[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/february-9-2017-winter-driving-conditions-us-politics\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/february-9-2017-winter-driving-conditions-us-politics\/","headline":"February 9, 2017: Winter Driving Conditions and US Politics","name":"February 9, 2017: Winter Driving Conditions and US Politics","description":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Kash-Heed-Show-Manjot-Hallen-Interview2017-02-09-1.mp3 Listen to the interview above or read the full transcript below. Kash: Let\u2019s get on to our next guest. He is an expert in this particular area, expert in dealing with ICBC, expert in personal injury claim. He\u2019s a expert in a lot of things. Also has a good opinion on many issues, Manjot […]","datePublished":"2017-02-09","dateModified":"2025-01-29","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/author\/warnetthallen\/#Person","name":"Warnett Hallen LLP","url":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/author\/warnetthallen\/","identifier":8,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05de9a8db316c941221d843d580903732966b9f3f8c338734c57a8535aba495e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05de9a8db316c941221d843d580903732966b9f3f8c338734c57a8535aba495e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Warnett Hallen LLP","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/logo.png","url":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/logo.png","width":406,"height":65}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Manjot-and-Pulse-FM-1.png","url":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Manjot-and-Pulse-FM-1.png","height":"372","width":"638"},"url":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/february-9-2017-winter-driving-conditions-us-politics\/","about":["Car Accident Lawyer"],"wordCount":4322,"articleBody":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Kash-Heed-Show-Manjot-Hallen-Interview2017-02-09-1.mp3Listen to the interview above or read the full transcript below.Kash:Let\u2019s get on to our next guest. He is an expert in this particular area, expert in dealing with ICBC, expert in personal injury claim. He\u2019s a expert in a lot of things. Also has a good opinion on many issues, Manjot Hallen, a lawyer with Warnett Hallen LLP. Good morning Manjot.Manjot:Hi Kash.Kash:Pleasure to-Manjot:How are you?Kash:I\u2019m doing well. I made it through this season so far without having to call you Manjot, and guess what? But I\u2019ve come close.Manjot:Good for you.Kash:I\u2019ve come very, very close, and it hasn\u2019t been my fault I can be happy to say, but boy I\u2019ll tell you, I\u2019ve never seen, in quite some time, continual weather conditions that we\u2019ve been facing. And the hazardous road conditions that are more prevalent in some communities than others, but Vancouver has to be probably one of the poorest road clearing areas that I\u2019ve experienced in recent times.Manjot:Oh absolutely. When we had our last big snowfall, I remember I was driving over Granville Street Bridge that connects Vancouver proper to downtown, and the sidewalks and the roads were icy for three, four day. It was over the course of a week, and no one had cared to even clean it up or salt the sidewalks, and it was an accident waiting to happen.Kash:Well, they come out and they say, \u201cLook, we\u2019re hitting the main roads. We\u2019re hitting the ulterior routes that are used a lot by communities,\u201d and all that, but there are areas that for example when you go on the southwest side and there\u2019s some of the major concerns like Blenheim and stuff like that, which I can consider a major ulterior route because it takes people all the way from Marine Drive down to Broadway without any problems. You get no action in those areas, but when you talk about that, you talk about whether the savings from a municipal dollar point. And I want to make a point here. It\u2019s all taxpayers\u2019 money that we\u2019re supposedly saving, but if you do not deal with those conditions, if you do not deal with the road conditions, we know what happens, and it\u2019s my understanding that ICBC claims have just skyrocketed, that they can\u2019t even keep up to the calls that are going into the claims line on this. And again ICBC is a crown corporation and at the end of the day, the taxpayers will be paying for this.Manjot:Absolutely. I mean, we\u2019ve had a discussion before, Kash, about how ICBC premiums have skyrocketed over the last few years, and they\u2019re probably going to continue to do so. And that\u2019s because there have been more claims and weather like this only contributes to this. You\u2019re absolutely right. I mean when you have one level of government that\u2019s trying to save costs by not bringing their snow clearers out and their trucks out over the course of a weekend. I mean unfortunately the thing that we\u2019ve seen here in Vancouver in the last month or so is heavy snowfall has typically happened over the course of a weekend, and what I\u2019ve noticed, is that there\u2019s no one cleaning on a