Posts Tagged ‘alberta’
In this weekly segment, we cover the top discussions going on in the automotive forums. These threads may be the most recent hot topics, or epic threads that we just wanted to dig up and feature.
If you have a suggestion for a thread to be included on the forum weekly review, e-mail it to info@beyond.ca. If you have not joined our forums, register today its free!
Best TV Shows Flying Under the Radar
There is a lot of great television on these days, in fact theres too much! I can’t even keep up with a PVR so I’ve had to stop watching certain shows that don’t make the cut as there just isn’t enough time to keep up. Many people miss out on shows simply because there are so many of them trying to get our attention and inevitably, some of them slip under the radar. What are some shows you love that are not getting the attention they deserve?
Speed On Green Cameras Approved in Alberta
Red Light Cameras in Edmonton and Calgary will soon have a new feature enabled on them that will let the Police collect revenue for those that speed through intersections. While the original rationale behind the push for “speed on green” cameras was to nab drivers that sped up when the light turned yellow, the functionality allows the cameras to take photos of drivers that speed through intersections even on fresh greens. The province has allowed cameras to begin operating with the new features effective January 1, 2009 but it will take some time to turn on the new features. Calgary Police plan on having a grace period of 90 days before actual tickets are issued.
Tom’s Bottle Recycling Center Reviews Thread
This thread just had to be a part of the weekly review! :) Tom has been gracious enough to write up a review of two bottle depots in Calgary when he recently did a quick test of them. He got 100% of the money he was supposed to at both places and gives them both a thumbs up if you plan on recycling some bottles in the near future (who isn’t with all the CHRISTMAS dinners coming up?).
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :)
In what could be one of the biggest mistakes by a police force, the RCMP confirmed that they will no longer chase suspects fleeing in stolen vehicles in Alberta. The new pursuit policy has been in place for at least two months already, but it has not been made public until now. Now, I’m not saying the policy is a mistake but publically disclosing it is. Why did the RCMP reveal their hand? It would have been perfectly fine to adopt this new policy while keeping it under wraps.
With this new knowledge of the RCMP’s vehicle pursuit policy, car thieves may now feel they can take a car for a quick joyride without fear of being pursued on the rural highways or in smaller towns where the RCMP patrol.
“Our new policy now discourages pursuing a stolen vehicle, just for the sole purpose that it’s stolen,” he said, adding the new policy won’t give drivers of stolen cars a free pass.
“Obviously if somebody is in a stolen vehicle and is impaired or has been involved in other criminal activity, then there’s no strict prohibition from engaging or not engaging, there’s all kinds of factors that will come into play.
“All pursuit policies have a balance or risk assessment portion so our members can have the policies and tools in place so they can judge if something is getting way too risky, as far as public safety goes, for the benefits of criminal apprehension.”
When I first read this I did a little poking around and found that there were many cases of RCMP police chases ending badly in BC but not so many in Alberta. Perhaps it is because the RCMP patrols in the Greater Vancouver Area. I wonder why the RCMP chose Alberta as the testing grounds for this new vehicle pursuit policy?
The Calgary Police Service has a similar pursuit policy but they also have the advantage of patrolling a much smaller area. Oh, and they also have two helicopters that can be called in to assist in a pursuit if it is available. The RCMP will be evaluating the success of the new pursuit policy and if successful will be deploying it in other regions.
Alberta Transportation is working on changing playground and school zones so they begin one hour earlier, at 7:30am as opposed to 8:00am currently for school zones and 8:30am for playground zones. In our previous discussions on the effectiveness of playground zones, many of you expressed frustration towards motorists that went 30 km/h before the start time of the playground zones. Now with these changes working their way through the legislature, we can all slow down.
“It doesn’t make sense to have a playground zone when cars are only slowing down after the bell has rung,” says Laura Shutiak, president of the Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils.
“The big issue has always been morning times, and anything that deals with that is helpful.”
Alberta Transportation Minister Luke Ouelette said his department is looking to standardize both school and playground zones so they both start at 7:30am and end at 5:00pm, leaving the option for municipalities to alter the end times through bylaws. Calgary currently has its Playground zones end 1 hour after sunset, but according to Ald. Ray Jones, chairman of the city’s transportation committee, it may look towards having both Playground and School zones end 1 hour after sunset.
Having both school and playground zones start and end at the same time is great for motorists. If a driver spends any time deciding if a school or playground is active, then they are not focusing on the road and potentially forgetting to slow down. The province will be holding public consultation and information meetings throughout the province before the changes are made.
In this weekly segment, we cover the top discussions going on in the automotive forums. These threads may be the most recent hot topics, or epic threads that we just wanted to dig up and feature.
If you have a suggestion for a thread to be included on the forum weekly review, e-mail it to info@beyond.ca. If you have not joined our forums, register today its free!
