Blowout on the 402

It was a long trip back from Florida and very uneventful until we reached the dreaded 402.  We blew out a rear tire and it took a motorhome panel with it. It was a 12" rip in the side wall so powerful that it threw the panel across the road and into the ditch in the medium.  The explosion was so powerful that it bent the steal frame holding the plastic panel.  

It turns out that our Daughter-in-Law was travelling the other way on the 402, spotted the motorhome and called our son.  He called us within a few minutes and handled all the rescue.  Within 1/2 and hour Sarnia tire was there.  Two hours and $783 later we were back on the road headed home.

It turns out that the motorhome damage, but not the tire, is covered by insurance - that is very good news.

Now we just have to see the adjuster and pick a place to get it repaired.

We're Back!!!

Well it's been a while, it's hard to believe that a retired person can be so busy.  I haven't posted for a while but I am going to fix that.  Thanks to all those who follow the blog.  You should be able to comment now that I'm not talking about licencing.

We have had a whole winter in Florida visiting with friends, cruising and running our regular computer classes.

Now that we're back we've been running from one thing to another.  And, now we're baby sitting a fish.

We have a response from the MOT

I have to start with this.  I didn't think I would get any response for the MOT.  I thought our issue would get ignored, as did many of you.  I was wrong.

I received a very well written letter from Paul Harbottle the Director.  I have put the letter on our OTT web site and you can review it by clicking here.  I have to say, I am impressed that we have actually received a response.

I hope to review the letter with you at the September Outing this weekend because we DIDN't get the answer we wanted

Thank you Minister Wynne for your attention to this.

Good news and Bad news - mostly Bad

The good news is that I got a quick response from the Minister's office.  The bad news is the reply didn't provide the name(s) that I requested.  In my experience in business, if someone specific is not assigned to a particular issue it is most likely to get ignored or shelved.

It is an election year, so I can understand that Minister Wynne is pretty busy with the election.  However, I do expect that the MOT to address this issue.  They say they ARE addressing the issue.

Here is the Minister's response - you decide!

"On behalf of the Honourable Kathleen Wynne Minister of Transportation, thank you for your second e-mail. I am writing to confirm that your e-mail has been forwarded to the program area in the Ministry that deals with your concerns for review.

Thank you again for bringing your concerns to the attention of the Minister; she always appreciates hearing from members of the public."

Let me know your thoughts.

First. I would like to welcome members of the Ontario Good Sam's to the Blog.  The Ontario Trillium Travellers (OTT) and I appreciate your support on getting changes made to licencing of motorhomers.  If we can get the MOT to actually listen, the decision should be easy for them.  If you've read my previous Blog posts you'll see that our request is not rocket science - it is completely consistent with the licencing practices in the vast majority of all U.S. states and Canadian Provinces.

I wrote a follow up Email today and, based on the responses I have received from the MOT previously, you can expect me to post their response within a few days.

I will be at the September OTT outing this week but I will have internet access. I hope to get a response and be able to review our progress with everyone at our meeting on Saturday.

So here is the text of my Email:

"Dear Minister Wynne:

I am writing to follow up on my Email of August 31st.

In your response to my Email you stated:  “It is important to the ministry and has been forwarded to the appropriate ministry office for review.”  I would appreciate it if you would provide me with the name of the office and the name and Email address of the manager of that office.

Since I wrote the August 31st Email, I have had an opportunity to research licencing (licensing) practices of U.S. and other Canadian jurisdictions.  Our request to change the licencing requirements by exempting operators of large motorhomes (used for recreational purposes) from having to obtain a commercial “D”- like licence appears to be in compliance with the current practices.

  

Again, I look forward to posting your response on my Blog and the Ontario Trillium Travellers (OTT) web site.  Thank you.

Yours truly,

The current licencing requirements - MOT

I am in the process of trying to get this changed.  I have Emailed the Minister of Transportation on August 31st and I will follow up next week.  In the meantime, I thought I would post the MOT's current licencing link:
(Current Licencing Required for Motorhomers)

They have previously taken this link down but it is back up again now.

The Minister's Response

I thought I would post the Minister Wynne's response to our letter.  This is just an acknowledgement of receipt of my Email.  If I don't get an update within a week, I will write again quoting the data from US jurisdictions.  Hopefully, our letter will not just get shelved.

Here is Minister Wynne's response:


"Thank you for your e-mail. It is important to the ministry and has been forwarded to the appropriate ministry office for review.
Once again, thank you for bringing your concerns to Minister Wynne’s attention. She always appreciates hearing from members of the public. "

If, in fact, they actually do read and take it seriously, I believe they will realize that requiring a Z and D is excessive for the RV community.
If you haven't looked, check out the link to requirements in the US states in a previous post.