Saturday or Sunday. So you\u2019re waiting all weekend long to actually have your roads cleaned, and that\u2019s probably a cost-saving measure by the local government. At the same time, they\u2019re trying to save some taxpayer dollars by not cleaning the roads and paying overtime presumably, but the claims costs are increasing for ICBC. And that cost is being handed over to taxpayers as well in the form of increased premiums, so really you\u2019re just kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul here.Kash:Manjot, and you\u2019ve been around. You\u2019ve been doing personal injury claims for quite a period of time, and your law firm is one of the expert law firms that are recognized and deal with some of the personal injury claims. What are we looking at? What types of accidents are we looking at? Are we looking at the more serious accidents that are leading to personal injury, or are we looking at the low-collision accidents given the weather conditions?Manjot:It\u2019s probably the increase of both, Kash. I\u2019ve received a lot of calls when people have been in car accidents because someone has slid into their car, they lost control of their car, a lot of rear-end collisions. We\u2019re seeing a lot of those right now. And yes, some of them are causing injuries, so there is an increase in personal injury claims when the weather is as disastrous as it has been in the last month or so.Kash:What should people, what\u2019s the first thing they should do besides notify ICBC that they\u2019ve been involved in an accident? Because I\u2019ve talked to some lawyers, and they said, \u201cLook, go to ICBC. Follow your paperwork. Do whatever you can,\u201d or whatever. I\u2019ve talked to other lawyers that said, \u201cLook, if you\u2019re injured, if you\u2019re all \u2026 We will assist you and we will help you through the process.\u201d What is the best avenue to take when you\u2019re dealing with ICBC?Manjot:Well, obviously Kash, I\u2019m a little biased when it comes to answering this question, but I think the best thing you could do-Kash:But lawyers have asked \u2026 Other lawyers have answered this two different ways.Manjot:Well, you know the way I would answer it is I think you should contact a lawyer first and foremost, because the first thing ICBC\u2019s going to do is take a statement from you. And they\u2019re going to write everything down and they\u2019re going to try to suggest that you may be at fault for an accident that you\u2019re not at fault for. So I think you need a lawyer on your side to initially report a claim, and provide that statement on your behalf to ensure that your words are not misconstrued. That\u2019s my personal advice on that topic.Kash:Now, when you\u2019re talking about that, I\u2019ve got to ask you. You\u2019ve been in court and you\u2019ve negotiated several of these over the years. Do the claims people or the legal people with ICBC take a more of a cynical approach to a claim, especially if it\u2019s personal injury if in fact there\u2019s a lawyer involved right from the outset? Or if the individual comes to ICBC on their own?Manjot:I think-Kash:Or just does it depend on the circumstances?Manjot:You know what, a lot of it does depend on the circumstances, but I think it\u2019s quite the opposite. I think when there\u2019s a lawyer involved, they have to take it a little bit more seriously. The unfortunate thing we have here in British Columbia, is you have an insurance company that oftentimes, I\u2019m not going to suggest all the time, but often time it doesn\u2019t deal with their claimants fairly. And yeah, situations where they\u2019re not fairly compensating claimants. They\u2019re not necessarily taking their injuries seriously. That\u2019s where we come in. That\u2019s where we assist people and ensure that there\u2019s a level playing field between them and ICBC, and we ensure that we say the right thing so that their words are not misconstrued and that their claim is taken seriously. I think by having the lawyer, ICBC has to take it more seriously, rather than be cynical about it. I think if you don\u2019t have a lawyer, you\u2019re more likely to be taken advantage of by ICBC.Kash:And here\u2019s my take on it. When you go to ICBC and you file a claim, you do make a statement. You give a statement.Manjot:Absolutely.Kash:And people that are \u2026 You know, they\u2019re drivers. They\u2019re not trained to like, I would do something different if I was involved in it. I would pull up my phone and I\u2019d start taking pictures. I\u2019d start taking pictures of people around or license plates of cars around during it happen. If I can\u2019t stop these people to take it, I\u2019ll at least provide all that information, do a drawing of the scene, and pretty well write down everything that has occurred and what the other person said to me. That would be my point of view, if I was involved in it and I was able to do all of that. But when someone\u2019s involved in it, you gotta go \u2026 The shock experience of someone hitting their car or them involved in an accident, they don\u2019t think along those lines, so they try and remember what happened, what color the light was, what the people were around, who they were, all of that. The road conditions or whatever. And you know, they\u2019ve just gone through a shocking experience. How could you realize it?So when they go into ICBC, they meet with the claims adjuster or whatever. They\u2019re asked to write out a statement, hand in a piece of paper, or the person\u2019s writing it for them. They are not necessarily going to recall all of the pertinent information, and-Manjot:That\u2019s right.Kash:In my opinion, that adjuster will use that against him or try and find the other party involved and again, trying to say, \u201cYou know, guess what? It\u2019s 50\/50 blame here.