Rema Samuels has been driving in Ontario for 50 years, 23 of them in Brampton.
Samuels isn’t the only one paying sky-high car insurance premiums in her area — Brampton is the most expensive city for car insurance in Ontario, according to a recent report from Toronto-based insurance agency Ratesdotca. One reason is that people in Brampton simply drive more, said Fred Lazar, an associate professor of economics at York University. In fact, 76 per cent of the city’s residents drive to work, according to the 2016 census.
How much people drive, Lazar said, is one of the factors insurance companies use to determine the probability of their clients getting into an accident. Others include age, driving experience and where people drive. He said in Brampton, insurers might note that drivers spend a greater percentage of their annual kilometres on the highway, driving at higher speeds.
According to numbers provided to the Star by Peel Regional Police, 2022 saw 13,753 collisions in Brampton, up 55 per cent from pre-pandemic levels of 8,865 collisions in 2018.