Right-hand drive cars are seen regularly on highways across the country, but are often on the wrong side of government and insurance companies. At least one specialty car business owner says its time to have another look at the issue.
If the Canadian Association of Automobile Dealers (CADA) had its way, there would be an outright ban on right-hand drive cars. CADA has lobbied the federal government to, at the least, allow only 25-year-old models into the country. That increase, from the current 15 years, would prohibit many Japanese right-hand vehicles.
A 2007 study by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) found accident risk for right-hand drive cars to be 40-per-cent higher compared to "normal" cars. A province of Quebec study found a 30-per-cent higher risk of collisions.
"Imported right-hand-drive vehicles were never built for or intended to be driven on North American roads," says the Alberta Transportation website. "Therefore, they may have equipment and parts that pose a danger to the driver, passengers, and the public."
Meanwhile, Transport Canada is monitoring the situation. Its website says if it were to pursue an amendment of the regulations, stakeholders would first be consulted.
Michael Kent, president and founder of Right Drive Inc., based in Vaughan, Ont., sells consumer and commercial imports. He's also a post-incident appraiser involving right-hand vehicle collisions.
"Every year that goes by there's more right-hand drive and specialty vehicles on the road," says Kent. "What blows my mind is that there are no statistics on collisions that pertain to right-hand drive use."
Anecdotally, Kent says he's never attended more than two accidents involving right-hand drives in one year. "So, if the stats are 40 per cent more likely to be in a crash, then why isn't my appraisal business booming?"
Kent says insurance companies "should be looking at right-hand drive and specialty vehicles as an opportunity, rather than a threat."
Calgary resident Gina Teel discovered what a hassle it is to own a right-hand drive when she considered buying a used convertible. But she was met by roadblocks when she investigated insurance for a silver 1998 Mercedes BMW Z3.
The Z3, imported from Japan, came with an attractive $8,500 price tag. Insurance agents quoted between $500 to $600 to insure the vehicle for the three or four months of the year she'd drive it during Calgary's short summers. And mechanics were reluctant to service an import from Japan, because some components differ.
"I was not satisfied I had a good answer about why right-hand drive is so hard to insure," Teel says. "There's an attitude out there … but I never got to the bottom of the issue."
While Teel decided to pass, many others have accepted the risk. There are some 75,000 right-hand drive cars in Canada.
Kent says many of his clients have three or four other vehicles and may only drive them on Sundays.
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