\u201dManjot:Absolutely. Absolutely. The first thing that you need to do is ensure you get the particulars of the other vehicle that was involved in this accident. You cannot let the other vehicle leave the scene. You want to get their particulars. Number two, taking photographs is important as well. Number three, making notes if you can. And I understand, what you said is completely true. The person who\u2019s just been hit is going to be in shock, so it\u2019s hard to do all of this when you\u2019re in a state of shock, but you have to try your best. And number three or four, is to ensure that you get names of witnesses if you can. So Kash, all the things that you outlined are the things that I would suggest that everyone should be doing. And it sounds like you\u2019ve been to a claim center, and you\u2019ve had this experience-Kash:Well, no it\u2019s just my years of policing, having to attend these accidents. That\u2019s something that by default, would actually do.Manjot:And you should.Kash:The point I want to make here is, I was trying to do all of this stuff. So for me, it would be a little different than someone that\u2019s just gone through that shocking experience of being involved in an accident. So the point I wanted to make here, is ICBC, the naivety of that person making the claim, ICBC will use that to their advantage. And so what I\u2019m trying to say, I guess I\u2019m trying to say that\u2019s why you need to have someone that has legal experience with you on this file right from the outset.Manjot:You\u2019re absolutely correct. And it gets even worse if that person has an issue with the English language. If English isn\u2019t their first language, imagine that. Imagine being in that scenario, in shock, trying to collect all of this information, and then having to report it on your own to ICBC, and having a cultural or language barrier.Kash:Do we need to educate drivers a little more on these types of claims? Because of course when we have young drivers or new drivers getting their license and all that, they\u2019re focusing on making sure that everything\u2019s taken care of, but they never imagine themselves getting involved in an accident. Do you think we need to educate them a little bit more on this process? Because ICBC does have a website, information, all of that, but \u2026 Again that\u2019s after the fact, usually after you\u2019ve gone home and you\u2019ve gone on to the website to get the number to call in.Manjot:I think we need to educate them more about the process, but we also need to educate people on how to avoid these accidents. I mean, distracted driving amongst the youth is still a huge issue in my mind. We need to put that to an end. Number two, when you have weather conditions like this, there\u2019s a lot of things that people are doing wrong out there. Like first off, people don\u2019t even have snow tires in this city. That\u2019s got to be the first thing that you do to avoid a situation where you\u2019re slipping and sliding and causing accidents. And you have to take account for the road conditions, and I find that a lot of people don\u2019t do that in Vancouver because we\u2019re not used to driving in these conditions. People are still driving as fast as they did when it\u2019s \u2026 When the road conditions are better.Kash:Oh I witnessed that so much this year. I witness that more so this year than any other year I\u2019ve been driving.Manjot:Absolutely, and you know, people have these four by fours, and they think, look, I\u2019ve got a four by four, I\u2019ll be perfectly fine. But you\u2019re not. The road conditions have changed. They\u2019re way worse than they are usually. You need to drive slower. You need to have snow tires. You need to give yourself more space between you and the vehicle in front, and allow yourself more time to stop. You need to ensure you\u2019re never on your phone, number one. But especially not in conditions like this. So I think we need to have a better discussion about, and conversation about how to prevent these types of accidents, particularly in these weather conditions.Kash:Do you feel, for example, new drivers who have the N on the car, we should have them not drive in these conditions? They would have to go through that whole graduate license program in order to drive for example, when the road conditions change dramatically like we\u2019ve experienced over the last couple