Finally. It’s here. Spring has sprung. The dark dreary days of winter are but a distant memory.

With this grand season come all the benefits of warmer weather. Heavy jackets, boots, gloves and layers of clothing have been shed in favour of shorts, t-shirts and sandals.

It’s common knowledge that a trip downtown in just about any Canadian city during these warm sunny days can be most distracting. People who haven’t seen the light of day for months suddenly feel compelled to strut their stuff. Here in Toronto, take a walk down Bay Street any Friday afternoon and you’ll see what I mean.

The fine art of people watching is indeed an art. If you’re new to this popular pastime, let me give you a word of advice. It’s something that’s best performed in a stationary position. Some of you may be surprised by this, but it’s a fact that car insurance claims increase substantially during this time of the year.

For some reason, many of us can’t keep our eyes on the road, we’re less attentive (at least with our driving skills) and the result contributes to the soaring cost of insuring our vehicles.There is no humour in an accident. Anytime there’s tonnes of metal in my rear view mirror, I’d like to think the person at the helm is in total control. I certainly don’t appreciate being rear-ended.

Touch wood, so far I’ve been lucky. Three times it’s happened and three times I’ve walked away without a scratch. I have heard of some pretty embarrassing accidents caused by people watchers.

There’s the guy who rear-ended a street sweeper when he was distracted by a Bo Derek look-alike.

Problem was, he was married. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he explained that one.

Years ago, I remember the look of sheer terror on the face of this kid after he hit a parked car. It was caused because he was pre-occupied with watching a girl play hop scotch on my neighbour’s driveway.

Thankfully, he was on a bike so the damage was contained to a scraped knee. What I thought was really cool – remember, I was only 10 at the time – he was carrying home a pizza for his family that ended up on the car’s windshield.

He actually picked up the pieces, put them back in the box and limped home. Yes, the sights this time of year are indeed welcome. If it’s possible, try not to enjoy them from behind the wheel.

– Rob Wilkins is the publisher of Truck News and he can be reached at 416-510-5123.