PART 1 (20 MARKS):

Living proof of spirit, courage (The Deering Sisters)

Mark Bonokoski tells the story of Port Perry sisters paralyzed in a car crash last August

By MARK BONOKOSKI

THE GIRLS finally returned home from the movie they set out to see over eight months ago -- two young sisters, and three friends simply off to watch the Bourne Supremacy -- after oncoming headlights loomed into their lane, forcing their car into a ditch and their lives into the unfathomable. Quadriplegics both -- 19-year-old Shannon Deering, once a scholarship-quality fastball player, now in a wheelchair for life; and 16-year-old sister, Erica, a petite redhead with an infectious smile, also wheelchair-bound.

"The last thing I remember were those car lights coming towards us," Erica says. "And then waking up in hospital two weeks later and not knowing where I was, or even what had happened. Would I ever walk again? I asked.

"No, they said. At that point, all I could do was cry."

Durham Regional Police had called Tony Deering's home in Port Perry at a little past midnight on that August night last summer. His two daughters' beds were empty.

"There's been a serious accident," the cop's voice said.

By then, Erica Deering was already at Sunnybrook hospital, having been airlifted there after being flung through the sun roof of her sister Shannon's 2002 Pontiac Grand Am -- her recently acquired pride and joy, treated like a baby, washed every day -- having been pulled out of that car's centre back seatbelt by the sheer force of ramming into a country culvert.

Older sister Shannon, behind the wheel when the front tire accidentally slipped off the pavement in the swerve to dodge the oncoming car, home after attending Florida's Broward County Community College on a fastball scholarship, was en route to Sunnybrook from Oshawa General.

Both sisters were paralyzed from the neck down.

Three other kids were in the car. Alex Heroux, Amanda Davey and Ceri Boosma, all then 17.

Using the text book, course learnings and research, answer the following questions:

1. Under the liability section of the Deering automobile policy, identify the individuals in this story who may be indemnified and what type of coverage would be provided (under liability). (5 MARKS)

2. Under the Accident Benefits section of the Deering automobile policy, identify the individuals in this story that are covered under the Accident Benefits section of the policy. (5 MARKS)

3. Summarize the coverage (including any optional coverage) available to the Deering sisters under the Accident Benefits section of their policy. (10 MARKS)

PART 2 (20 MARKS):

Private vs. Public Automobile Insurance

Although Ontario has a privately run Auto Insurance system, there have been times in history where a different provincial election result may have resulted in Government auto insurance.

Explain whether you are in favour of private Automobile Insurance system or a Government (public) Automobile Insurance system (or even a possible hybrid system). Explain why. Be sure to provide a balanced view including your thoughts as to the advantages and disadvantages of each system.

PART 3 (20 MARKS):

Usage Based Automobile Insurance

More and more auto insurance companies in Ontario are offering an option of Usage Based Insurance (UBI).

Explain whether you are in favour or against UBI. Explain why. Be sure to provide a balanced view including your thoughts as to the benefits and negatives of UBI, from the perspective of both an insurance customer and society as a whole.