WINNIPEG, (July 18, 2005) — A new ruling by Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) will mean increased insurance costs for some of that province’s trucking companies.

As the system presently stands, explains Manitoba Trucking Association executive director Bob Dolyniuk, when a truck and a motorcycle collide with each other, the injury costs to the motorcyclist are borne by motorcycle owners across the board even if the trucker was at fault. The truck driver usually comes out of such a collision uninjured. If he were to suffer a serious injury, then his costs would be levied against the trucking injury.

The PUB ruling requires that Manitoba Public Insurance change the system — as of the beginning of 2007 — to one where personal injury costs are shared among all types of vehicles.

Therefore, in future accidents between a truck and any smaller vehicle, half of the personal injury cost would be divided equally trucks and motorcycles similar to those involved in the accident and the other half would be spread among all other vehicle types.

Dolyniuk is charging that the ruling is biased in favour of
motorcyclists. “A significant number of motorcycle accidents are single vehicle collisions,” he points out. “We anticipate that as a result of the ruling, trucking companies are going to have to pay higher insurance premiums.”

The higher insurance rates won’t affect national long-haul companies, he notes, but there will be a significant negative affect on trucking operations that work strictly within Manitoba.

— by Myron Love