Quebec bikers protest insurance hikes

It was the 16th in a string of regular and very visible weekend protests Quebec bikers have staged since April this one dubbed Operation Snail.

Hundreds of protesters drove en masse along Quebec highways at minimum speeds over the weekend, to protest rate increases by the province's automobile insurance board.

Bikers took their protest caravan to the steps of Quebec City's legislature, with some camping overnight.

Protesters say the province is discriminating against motorcyclists and they're demanding a moratorium on rate hikes for 2010.

They're also calling for the resignation of provincial Transport Minister Julie Boulet.

Quebec's auto insurance board the Socit de l'assurance automobile du Qubec (SAAQ) insists it cannot afford to function at current rates given the incidence of accidents and the province's public no-fault insurance plan.

Quebec motorbike fees rise steadily

Annual registration fees for motorcycles, which include insurance, have been hiked in recent years, with some more than tripling.

Riders with the most powerful models have been the hardest hit, seeing annual fees spiking from $667 in 2008 to $1,030 this year and a further hike is planned for 2010 - up to $1,410.

The SAAQ contends sports bike devotees are over-represented in accident statistics.

The owners of passenger vehicles pay about $260 per year and the owners of less powerful motorcycles pay about $518 annually.

The insurance board refuses to budge on the new premiums.

In August, the board made a concession to the protesters, saying it would review the fee hikes this fall but would not cancel the 2010 fee hikes.

But "a moratorium is simply not possible," said insurance board president John Harbour.

"Physically, materially, mathematically, we can't. If the board was rolling in profits we could consider that approach but with the current deficits we're talking $2.4 billion last year we can't."

The rate hikes are needed given that motorcycle riders are likely to be more severely injured in accidents, he added.

"The risks are not the same," Harbour said. "It's not that they're poor drivers they simply lack the protection."

The fee hike will eventually benefit bikers, he said, "because we subsidized them for something like $1 billion since the board was founded."

Biker advocates aren't buying that argument, pointing to pedestrians and cyclists. Neither of those groups pays any premiums but pedestrians and bicyclists are still covered by the insurance board, said Jean-Pierre Belmonte, president of the Promocycle Foundation.

A new analysis on accident rates will also be tabled and will serve as a basis for re-establishing the fee scales.