The APA recently wrote the federal Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, Anita Anand, to ask for improved reporting of vehicle safety defects in Canada. The government needs a clearer picture of what is going on with new technology like automated driving aids and electric vehicle fires.
The automakers are currently not obligated to pass on the customer complaints they receive about potential safety defects to Transport Canada, nor disclose their active investigations. Transport Canada should make periodic reporting mandatory. In this regard, the APA recommends a well-crafted solution that places only a modest burden on the automakers and will not overwhelm Transport Canada’s intake service. (The APA does not want large “dumps” of unsorted data in the manner required by US authorities.)
Two recent CBC reports highlighted a failure to report complaints about the automated collision avoidance systems on some new vehicles. After the stories aired, more than three dozen vehicle owners reported to the CBC or the APA that they had experienced collision avoidance system problems. Most had reported the malfunctions to the automakers or their dealers, but the complaints had not been shared with Transport Canada.
In October, the driver of a speeding Tesla Model 3 lost control on Toronto’s Lakeshore Boulevard and crashed the car, which caught fire. A bystander was able to break a side window, and one occupant was pulled out — the other four, who may have been trapped inside or were immobilized by their injuries, perished tragically.
In Canada there is no central registry that captures all vehicle fires. Based on reports from provincial regulators and insurance companies, Transport Canada estimated that there are about 10,000 vehicle fires a year in Canada from all causes. Of those, less than 200 a year are reported to Transport Canada. Given the increasing presence of electric vehicles in the fleet, and the very different profile of EV fires (they are still rare, but much hotter and very difficult to extinguish), better reporting is a necessity.
The APA wants to see regulations that will require the reporting of safety-related vehicle incidents by automakers to Transport Canada before they announce a safety recall. This would help identify potential safety defects that need to be investigated by the government, with the potential for more timely vehicle safety recalls.