Alberta: Pay Your Outstanding Tickets Now, Or We’ll Garnish Your Wages
In a move that dead-beat fathers may be familiar with, the Alberta Justice Department will resort to seizing wages, bank accounts and even tax refunds to collect payment on unpaid tickets if they are not paid within 30 days from the time a warning letter is sent. There is currently about $126 Million in unpaid tickets and the Government hopes to have as much success as they did with a pilot project two years ago in which they collected about 50% of tickets they targetted.
The Official Beyond.ca Badminton Thread
Do you play badminton? Join other beyond members and play to get fit, or play to kick some ass. Players of all skill levels are welcome to join in every wednesday evening at the Talisman Center. Check the thread to see whos going each week.
Calgary BMW Tech Takes Customer Car For Joyride
A Calgary BMW service tech took a customer vehicle for a quick joyride, unfortunately for the tech witnesses saw the easily recognizable HPF Stage2 Turbo M3 and notified the owner who is a local celebrity, rage2. To top it all the entire act was captured via GPS data-logging. Having your vehicle abused by lot boys and service techs is always a risk at dealerships but not at luxury brand dealership like BMW. Calgary BMW for their part is handling the incident very professionally! Kudos to them.
Over 90 Petro-Canada gas stations across BC and Alberta have run dry because of a gas shortage caused by a shut-down of a fuel refinery in Northern Alberta. Over 120 employees have been assigned to repair the problem, a broken catalytic cracking unit, but the repairs are likely going to take quite some time. The company expects the problem to be fixed by September resulting in almost a month of downtime for the facility.
Across Calgary, most Petro Canada stations were dry. The first Petro Canada station for drivers entering the city from the West just off the Trans Canada Highway is still selling gas but other stations in the area are completely out of all grades of gasoline.
Calgary gas bar owner John Balanazario said he and other station owners have been forced to offer higher grade fuels at lower grade prices and absorb the losses out of their own pockets.
“It’s bad for business, but good for the customers,” he said.
Retailers are feeling the pinch as the convenience stores are empty with gas customers. August is typically a high demand season with many people going on road trips on the weekends. The August long weekend will see many people heading out of town to go camping, and on day trips. Any retailers looking for compensation from Petro Canada will be out of luck as the company has already said it will not be providing any.
“Because the current situation is the result of an unplanned incident, it was actually an incident declared force majeure and compensation is unfortunately not available in a force majeure situation,” said Petro-Canada spokeswoman Kelli Stevens on Friday.
Once the refinery is back online in early September, it will likely take another week or so before fuel production and delivery starts. It will be even longer yet for retailers to determine if they have lost any customers to other gasoline retailers because of the prolonged shortage.
Drivers in Alberta are going to be paying more to drive their vehicles this fall as the Auto Insurance Rate Board has approved a 5% increase for insurance premiums. The increased premiums will take effect on November 1, 2008. The insurance companies initially wanted to hike rates by 37% but the Finance Minister made it clear that she would block any attempt to raise insurance premiums by more than 10%. The 5% hike works out to an increase of $30 for the average driver.
The insurance companies argued at a two day meeting last month that they would have to increase insurance premiums after a judge ruled that the insurance payout cap of $4,000 was unconstitutional. The Canadian Bar Association who was also present at the meeting last month presented a report that showed insurance companies made more than 20% profit from 2003 to 2006. The report suggests that insurance premiums, even without the payout cap should be decreased by 3.2%. The report also stated that injury claims were never out of control.
The board concluded that the impact of removing the payout cap would be covered by a 20% increase in premiums but chose to limit the increase to 10% due to the uncertainty surrounding the appeal of the judges decision to axe the payout cap. The 10% increase was offset by a -5% experience adjustment. In 2005, insurance premiums were reduced by 4% followed by a 3% reduction in 2006. For 2007 there was no change to the basic premium level.
Calgary Herald readers had mixed reactions to the 2008 basic insurance premium hike. Some are thankful it is only 5% while others are irate that the cost of driving is going up yet again. What do you think about the insurance rate hike?
Source: Alberta Automobile Insurance Rate Board
In this weekly segment, we cover the top discussions going on in the car forums. These threads may be the most recent hot topics, or epic threads that we just wanted to dig up and feature.
If you have a suggestion for a thread to be included on the forum weekly review, e-mail it to info@beyond.ca. If you have not joined our forums, register today its free!
Lobster Sub @ Subway Reviews/Rants/Comments
Perfect example of how a relatively normal thread on Subway’s Lobster sandwich can take a turn for the worse in a hurry. I suppose the subtle 89coupe lunch joke started it off in the wrong direction, but still a great thread. If you are not sure what it is referring to, Subway has relaunched their Lobster Sub again for the summer. The sandwich, if ordered as a footlong with “double meat” will run you a whopping $30.98.
2008 Calgary Stampede Discussion Thread
The Calgary Stampede has arrived for 2008 and will be in town from July 4th through July 13th. Tens of thousands of tourists descend upon Calgary to partake in the events all around the city and at the Stampede grounds, but many locals cannot stand the crowds both on the road and on public transportation. Share your thoughts on the Calgary Stampede, are you going to go this year?
