared by a tailgater – a really stupid thing to do. Gambling on their ability to avoiding hitting
you is meant to teach
them a lesson?
Why does any of this matter? Because it’s getting worse, and it’s escalating. Across the country, “28 per cent of drivers have been angry enough behind the wheel to think about doing something impulsive.” This is a change from previous surveys; people are entertaining taking it beyond a hand gesture or jamming on their horn. Maybe it’s anxiety that is stacking up daily from our changed living and working circumstances; maybe it’s that our cars have been our only source of freedom for the past y
Alleged Toronto porch pirate thwarted as getaway Yaris stuck in snow
IMPACT has the largest fleet of bait cars in North America. It features an ever-changing cast of cars, rotated in and out of hotspots designated by where thefts are happening, and on what type of vehicles. Police in local municipalities determine their needs, and IMPACT puts a roster in place. While the city of Vancouver operates its own program, IMPACT is in every other place in British Columbia.
You can watch the videos here, and I highly recommend it. It’s like watching a baited fishing line with a bobber on it; the float goes under, and the game is on. Because the program has been around so long, it’s not surprising to hear those caught on tape often asking, “you think this is a bait car?” They’re usually wrong, as you can see here as a passenger confidently smashes the rearview mirror and announces there is no camera in it. Because of course, that is where it would be. It’s not.