Lock the phone, get a better rate?
ICBC told to consider discounts for drivers who disable devices
Drivers who voluntarily agree to disable their phones inside their vehicles could one day get a break on their auto insurance under a plan being researched by the new NDP government.
Attorney General David Eby said he has directed the Insurance Corporation of B.C. to study the feasibility of offering insurance discounts to drivers who agree to technological measures that prevent
their phones from being used in an attempt to combat the rise of distracted driving.
“Improving road safety is critical in getting a handle on distracted driving — people using cellphones,” the attorney general said. “So there are other technologies we’ve asked ICBC to prepare proposals around — for example, there are plug-ins for cars that people can voluntarily take on in exchange for a reduced premium, or that new drivers could take on, that would prevent them from using their phones while driving. I don’t know about the maturity of these technologies, or how pragmatic it is to be implementing them, but we should be looking at them and I’ve asked ICBC to do that.”
The ICBC is scrambling to find ways to reduce costs after an Ernst & Young report warned of possible rate hikes of 30 per cent for motorists unless the Crown auto insurer can rein in claims costs and legal fees. The report recommended caps on certain injury claims, as well as a return to photo radar, the use of red-light intersection cameras to catch speeders, and increased police traffic enforcement to crack down on distracted driving.
Eby has ruled out photo radar and any move to no-fault insurance, but said he is researching the rest of the report.
The ICBC began researching the topic in April, putting out a request for information from any companies that could provide market research and technology to help fight distracted driving.
“We did receive information from several suppliers in the marketplace in response to our RFI, but, at this time, we are in the process of reviewing those responses and conducting supplementary research into whether and how these technologies are being used in other jurisdictions before determining next steps,” ICBC spokesman Adam Grossman said.
A variety of emerging technologies exist that can keep drivers from accessing a smartphone to check email or social media accounts, make calls or play games. Some portable hardware can dampen phones, making them inoperable while a car is in motion.
In the United Kingdom, lawmakers are urging car manufacturers to consider built-in technology that would restrict phone usage.
But the easiest way at this time appears to be apps that drivers agree to install on their phones, which then disable those phones when a vehicle is moving.
Apple has said the next operating system update for its iPhones will detect when someone is driving and silence that person’s incoming notifications. It can, however, be manually overridden. Samsung is also developing an app that prompts automatic replies to text messages when a vehicle is moving, alerting the other person that you are driving at the moment.
The number of distracted driving crashes is rising in B.C., and the ICBC has said they now account for more than 27 per cent of all fatal car crashes in the province, with an average of 78 deaths a year. Drivers are five times as likely to crash if they are on their phone while behind the wheel, according to insurance research.