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WHMl!MURE-PM&% sWEDNEDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1992, PAGE 21 Mym 'r..ra t ( Uui.1e[es Most to [.1 iF1 by JiI Mclntosh Don'ttake chances, get special coverage. Price is now the moot important fhctor hi deciding, wbich vehicle motarista plan ta. buy next, according ta, a member survey conducted by - the Canadian Automobile Association (OAA). Prie. in number cmm In what OAA. believes is the. -, largest Canadian survey of its kind, witii wefl over 40,000 r*iespodents, Canadians were asked whicii* of 13 factors wer. Most important ta, ther n h iooing tii. next véhicle tiiey wiilbuy. Fuly' 56 per cent of respondents said that price was one of the top -tbree factors.- Reliability was among tiie tap tbr.e factors for 49.6 per cent of respondents, bandhing "and performance rated 29.1- per cent and fuel consurnption was ciiosen by 25.4 per cent of, motoriste surveyed. Tuis represents a ciaefo viamus years, when re *ablit~y hd been çonsstently rated tii. moot important factor in ciioosing a car. Tii.'importance cf fuel consumption rome from sixtii place i the~ previous two years 'ta fourtii place this year. more value demandedf In OAA'. annual nation-wid. Vebicèle .Durabihty Surey, economy-conscious mtrsaas tad-OAA that tiiy expeet more value added for tlieir money. When asked wiiici cf 13 SEE PAGE 22 In ou r autamobile-centred society, insurance i. sornetiiing that ail top many of us take for granted. It's easy -ta do, sinc mcst people involved i an accident- sirnply hand the problems over ta their insuance agents who. take car. of the. matter. Bcause tey dont often tbink about their... coverage, rnany people put themaelves at risk by not 1ppngta tliink thi ff throug.Thisn doesn'just app y ta the aid-car fans that I say mrite about, but ta rnany pol witiinew cars as weil. Take --the problem of towing another vebicle."How many Urnes have* we - seen people driving along, pulling a car b.bind them with a rpor cbain? What if the rope brak and the towed vebicle bits another car? Simply put, any damages ta, the. tawed vebicle, no matter how severe, are the respensibility of the. owner. Tiere is no com eation for that car. Wbt about that old lunker in tii. backyard? Many people have àIder cars on their property that run, but aren't plated or'insured. Siiould they b. stolon, tb.re is no coverage on thein, even if the thief gets inta an accident. SDamag to otiier cars -would b. covered y their lown.r's policie., but if a civil suit aros., tii. owner cf the uninsured car -could b. personally hiable for any cash settlemente. He would- also have ta pay bis own damages ta the. car. Wodding and prom nigiits are another situation where rniotoris don't alwayp tbink. Old-car owners * - aýfd big sedan own.rs too, in tiiese days of FIreflies and picku trucks -- are often paid ta providetrnsportation for bridai parties and prIn*es Tii.pra le shat moot people wiio dlotbis don't bother ta, buy special imsurance. By jccepting money, they are carryng, passengers for compensation or birejust 1k a taicab or limouine..àSould tiiey cause an accdent and their passengers are îi jured badly ?nougi ta seue under no-ault insurance, the cornpany~ would limit damages ta $200.,000. Anytbing over that amount would b. paid out of pocket by the. owner of the car. Wbat cari you do ta, protect yourgelf? 0 Use only proper trailer bitches wiien tewin* anotiier vehicle. If in doubt,c la tow truck.Itrnay cost more, but could save you a bundie in the long run. e Make Sur that any uninsured cars can'tb. started. Btter yet, seil tb.mn or have then hauled awy-- your neigburs wiil love you frit. e If you are goin t hire out your car for wedZ talkto your insurance agent firet about specialcoverage. e If you are going ta, hire a privat. car for a flinction, b. sure tbat the. owner carrnes coverage for peng.rs. !S Above ail, don't take chacs Before doing anytbing vwith your car, tbink about te pssible consequences. An accident only takes a second, but could wipe eut your savings or your borne. Drive safely, and bappy motoring. RANDY McLEAN 18 A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER WHO SPECIAUZES IN TRAFFIO SAFETY. ?r. McLean has reviewed thousands of individual motor vehiclo accident reports and his close working relationships with police