Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Save a Life, Raise Your Insurance Rates

Here's an interesting, not so trivial factoid.

If you see this little guy here on the side of the road and he suddenly decides to jump out in front of you, the insurance companies in Ontario want you to hit him rather than swerve to avoid him and maybe end up in the ditch or hitting a tree.

Why? Because if you hit him, there's proof that an animal was involved in your collision. Therefore you're not at fault and your insurance rates won't rise. If you miss him, however, and hit a tree, you can't prove that there was a deer on the road. Therefore, it looks like and is treated as a single-car collision, and you (you compassionate, caring, deer-saver) are totally...100%...utterly...completely at fault.

(I hate to say it, but I can see the insurance companies' logic here. However, I'd still be doing my best to avoid hitting Bambi.)

(More Trivia: During mating season, early November, 65-70 deer are struck on the highways per day! Not sure if that's just Ontario, or all of Canada. Just Ontario I think.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, that is also pretty close to gun season, isn't it? When Sam hit a deer - well, the deer hit HER - literally, it was the first day of deer hunting season -accident rates are quite high then, I understand. The animal was running scared. Even though she and the deer collided, she STILL went skidding across the highway and rolled over a few times - the car was wrecked. She walked away from the accident - in shock, scared as hell herself, glad to be alive. She called me on her cell phone - that was a frightening call - from the side of the road - having climbed out through the shattered window... the first car arriving on the scene. Luckily no one was killed - except the deer.

Anonymous said...

I should notify my pal about this.

Help! I've written and I can't get up!