Transport Canada has been planning on implementing a change which would lower Canadian bumper safety standards from the current 8 km/h standard to 4 km/h. This halving of the standard would bring the Canadian testing in line with the regulations of both Europe and the U.S. Apparently, Transport Canada believes that vehicles would be cheaper to import while maintaining automobile safety. In fact, Canadian officials believe that the new standard could actually improve pedestrian safety. Or not, according to the IIHS, which has sent a letter to Transport Canada urging them to reconsider making the change. The IIHS response is pretty scathing, Using words and phrases like "unsubstantiated, incorrect assumptions, ill-informed and misleading," but the response could seemingly be summed up this way: Yo hosers, what were you thinking, eh? Thanks for the tip, Karen![Source: Auto North]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Nick @ Apr 25th 2008 6:57PM
If it's good enough for America, it's good enough for Canada. I don't see the problem.
psarhjinian @ Apr 25th 2008 8:20PM
What, like your gun policies? Or your drug policies? Or your medical care system? Or your copyright legislation? Or your, ahem, separation of church and state?
No thanks. I'll take the Canadian option, as well as my 8km/h bumpers. I'll even take Steven Harper over George Bush (or McCain, Clinton and/or Obama) though I'll hate myself for it.
(note to Americans: please have a sense of humour about this. I realize you do many things well, like regional culture, wireless data plans, a useful Senate, air quality legislation and national pride. Just not everything)
Nick @ Apr 25th 2008 8:48PM
lol, psarhjinian, "your"? I'm Canadian, sorry.
Dolemite @ Apr 25th 2008 9:00PM
Psarsh,
I usually enjoy your posts, so I am going to be civil about this: you really should not make this issue political when it does not need to be.
I know anti-Americanism is a Canadian staple (thank Trudeau, kids!), but this is about cars, bro! Cars! Cars > Politics
Disgruntled Goat @ Apr 25th 2008 10:06PM
Yo psarhjinian, I'd take the Canadian options of those things too. And I'm American. Well technically Texan but you know what I mean.
Tagg @ Apr 26th 2008 12:00AM
P
I liked your posts, I really did and I can take a joke but you were over the top on that statement whether you were trying to be funny or not.
Sure Bush isn't great but you would have a hard time finding people around the world who even know who youre Prime Minister is. The U.S. whether you want to admit it is still the economic power in the world and its a ways to the second. The U.S. can also produce enough food in the midwest alone to feed the world if it had to and gives more to poor nations than any other nation in the world. In 2005 the U.S. gives 1.85% of its GDP to charity with the U.K. the next closest at .84% and the numbers have been the roughly the same for years.
The medical system here in the U.S. is the best in the world. If something very serious were to happen you will be treated and most of it will be paid for believe it or not. I have seen first hand with a friend without insurance who was hurt badly in an accident. He was treated as if he was insured and never had to pay his full bill. The U.S. is at the leading edge of many medical breakthroughs and that is thanks to the competition that is afforded by our "bad" health care system.
I do like to visit Canada since I live in Michigan but Canada is very dependant on the U.S. in many aspects. The U.S. is also dependant on Canada for certain things like oil.
The best part is that you brought in Bush, health care, gun and drug polices and the subject was bumpers!
Mallory @ Apr 26th 2008 5:28PM
RE: "The medical system here in the U.S. is the best in the world"
This old myth really needs to die. Numerous statistics and studies show that the U.S. spends up to twice as much per capita as other industrialized nations yet consistently fails to even break into the top ten in quality of care. If you guys don't mind paying twice as much for half the quality of care then be my guest, but there are much better, much cheaper ways.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care
http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.pdf
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9400E4D71331F932A15755C0A9669C8B63
I could go on and on but it's easy enough to discover the truth with a simple search.
Tagg @ Apr 27th 2008 12:09AM
If you think its a myth that millions of people come to the US from all over the world for advanced treatments then you are a complete idiot and in denial. The come to the US because its the only place that offers it!