agencies, govemrments. safety associationis, induslry and the public, have given-hlm a true overview of traffic safety.issues, problems and solutions ln Canada. VisibiIity and safety '"he snow was blowing so bard, you could iiardly se. tii.front ofyour owncar." Ti.rain was so heavy .... w "Mheglare wasso bright ..." How often have you heard these expressons? Mayb. you've even aid the. sarne tbing once or twice yournelf. Too oft.n tiiose statornenta are followed by sornetiing 1k.: "Tii. driver didn't have a chance, h. probably neyer een saw what bit bim." And it seems at least once every vinter tii... conditions lead ta a 5 10, 20 or 30 Plus vehicle collision. Thm trutb, iiowever, i. tbat drivers do have a chance. But we need ta act mucii sooner. T'ingv ta avad a collision at the. last seond is a lti like tryingz to dodge a bullet. It's a lot easier just tosta aay from people witii loded guns ini the On. of the. moet critical factors in avding a collision.is b.ing able to act-in Urne. Unfortunately, on. of the. common mistakes experi.nced drivers make is ta overdrive their visibility distance. As visibilit is reduced, most drivers do reduce their sed but usuaily, not enough 'to compensate for the corresponding increase in reaction Urne. < Ths is the Mibility was sbad 1bad toslow down to thie sjeed limit"i syndrome. People f..l safe in their cars. If these saMe drivers were taken out of theircar, put in a dark room'and told ta run as faxst as tboy wantd they would, prcbably b. a lot more, concerned about -burnping lntç each other, or' more other. abject. The fear of a direct. collision at 10 kph somehow seems more real than, an indirect collision (your car bits an olject thon your head bits the windshield) at 30 or 40 kph. -It.4oesnt have ta b. a blizzard, po>rngscne or a heavy nourish fog for visibiity ta b. eded Ahnost -ail night» driving is' don. in reduced visibility. conditions. Our total response Urne is madl. up of four components: 1. pecpin seeing an unusual condition 2. ecoist o - recognizing that a hazard 3. decision - dciding what todo 4. reaction - acting (steer, brake, etc.) ta avoid a collision. These four stepe take Urne. Fatigue, alcohol, poor light and weather conditions ail increase aur total reaction Urne. Your décision and reaction Urnes are determined by experience and reflexes. There 12 verylittie you can do ta quickly improve either. However, your perception and -recognition Urnes can b. reduced significantly 'by pyn increased attention ta traffic conditions aroud you and tbinking aliead.. Ti aimagine the. durnbest possible tbing the. drverorpedestrian near you could do. They wil' probably do it 'nmr often than you would 11ke ta Anticipating danger befor. it happens rnay not only prevent an accident but, you'il feel good about being so srnart., What you can't seS can 'hurtyoù. ive safely. True or Folse. El If 1 buy a Vlkswagena diesel Elvis will pop by for lunch. El If I buy a Volkswagen diesel the sun will rise in the west. El'If I buy a Volkswagen diesel the government wilî give me money. If you picked number three as true, you're right. Because if you pick a Volkswagen Golf Diesel, Jetta Diesel, or Jetta T urbo Diesel, the Ontario government wilI give you a $100.00 credit*. So see us for a test drive today. And on the off chance the King does pop by, won't you say "hi" for us? *credit will be applied ta 8% provincial sales tax atilime 0f transaction. ee your dealer for defails. (aDiesel .LÀe )J .I.1.~. i .k £v~i~ 7. c-' j~ r i '.'d - ~'riî{pys, 0 z . ri. ~&..t $1 99.00 A MONTH $249.00 A MONTH OWASCO VOLKSWAGEN INC. 3sMN 1425 DUNDAS ST. EA~ST, WHITBY 1 ROM< TORONTO Experience the Owasco Feeling. Proven to serve you BESTsince 1972 r-i--T- - An *1 CARE" and O.M.L SERVICE AWARD WINNER >V OSAW Y hx A'axlPickering/Tor. 683-3235 Oshawa/Whitby 668-9383 xtended service hours Tues. and Thurs. until 7:3Opm u owascO "FREE" Service clinio last Thursday-bf every month by appt. Offering Customer Satisfaction in Sales, Service., Body hop, Parts, Rentals(Canada, USA. Europe) A- 4.; .~. .. z. k '~P *~-~Dt fF%-ff VM~i LL.~ SPECIAL OFFER!! Rent one of our-fine VW's or Audi's for a SPECIAL weekend,' rate. If you buy new or used afterwards we will refund you the rentai. We're confident you'll Mle ourprices and ourproduct. Normal rentaI conitfions do apply. Advance reservations recommended. MM L- ., Ç