iaink

Perhaps when you stop for gas, you could ask the gas jockeys to clean your side windows with a squeege....as you obviously have no intention of doing it yourself
(Youve probably seen squeegies, having lived in the GTA as long as you have, its like a stick with a bit of rubber and a scrubby thing on the end. maybe you could invest in one.) The other alternative is to wrap up warm and drive with the roof down

Another alternative is called a "Car Wash". I believe they have them in Toronto now, although in a Mustang its a bit risky and you will probably end up with a frozen puddle around your feet.

Posidrive

I see a difference between "got around" and "driving". Sure, I could get around in the 300ZX, but in those sort of conditions such cars should not be taken out, they are meant for fun. Trucks and Ambulances, etc, have a very favorable power to weight ratio when it comes to driving in adverse conditions.

Steve_P

I did mean "driving". For most people "those sort of cars" were their only vehicle. We all didn't and still don't have the luxury of parking vehicles for the winter.

You learn to adapt to the conditions, something that most modern drivers seem incapable of doing.

MikeUK

I also think one thing that has changed has been the implementation of crumples zone in a cars design.
Those old cars would take the small winter shunts and bumps in their stride, but a modern car which is designed to keep you alive in a high speed crash will show significantly more damage per kph of impact.

I also feel that the growth of the North American “Bigger is safer” approach has lead to an increase in an aggressive get out of may way or you’ll come of worse mentality of driving …… seen frequently from F150’s and large SUV’s..

When everybody was on an even playing field I’m sure that impacted the type of collision as well as driving mentality

dbd33

I do wash the car, even in deep winter, by hand, not in a machine. I do that once a month or so and I can then see for all of a mile before the windows are white again.

The problem with putting the top down is, of course, that water freezes in the mechanism making it impossible to open.

There are hardly any gas jockies any more, I had to drive miles to prove to a recent guest that Canada still has some, so counting on finding one each time the windows get dirty is impractical.

I suppose I could buy a squeegie but, shit, it's Canada, we should embrace winter, not try to turn Ontario into Florida. Mail slot driving is part and parcel of the Canadian experience.

jcexit

The reason car insurance in Ontario is so outrageously expensive is that all new emigrants are treated the same, no matter where they come from. That means that Brits and other Europeans, who are fairly good drivers overall, are lumped in with Chinese, Vietnamese and the like who are seriously bad drivers overall. The insurance companies are not allowed to discriminate, I guess.
Insurance companies also have their quotas for the number of emigrants they take on each year.

But it's also down to the judgments and awards given to people hurt in traffic accidents. These have become so high that we are encouraged to insure for up to two million dollars liability. The cost of repairing or replacing a vehicle is nothing compared to benefits and costs awarded to accident victims. This of course affects all Ontario drivers. Generally they do not recognise no claims bonuses from the UK and I have never heard of no claims having much effect on premiums. They like to see your no claims as proof that you have been insured for a vehicle previous to emigrating.

One more factor: motor insurance companies in Ontario pleaded poverty a few years ago but have for the last few years shown huge profits. There was talk of the provincial government taking over motor insurance as have many of the other provinces. Good thing too!

Finally, we see every year with the first fall of snow or sign of ice on the roads, accidents which are caused by drivers simply not driver according to the prevailing conditions - and the majority of them are Canadians born and bred.

iaink

And there is the answer to the OPs question.

Speak for yourself mate, I like to see what I'm about to hit...or what is about to hit me anyway.

daft batty

[QUOTE=dbd33]I have problems with the Mustang in the winter QUOTE]

mr x-ray says the problem is the mustang is a girly car, not a proper fast car......... :scared:

dbd33

Thinking about it, in twenty-five years of driving rear wheel drive cars around in Canada the times I've been forced to stop in winter were:

- slab of ice flew off minivan and went through my windshield

- stopped on 401 due to accident ahead of me, driver behind failed to notice and rear ended me at high speed

Neither of these circumstances would have been improved by clean windows, winter tyres or four wheel drive. Front wheel drive would be nice so I could do handbrake turns on lakes and car parks but, for ordinary use, the type of car doesn't much matter. Here that is, no doubt it's different in a mountain province.

Rich_007

Speaking of the reasonably small bit of experience we have had with ICBC (gov't run) here in British Columbia I can't fault their service at all, it's pretty darn slick for a public sector service. ICBC handles all driver licensing, insurance, claims, repair processing, accident prevention & safety strategy etc. To do all of that seamlessly is a fair task and the staff are helpful, informed and polite. Private insurers can't compete with ICBC's prices for 'extra' layers of insurance and their policies do flex on price based on market and previous year income/expenditure. A couple of years ago it was well worth getting any extra insurance from competitors, nowadays they'll just tell you not to bother them til ICBC drops its price.

You can't screw around with safety and insurance and from what I've seen I'm happy with the ICBC deal.

But saying all that it could all go pear shaped I guess. My personal rant is the way immigrants have to wait til having their PR cards before being allowed to take their tests thus cutting down to about 5 weeks the deadline for taking test, adding to PR stresses etc

Rich.

dbd33

[QUOTE=batty-x-ray] My other half and her family call it the "white trash car" and point out that no one who shouts "Nice car, buddy" ever has a full set of teeth or a capless head.

I see it as a sensible compromise, a family sized convertible. I can't fit the dog in the real sports car. I'd really like an old Camaro convertible, they have lots of room and look quite nice without being too wide for the driveway. That's a hard sell domestically though.

NessieOggy

I've heard insurance in Ontario can be very costly. There are 3 provinces in Canada that offer public insurance - BC, Saskatchewan & Manitoba. These provinces have insurance corporations managed by the government. As far as I know the other provinces operate through private insurance companies and tend to have much higher rates or lower coverages on things like Accident Benefits for your therapy, prescriptions, etc or the amount that will be covered if you experience a long term injury.

In the last election held in one of the Maritime provinces, vehicle insurance was forefront. The rates had gone up approximately 37% and people there were asking for a reform to insurance. Quite a number of the provinces served by private insurance were hit by large increases last year. In BC for instance, the increase was only 7% after the rates were frozen for a number of years.

I work with claims and we generally know when it has snowed up in the mountain passes. SUV's and trucks start getting towed in left, right and centre. Although these vehicles can be good in the snow... people tend to forget that nothing stops on ice easily!

Cheers & safe driving everyone!

Oggy

Calgal

From what I understand about it - I hope the government run insurance never gets to Alberta! It may offer cheaper premiums, but the kicker comes when you are on the receiving end and have to claim. Then you understand why the premiums are low!


(My son just found out that his premium will go up BY $1,500 if he claims for his accident, that puts him at $4,800 anually - OUCH!) :scared:

iaink

Just dumb luck. Encouraging others to do the same is plain irresponsible. Your luck will run out at some point, just like mine will, but for me it wont be for want of traction or visibility if i can help it.

How are you going to feel when you hit some pedestrian that you didnt see soon enough, or couldnt stop in time for on your all seasons? Theres no excuse.

Rich_007

Ahh, I see a ripple of sensibility in an ocean of stupidity.

Rich.