Romanov Report

REPORT 4- June 09

The "Heart and Stroke Ride for Health" met with great success last weekend, ironically, holding it on the Gardiner Expressway, ended up cutting off one of the "main arteries" of the city. Which leads me to the topic of road rage.

Road Rage
The car seems to provide people with an armor, allowing for aggression. Police advise to quickly "back off" from road rage as it can escalate quickly and become dangerous.

I've found that if I put my arm out of the window, in a non-aggressive way, it tends to calm things down, perhaps bringing back some element of humanization. People are not as aggressive with each other without the shield of a car.

TV Show - On City Pulse 24
On Tuesday night at 9pm, June 14, on channel 24, I am hosting a Talk TV show about insurance, tickets, accidents and the law. If you have any ideas, information, or stories you would like to see discussed, please click here:

http://www.insurancehotline.com/scripts/insquote.pl?instype=TVshow

Police Charges VS. Insurance Company Fault Rules
Are you aware that police officers, at the scene of an accident, ONLY determine if a driver should be charged under the Criminal Code of Canada, Highway Traffic Act, or the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act.

It's your insurance company that determines who is "At Fault" in the accident.

In other words, regardless of being convicted or charged by the police, it does not necessarily indicate which driver is at fault. Fault is determined by the provincial legislation, outlined in "Fault Determination Rules".

To see the Fault Determination Rules, used by the insurance companies, click here.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Regs/English/900668_e.htm

Excluded Driver Endorsement
Many people's insurance rate skyrocketed because they were living in the same residence with someone with a bad driving record. An endorsement to exclude that driver from your policy was available but not usually offered by insurance companies.

Effective June 1, for all policies issued or renewed, the Financial Services Commission Of Ontario has mandated that insurance companies must offer this endorsement. It is no longer optional. This means that the policy owner may exclude any driver from their insurance policy. If this applies to you, or someone you know, click here to get the information needed to present to the broker or agent to have that driver excluded:

http://www.insurancehotline.com/endorsement.html