Premier Ed Stelmach Bans Cheap Drinks; Sets Minimum Drink Prices and Limits Happy Hour
Say goodbye to $0.25 draft nights, and other drink specials as they will no longer be allowed thanks to a ban by the Alberta Government. In an effort to curb violence at night clubs minimum drink prices have been imposed and happy hours must end at 8:00pm. The goal of the ban is to reduce the consumption of alcohol at bars and nightclubs which is often blamed for the escalating violence at the end of the night. Will the new measures work? I doubt it, but we’ll see. What do you think?
Last November, The Alberta Government put up a license plate survey asking Albertans if they wanted to keep the existing “Wild Rose Country” slogan on our license plates. The survey also included questions to see whether we supported bringing back the front license plates, color schemes, as well as the design of the plate itself.
Beyond.ca members vehomently opposed bringing back the front license plates as they ruin the asthetics of our front bumpers and provide no real value, and besides it costs more to make two plates for every car! Forum members encouraged other members to vote to ensure that the front plates were not brought back and it looks like it may have worked! Its impossible to conclusively say whether the number of beyond members voting had any real impact on the results but from what the survey results show, I’d say beyond.ca members may have skewed the outcome :)
Nearly 34,000 responses to the survey were received by the Government, mostly men. Calgary was also the source of most of the responses (hmm!). 35% of internet survey respondents liked the “Wild Rose Country” slogan, but when the Government did a telephone survey of 1,000 Albertans a staggering 74% liked the “Wild Rose Country” slogan.
In addition to the slogan change, the colors and design will also change. The province will consider offering custom designs with the images of certain sports teams or other organizations (affinity plates). If given the opportunity to, Beyond.ca will definitely submit a member chosen design. The unveiling of the design will occur in early 2009 and the roll out of the new license plate designs will begin in mid 2009. The new license plates will cost taxpayers $11.7 Million.
Survey Results:
- In the online survey, 74% supported a new plate design.
- In the public opinion poll, 51% said the province should introduce a new plate design.
- In the online survey, 36% supported a visual theme with mountains.
- In the public opinion poll, 57% want a graphic on the plate and the most popular graphic was mountains or the wild rose.
- In the online survey, 46% preferred Strong and Free, 34% preferred Wild Rose Country, and 20% suggested other mottos.
- In the public opinion poll, 74% liked Wild Rose Country.
- In the online survey, 61% supported the province offering the option of affinity plates.
- In the public opinion poll, 65% thought the province should offer the option of affinity plates.
- In the online survey, 80% did not support a front plate being reintroduced.
- In the public opinion poll, 60% did not support a front licence plate being reintroduced.
For more information, or to view the detailed report visit The Alberta License Plate Consultation website
Citing a recent ruling where an Alberta judge ruled that an insurance payout cap was unconstitutional, insurance companies are asking for a 37% hike in the compulsory portion of auto insurance. In February, the $4,000 cap on payouts for pain and suffering compensation for those with soft tissue injuries was thrown out. It was ruled unconstitutional.
Insurance companies reacted by saying that in order to handle the expected higher payouts from the cap being lifted that insurance rates would have to go up. The Canadian Bar Association, which is involved in hearings with the Alberta automobile insurance rate board, argue that insurance companies will still make hefty profits without the payout cap.
“The insurance industry has a very effective lobby group and there has to be a voice on the other side of this debate,” said Tom Achtymichuk, an Edmonton lawyer and past Alberta president of the bar association.
Lawyers want the cap lifted for obvious reasons: the bigger the payout, the bigger their paycheque. If the insurance companies get their way, the average Albertan will see an increase of about $200 per year on their insurance premiums. Personally I agree with some sort of mechanism to limit the amount awarded in cases like this. There is abuse out there, and something had to be done but I am not sure if a $4,000 cap was the right thing or not.
The february ruling is being appealed, and if the injury cap is found to be constitutional it will be reinstated and the insurance premium rate hike will not need to be 37%. Anyone get their insurance renewals lately? Has your insurance company hiked your premiums up yet?
If you have all of your friends and family saved onto your cell phone for text messaging, then the requirement to dial 10 digits for local calls wont be too big of an issue since you’re already doing that today. On September 8, 2008 all residents of Alberta and B.C. will be required to dial 10 digits for local calls.
For some, this will mean many changes both at home and at businesses as security systems will need to be reprogrammed. Fax machines, call forwarding, and speed dialing lists will all need to be updated to dial 10 digits.
The good news is, the new 587 area code for Alberta will only be assigned to new numbers so existing phone numbers do not need to be changed. That is great news for residents in Northern Alberta who already had to make the change when the 780 area code was added. As a selfish Calgary resident, I wish they would have just implemented the 587 for anyone outside of Calgary and made the 780 area code for Edmonton. It would have been much easier to identify someones location based on their area code.
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