St. Albert RCMP reservist Darryl Lutz said this winter produced some of the iciest road conditions.
Motor vehicle collisions in St. Albert doubled from October to December 2021 and wait times for autobody shop repairs have seemingly increased as well, but possibly for different reasons.
According to data from the RCMP third-quarter report, motor vehicle collisions increased by 69 per cent. The report stated there were 446 vehicle collisions from October to December of 2021 compared to 264 vehicle collisions reported in October to December of 2020.
Lutz said another factor to include in the increase in collisions is the $2,000 threshold for collision reporting.
“There are more expensive vehicles on the roads every year and the shop rates for repairs and parts have increased substantially and it doesn’t take much damage to a vehicle to reach the $2,000 mark,” Lutz said.
Driver error is another consideration, but Lutz doubts that has changed during this period, as he hasn’t noticed an increase in collisions such as rear-enders over any other type of collision.
“We’ve had some winters with a fair number of snow-covered road days, but not the ice like this past winter season,” Lutz said.
In an email, the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) said they saw a huge spike in calls from across the province from Dec. 25, 2021, to Jan. 20, 2022, due to “extreme cold and icy conditions.”
The AMA received 85,000 calls from across the province — a nearly 200-per-cent increase in normal call volume, an email from the association said.
Bruce Quimpere from Boyd Autobody and Glass said he suspects the increase in collisions could be due to more cars on the road this past winter compared to cars on the road in 2020.
“There was such a small number of collisions because of fewer cars on the road during COVID times. So, when people kind of went back to work, you know, there was twice as many cars on the road all of a sudden,” Quimpere said. "I don't know if that correlates to actually a higher percentage of accidents per capita or not. But we, but I can tell you, all the body shops in the area did receive more work.”
However, Quimpere said a lot of the collisions they did see were due to icy roads.
Alan Eastwood, an estimator at Sturgeon Auto Body Shop Ltd, said they also saw an increase in calls this winter, but they always see an increase in calls in the winter.
“It always picks up throughout the winter, drops off just before Christmas, and doesn't pick up until people's bills come in in January. And you see a trend … I don't think this winter is any different than other winters,” Eastwood said.
Eastwood said people generally come in for smaller collision damage. When it gets very cold, bumpers get brittle.
“We've been replacing a lot of bumpers,” he said.
What is different about this year, compared to other years, is it has been difficult to get parts, “especially plastic parts, bumpers, headlights — stuff like that,” Eastwood said.
Eastwood said they are not backlogged, they can take cars in at any time, it’s just a matter of getting in the parts.
“I've got some customers waiting two months, driving around with broken bumpers, waiting for a bumper to come in. Because there's no used ones, no aftermarket, and no new,” Eastwood said.
Quimpere said autobody shops have been “extraordinarily busy.” They went from having few collisions to, “all of a sudden, you had 300-per-cent more accidents.”
More accidents plus more wait times for parts means wait times for services have been lengthier.
Quimpere said parts for import vehicles have been the worst when it comes to delays in getting parts.
“The Japanese [parts], they're by far the worst right now. Some of the domestics — Chevy and Ford, Dodge — they seem to be not too, too bad. But it all comes down to the supplier and supply chain and where these parts have to come from,” Quimpere said.
Typically, Quimpere said they would see parts coming in in about a week to a week-and-a-half, but now it can take months.
Quimpere wants to reassure customers they are doing what they can and there have been a lot of cars going home that aren’t 100-per-cent complete. If they are missing a little part, like a cover, and it’s going to take them two weeks to get the part, they aren’t going to keep the person in the rental for the tiny part.
“We do have a lot more people coming back after the fact just to finish the repair just because of the smaller part. It’s just because there's not much we can do about that right now,” Quimpere said.
Even though the roads have cleared, Quimpere said they still have a backlog of customers, and they are booking a month in advance.
“But the number of new assignments we're getting, like new accidents, that number has since — in the past week — it has dropped significantly. There's already a big decrease now that the roads have become more clear.”
