Pro and Anti-Right Hand Drive talk in the same newspaper
I maybe can't even say newspaper, more than publication. Check it out. Two writers for the same paper have vastly different opinions in regards to right hand drive vehicles. Both the writers work for the Victoria Times Colonist, and both articles were published this month.
May 2nd, Peter Hamer presented his arguments to impose strict limits on right hand drive vehicles. He makes some good points, then undermines his own points saying that he's done it and it was fine. Very odd.
Michael Cane then seems to have a direct rebuttal. He addresses the points that Hamer makes, but the tone is unfortunately that of a sibling argument that just ends in 'Nah-uh!'.
I'm glad that right hand driving in Canada has become a topic of discussion in mainstream media. Sadly, this is quite often the outcome. Two people with vague, hand-wavy stats that proudly announce that 'they say' that something is or is not something. And newpapers wonder why people are going to the internet for their news.
rob
Update: And yet another! This one makes reference to another study they call 'recent' (yeah... recent in the last 10 years). Don't they have a conference table to decide what they think?
CADA anti-Right Hand Drive Propaganda
Propaganda is a strong word, but that's the only thing I can call this. CADA, the Canadian Automobile Dealer Association, has obvious reasons to not like right hand drive vehicles. RHDs are great value and cut into their bottom line. You can buy a new Skyline for.... $99000... depending on your options, or a 95 that's with some performance modifications and low mileage for $12000 or less.
The propaganda in question is this pamphlet. It outlines how these cars are unsafe and don't pass safety standards. Of course, they have no backing for this data and it's all very one sided. Which is why I define it as propaganda. There are no real strong arguments here, just statements. This is amplified by the fact that the backing is CADA, an association that is designed to make money.
I should mention that I don't know when this was published, since they don't cite a date. If they would have cited sources for information and data, we could try to pin down approximately when it came out... but unfortunately they do no such thing.
I honestly don't know why they're so up in arms about it. I don't think people that are interested in specialty cars such as RHDs are likely to by a car from a dealer. New or used. They should accept the change, and maybe even get into the market! Why not! They're complaining that they're losing sales, while ignoring a new market.
Thought I'd share this, as food for thought.
rob
edit: updated price of Nissan GT-R (aka... skyline) to CAD price off website. My estimate of $44k was apparently off by more than 100%.