ICBC’s request for another rate hike comes with more twists and turns than the Sea to Sky Highway.
Although crash numbers have not been increasing excessively from year to year, the corporation says operating costs are mounting due to rising soft tissue and catastrophic injury claims. More people involved in vehicular mishaps are banking on settlements beyond the established insurance payout. ICBC asserts a number of those declarations may be fraudulent. As well, it looks like a lot of drivers just can’t be bothered to stick around when they collide with another vehicle. Between 2009 and 2013, a staggering total of 244,000 hit-and-run accidents were registered in B.C.
Given all the added safety features built into today’s vehicles, accident-related injuries should be decreasing. But that does not appear to be the case. According to ICBC statistics, from 2009 to 2013 more than 1.3 million crashes were recorded in B.C., with an average of 79,000 injuries annually. Insurance claims topped $2 billion in 2014. This year’s figure is expected to be even higher.
When it comes to fatalities, during that five-year period, speed was the main factor in 31 per cent of fatal collisions, while 28 per cent were triggered by distracted drivers and 27 per cent were caused by impairment. Other high risk driving behaviours included tailgating, improper passing and ignoring traffic signs and lights.
Despite escalating expenditures, the public insurer still has substantial capital sloshing around in its coffers. NDP critic Mable Elmore says ICBC transferred $139 million to the provincial government in 2014. This year’s expected slush fund deposit is expected to be $160 million. Since ICBC is a provincial Crown corporation, the B.C. government will be hard-pressed to stop milking this lucrative cash cow anytime soon.
The bottom line is risky driving behaviour in B.C. is likely to get worse before it gets better. As a result, more mishaps and costly personal injury settlements will lead to continuous ICBC rate hikes in the near future.
Nonetheless, some relief may be in sight. Several studies, including one from the U.S. based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, say new automatic braking systems will substantially decrease collisions and reduce injury claims by up to 35 percent.
Even more promising is the technology in the self -driving cars introduced by Google, the search engine giant. After six years and 3 million kilometres, its prototype cars have been involved in 14 collisions, and eleven of those were caused by other drivers rear-ending the driverless vehicles.
