If more crashes are behind ICBC’s rate hike request, how do we make roads safer?
Posted August 29, 2016 8:46 am.
Last Updated August 29, 2016 8:52 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – how do we reduce the number of crashes on our roads?
ICBC says it wants to increase rates again this fall, thanks to a growing number of collisions, along with a higher number of injury claims. While it could be argued that better training and testing for new drivers might reduce accidents, one expert believes there needs to be a change in attitudes before we see road safety improve.
“It’s not so much a matter of better training, but people not taking it seriously,” says Vancouver Centre Director for Young Drivers of Canada Kurtis Strelau. “Even the parents, all they want to do is get them through the road test. They’re not out there practicing with them and they’re not setting the right examples. People take driving as if it is their god-given right instead of the privilege that it is.”
Strelau says he has no issue with the testing for new drivers — it’s what happens afterward.
“People have to take driving seriously. It’s one of the most dangerous things you’re going to do in everyday life and it can kill you if you don’t do it right,” he tells NEWS 1130.
ICBC has applied for a 4.9 per cent rate hike in basic insurance rates, following last year’s 5.5 per cent increase.
The insurance corporation is launching a safe-driving campaign this week to try to reduce the number of crashes across the province.
