Government, ICBC and police introduce new measures to combat distracted driving
ICBC is increasing efforts to address high-risk and distracted driving across the province, the insurance company announced on Friday.
The provincial government, ICBC and police are working together to combat distracted driving through enhanced police enforcement, convictions for distracted drivers and higher insurance premiums.
Each year, distracted driving-related crashes claims 78 lives, with 27 in the Lower Mainland.
"Since 2010, police have issued more than 300,000 tickets for electronic device use, which tells us that distracted and inattentive driving continues to be an ongoing issue on B.C. roads,” said Davis Wendell, vice-chair of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee, in a press release Friday.
“In fact, police report that driver distraction and inattention is the leading contributing factor in injury crashes in B.C. And those are all preventable incidents. While driving, there's no task more important than the one right in front of you – leave all distractions out of driving," Wendell added.
ICBC recommends drivers avoid distractions by activating Apple’s “do not disturb while driving” feature or what's similarly available on other devices or apps. Free “not while driving” decals are available at ICBC driver licensing offices as well.
