OPP safety blitz nabs thousands of drivers

TORONTO, July 2006 — The Ontario Provincial Police laid 6,367 charges against motorists on Ontario highways during last week’s province-wide Canada Day weekend safety blitz.

The majority of infractions were for speeding with more than 4,100 tickets handed-out. Almost 400 seatbelt violations were handed out and a total of 66 motorists were charged with impaired driving.

If you were stopped and ticketed by the police this past long weekend, what can you expect when it comes to your auto insurance?

To illustrate the differences between insurers, online quotes were obtained July 2006 for a 35 year-old person in Toronto, driving a 2005 Toyota Corolla. First, quotes were obtained for this driver with a clean driving history then, with a newly added minor speeding ticket.

Eleven insurers provided instant online quotes in both scenarios and the following is a summary of the results:

• 5 out of 11 quotes did not change with the addition of a minor speeding ticket.
• 4 out of 11 quotes increased by 5-7 per cent (about a hundred bucks) with the added speeding ticket.
• 2 out of 11 quotes increased by almost 20 per cent.

An increase in rates is often the result of a loss of a discount which, with a ticket, the driver no longer qualifies for, like a conviction-free discount or good-driver discount. So if you have just been caught speeding, fear not—even if your current insurer raises your rate, you can still get a good rate on your car insurance elsewhere. The secret is to shop around and compare rates from several insurers. Don't assume that your current policy is the best deal.

At http://www.kanetix.ca/auto-insurance, kanetix offers consumers a better and quicker way to shop for auto insurance. Getting quotes through kanetix is straightforward and the quotes are displayed in an easy-to-read and compare chart format.

About kanetix
Launched in October 1999, kanetix is Canada's leading national, online insurance marketplace. The kanetix insurance information and shopping service brings consumers and insurance companies together in a one-stop shopping environment. Each day, thousands of consumers visit the kanetix website to compare insurance quotes from a variety of Canadian insurance companies. kanetix visitors can select the insurance quote of their choice and where available, choose to complete the application for coverage online or purchase their policy over the phone.

In addition to the insurance marketplace, kanetix is a leading provider of online insurance quotation technology and develops online quotation systems and websites for some of Canada's leading insurance providers.

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Gregory Ellis
Co-founder, kanetix
1-888-854-2503
www.kanetix.ca