of months?Manjot:Yeah, it\u2019s a good idea, I just \u2026 I mean, you would understand how to police it better than I would, but I don\u2019t see how you\u2019d be able to enforce that. The other problem you have is when it\u2019s very subjective as to when you have poor road conditions. Right now when I look out the window of my office, it\u2019s raining heavily, and there\u2019s slush on the ground. I mean, wouldn\u2019t this be a situation where you wouldn\u2019t want a new driver driving?Kash:Yeah, in my point of view, yes. But again, it\u2019s subjective based on my way of belief on what is going on. Manjot we\u2019re going to take a quick break here on Pulse and coming back I want to talk a little bit politics with you. I know you\u2019ve got an interest in politics, you\u2019ve got an opinion on politics. I want to talk a little bit about what\u2019s going on here in Canada in relation to discussions with the United States. Next on Pulse FM-Manjot:Absolutely.Kash:With Manjot Hallen, a lawyer with Warnett Hallen LLP. Club 19, welcome back. Well, we found out this morning that Prime Minister Trudeau is going down to the United States Monday, to meet President Trump. We\u2019re talking to Manjot Hallen, a lawyer with Warnett Hallen LLP. He\u2019s been involved in political circles from various points of view over the last several years, so Manjot I\u2019ve got to ask you right upfront. We\u2019ve been waiting this meeting, we\u2019ve heard a lot about NAFTA, the fact that Trump wants to re-negotiate a NAFTA. I believe he doesn\u2019t think the United States has a fair deal on NAFTA. We\u2019ve heard about the soft wood lumber problem, and what is going on there, and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s other trade issues that we\u2019ll be hearing about. TPP is out. It\u2019s out in the snow, but at the end of the day what do you think is going to happen in Washington on Monday?Manjot:Well, I think it\u2019s going to be a productive conversation between the two, between our Prime Minister and the President. Look, what this government has done, they\u2019ve laid the groundwork for this meeting. They\u2019ve had the Minister of National Defense there this week, they\u2019ve had the Minister of Foreign Affairs there this week, and both have met with their counterparts and sort of set the stage for what\u2019s going to happen on Monday. We\u2019ve advised the U.S. Administration what we expect from that meeting, we\u2019ve told them what we don\u2019t want happening, I mean the Minister of National Defense said, \u201cLook, torture is totally off the table as far as Canada\u2019s concerned.\u201d The Minister of Foreign Affairs as told the Secretary of State that she doesn\u2019t anticipate seeing any kind of border tax or border tariffs implemented, and if there are, then we will retaliate. So I think the state has largely been set for this meeting, and I think based on that it should be a productive meeting between the two gentleman.Kash:So you think the stage has been set? Or the decision has been made and we\u2019re just looking at a photo op for the two?Manjot:I don\u2019t think a lot of the decisions have been made yet. I think there will be a lot that comes from this meeting. I think what the government has done is set the stage in the sense that they\u2019ve told the administration what they expect from this meeting, and we\u2019ll see how it goes. I think our Prime Minister is the right person for this meeting. I\u2019ve met him and dealt with him several times, and he\u2019s calm, he\u2019s collective, he\u2019s reasoned, but he can be firm when necessary, and I think that\u2019s who you need in this situation when you\u2019re dealing with someone who could be, frankly, quite erratic.Kash:Well, he is erratic, and that\u2019s a concern here. Trump is erratic. Do you think we\u2019re at polarized opposite on some of these positions, and at the end of the day Trump will play his rhetoric theme and say one thing and then go and do something completely different?Manjot:Well Kash, it\u2019s hard to tell, because a lot of these things that were said, were said over the course of the campaign, right? And we have seen some of it come into play. I mean, I know a lot of people that were watching the U.S. Election, didn\u2019t think there would be any kind of a travel ban. That was implemented. A lot of people didn\u2019t think that he was going to go that far and scrapping TPP, and he\u2019s done that. I don\u2019t know what the plan is for NAFTA. My hope is that there is no change to NAFTA, but expect come this meeting on Monday, we\u2019ll have a better sense of it. We\u2019ll have a better sense of the U.S.