"1970 Firebird a victim of drunk driving crash." This is NOT the car Tyler Mulcahy was driving. This is a picture I took on a cars in barns related story I used to illustrate the column. There is no car after the door, it is a gutted rear ender with flapping rusty strips of metal.
The latest proposed legislation to improve the Ontario Graduated Licensing System has ruffled lots of drivers feathers it seems. According to the Toronto Star's Letters section plenty of readers voiced their complaints about the new proposal that's lumbering towards enactment. Essentially the bill would lengthen the term of probation from 12 to 18 months under the G1 category. The G2 category license holders would face 18 months probation as well. The term can be reduced through successful completion of an approved driver education program. There is some ambiguity about the rules on having teenaged passengers. Although there is a restriction on having more than one teenage passenger in the G2 category, it can be circumvented by having an immediate family member as that passenger.
The proposal was a joint action by MADD and Tim Mulcahy, father of Tyler Mulcahy who expired last July during a tragic alcohol induced car wreck on Peninsula Road.
Reader response has been wary and critical.
Pat Burns, Toronto, ON wrote to the Star saying, "I am currently paying outrageous insurance premiums for my son to drive my car..." Undoubtably true, but other parents face the same issue. His next comment is very interesting.
"Tim Mulcahy's son's tickets must have shown on his insurance papers, What are the consequences?"
The inference here is that somehow Tyler's poor driving record was known to Tim. Actually, the delay between offence recording by law enforcement and payment of fine or court date is stretched out considerably. If the fine is paid as admission of guilt, that doesn't mean the insurance agency knows about it. Agencies do check driver abstracts but it isn't a matter of regular procedure. Insurance companies will do abstract checks on new policyholders or new drivers (G1, G2). Brokers will check abstracts when determining if a policyholder qualifies for a discount under certain provisions. There isn't however, a regular timed examination of driver abstracts. It is random and activated by internal company rules. In the case of Tyler Mulcahy, his collection of offences occurred in a short period of time and would not have been picked up by either the agency or insurance underwriter until later. In fact, the Toronto Star reported in one of their articles in a backgrounder on the victims that some of the charges had yet to see their day in court.
"I am left to believe that Mulcahy is a parent in grief looking to pass the blame for this accident. His son chose to drink and drive and his friends and his friends chose to ride with him."
Full points on the parent in grief part, but I don't think passing the blame is Tim's intent. He lost a son. He wants to make sure other parents don't lose what he had.I don't wish to get into blame games or parenting issues.
Christine Kirwan of Toronto, had a salient point to make in her letter.
She stated. "Shouldn't the issues of drivers drinking and speeding be expanded to address the entire population?I did not realize that at age 22, drinking no longer affects driving ability. If imposing zero tolerance legislation, age should not be a factor."
Christine is right about the age part but probably did not realize the G1 and G2 classification system already takes it into account. If I decided at age 38 to start driving, applied for and got a G1 license, I'd be subject to the same terms. If caught making an offence while holding a G1, the same fines and penalties would apply to me. We do have RIDE programs and fairly tough fines for DUIs.
The only part that bothers me is the speeding offence section. The Highway Traffic Act isn't properly enforced as it stands and public perception that speeding tickets are just money grab operations is so strong that this is the part that will annoy most people. Proper driver education and better road engineering are the solutions we need. The 401 is remarkably bad as a piece of civic engineering.
