Manitoba considers insurer's request for more mandatory immobilizers

15.05.2008 12:00 Shopping - Source: cbc.ca

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer is leaning toward approving Manitoba Public Insurance's request to add about 50,000 more vehicles to the list of those that must have immobilizers installed or lose their insurance.

The anti-theft devices prevent an engine from starting without a specific electronic signal, usually generated by a chip in the vehicle's ignition key.

Last year, the province introduced regulations under the Highway Traffic Act that require some 47,000 drivers to install immobilizers in their vehicles before renewing their insurance.

Now, MPI wants to more than double that number — and the premier says he is looking favourably on the request.

"I am definitely leaning that way. We haven't made a final decision," he said.

"I know the public will find it very inconvenient, but I think when you look at a death just a year ago — a young mother getting killed just a year ago this weekend — it's an unspeakable tragedy."

Last May, Rachelle Leost, a 38-year-old mother of three, was killed when her van was struck by a stolen vehicle that failed to stop at a Winnipeg stop sign.

1 in 7 vehicles could require immobilizers

Winnipeg has long been considered Canada's car theft capital, with nearly double the number of stolen vehicles in 2006 than second-place Edmonton.

Although police say the number of auto thefts in Winnipeg is on the decline, the problem is widely perceived as becoming more violent.

Leost was the first of three people killed in auto theft-related accidents in the city during the past year. In the last month, auto thieves have used stolen vehicles as weapons four times by driving them into police vehicles in an attempt to escape arrest.

More immobilizers are required because car thieves are now targeting vehicles that haven't yet been outfitted with the device, Brian Smiley, a spokesman for the insurer, told Canadian Press.

"How it typically works is thieves will attack a particular model of vehicle. Once those vehicles are equipped with immobilizers, thieves move on to other targets," Smiley said.

Smiley would not provide specifics about which vehicles would be added to the list. In the past, MPI has targeted previously stolen vehicles and older models, since federal regulations already require anti-theft devices in newer vehicles.

If approved, the measure would mean that one in seven vehicles registered in Manitoba would need to have an immobilizer installed or be permanently parked since MPI has a monopoly on vehicle insurance in the province.

If the province approves MPI's request, it would pick up the tab for the immobilizers, estimated at about $30 million.

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