\u2019s position on that matter.Kash:Well, the travel ban. Since you brought that, let\u2019s just hit on that for a minute, because the illegal community has come out opposed to that. We\u2019ve got the, I think the appeal court is going to come out. We know that\u2019s going to go to the Supreme Court in the United States for a decision to be made. The appointee that Trump would like to put in the Supreme Court, he came out with some remarks that aren\u2019t encouraging to Trump, and Trump has come out, although he says he doesn\u2019t want to bias but he comes out and slams the judiciary that are involved in making this decision. So how independent can the judiciary be if all of a sudden we have just on the travel ban, this controversy going on. And the point I want to make on the behavior of Donald Trump is, he\u2019s almost operating like a dictator. Okay, let\u2019s take a break. We\u2019ll see if we can get Manjot back on the line.Welcome back, we got Manjot back on the line. Manjot I thought you didn\u2019t like my questions, so you just hung up.Manjot:Not at all, Kash. Our phone line went down.Kash:Oh, okay.Manjot:It\u2019s funny that it happened while we\u2019re talking about the U.S. Administration. I\u2019m billing the Russians.Kash:Okay, you do have a sense of humor, a lawyer with a sense of humor. Many lawyers have a sense of humor. We\u2019re talking about the travel ban. And I talked about the illegal community kind of coming out against it, and I talked about even the nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States is kind of saying his disparaging the remarks made by Trump, and the fact that he does not want to bias the decision, but he comes out and slams the judiciary. So quite truly have an independent judiciary. You\u2019re an expert in this area. You know about this stuff. You know about the political environment.Manjot:Absolutely. Look, I think it\u2019s totally uncalled for. You cannot attack the judiciary, especially when you\u2019re the President of the United States. There has to be a constitutional check on the President\u2019s power. That\u2019s what the judiciary is for. So look, it\u2019s not a good situation when the President\u2019s making those types of comments, but the ban itself. I mean, you know what our government\u2019s view of it is.Kash:Yes.Manjot:We have a country that\u2019s build on diversity. People like myself and you were here because we believe in diversity, because our country has always believed in multiculturalism, and open borders to immigrants who are going to be productive members of our society. And so we have an opportunity here. Canada has an opportunity here, to take advantage of this. They\u2019re not only going to lose out. The Americans are \u2026 They\u2019re trying to protect themselves, or so they say. But they\u2019re going to lose out on talent. There\u2019s people from these countries that are going to work in the IT sector, that can product, that can benefit the country economically. We can take advantage of that, and advertise our country as it being open to accepting those individuals.Kash:Manjot do you think this will come up in the discussion on Monday with Trump? Do you think they\u2019ll have some discussion on this? Because the third country or the rule that\u2019s been opposed by not only by the civil libertarians out there, but the societies that are created around that and the challenges on Canada. But I don\u2019t have any clear indication from the new immigration Minister in the Trudeau government, that he will actually look at that and put that aside versus trying to work within its framework.Manjot:Well, I think our Prime Minister has already made our position clear. I mean, anyone who follows his Twitter account knows exactly where we stand on this issue. That we are open, our borders are open for productive immigration. We cherish diversity. We always have, and we always will. We don\u2019t believe in preventing people from certain countries who cross our border.Kash:Well, it remains to be seen. But who do you think is going to be at the table with our Prime Minister? Do you think those Ministers that have laid the groundwork with their counterparts in the United States will be there at the table with him or do you think at the end of the day it\u2019ll be a couple of key, strategic advisors. I\u2019m not sure if Brian Mulroney is one of them, that will be around the table with him.Manjot:Yeah, generally speaking when there have been these types of meetings in the past between a Prime Minister and a President, there usually are some advisors that are in the room as well, and that\u2019s sort of the extent of it. That\u2019s what I would expect on Monday as well.Kash:Well, we\u2019ll see what happens. I think a lot of decisions \u2026 I got to tell you, my slant is maybe I\u2019m being a bit cynical, probably the decisions have been made and this might be a little bit of a photo op, but you never know as you say, with Donald Trump.Manjot:You never know Kash.Kash:Manjot, it\u2019s been a pleasure to talk to you. We\u2019re going to talk again on many issues going forward. We\u2019ll keep with our friendship. It\u2019s great to have you on the show today to talk about these issues, Manjot.Manjot:Thanks, again Kash. Have a great day.Kash:Have a great day."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"February 9, 2017: Winter Driving Conditions and US Politics","item":"https:\/\/warnetthallen.com\/february-9-2017-winter-driving-conditions-us-politics\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]