Wikipedia is never a reliable source since it can be edited by ANYONE! No honest person would ever use wikipedia as a source. Are you Michael Moore by chance?
You know how they keep costs down? They cap the amount a service can be charged. If the US did that healthcare around the world would increase dramatically since the US absorbs the costs of others capping medical costs. I wish we would do it. Let Europe, Canada, and every third world nation pay 50% more in health care.
So live in your hole, hate all you want but that is fact, ignore it at your ignorance.
Aprime @ Apr 25th 2008 7:06PM
I'm totally against downgrading to 4KM bumpers, after having a minor collision with a Civic in midtown rush hour that left no trace(s) whatsoever on my car you can pretty much understand why.
... Not like it mattered much because my bumper got vandalized when I drove to Pennsylvania.
Nick @ Apr 25th 2008 7:09PM
Who is to say the result would have been any different with the lower standard?
Aprime @ Apr 25th 2008 7:15PM
The speed. :P
There was a car's space between us, my car hit hers and hers hit the CR-V in front (which was left unhurt).
She had damages to her rear bumper (front was intact) and after a talk (yeah there wasn't any rage fest... Well, I was raged at myself but that's about it) I learned she got into a similar accident with it in the past and she didn't go to the dealer to get it repaired (nor a licensed shopped)... So I'm guessing that's the only plausible explanation.
motorman @ Apr 26th 2008 12:17PM
why were you in Pa so you get health care quicker than in canada. our whole family used to go fishing all the time in canada but after they outlawed my personal protection,a gun,we quit going there.the people of canada have lost $1000s of dollars from our family because we no longer go to canada for any reason and i believe we are not the only ones.
Aprime @ Apr 26th 2008 2:32PM
I was in Pennsylvania for a concert. :)
Fooman @ Apr 25th 2008 7:11PM
So they are saying that their standards are too low? And Canada should not lower theirs.... huh...
Aprime @ Apr 25th 2008 7:17PM
Don't mistake the IIHS for the NHTSA.
IIHS = insurers
NHTSA = governmental organization.
VWsat @ Apr 25th 2008 7:18PM
This bumper difference is the only reason many American cars (Evo, R32) cannot be imported.
The reason IIHS is against it, is most likey due to pressure from manufacturers. If Canadians could import American cars, they would be less likely to pay the large difference in the prices between the two countries. Some manufacturers (BMW...) will only honour the warranty if the US imported car is inspected at a BMW dealership...at a cost of $5k which partially negates the cost differential between the two countries.
SPF @ Apr 25th 2008 7:53PM
Wow, I didn't know that and that totally make sense. Effing A-holes.
Aprime @ Apr 25th 2008 8:11PM
... We can import US cars.
And if there's one of the two that's sleeping with manufacturers it's most likely our government. Not saying that they're corrupt but we all know how Honda's lobbying against EcoAuto turned out! :D
psarhjinian @ Apr 25th 2008 8:27PM
I don't think it's the manufacturers. The same Canadian-grade bumpers are sold on most cars sold in any quantity. The only cars that have trouble are "specials" with highly styled bumpers. I'm sure manufacturers would like to have one less standard to adhere to
Besides, they'd still throw up warranty nullification as a barrier to grey-marketing just like they do now.
No, the reason the IIHS is doing this is that the 8km/h bumper bash standard in Canada really does cost insurers less. Remember: IIHS = _Insurance_ Institute for Highway Safety; they're not an automaker or governmental organization, they're insurers and reinsurers. They're in favour of anything that keeps claims down, and that usually means safety and accident avoidance/mitigation technologies. Bumper-bashes cost a lot of money in net dollar terms, and I'm sure they've seen that per-capita claims dollars are lower in Canada than the US.
John Graham @ Apr 25th 2008 11:25PM
They can be imported. Anything 15 years or older can be imported no questions asked into Canada.