Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Distracted driving includes any activity that impacts your ability to focus on the road while in control of a vehicle


ICBC (09/04/19): Distracted driving is responsible for more than one in four fatal crashes on BC roads, which is why ICBC, police and government continue to combat this dangerous driving behaviour that claims 77 lives each year.

Crashes reached a record high in 2017, with many of these caused by distracted or inattentive driving. While cellphone usage rightly gets a lot of the attention, distracted driving includes any activity that impacts your ability to focus on the road while in control of a vehicle.


ICBC's Techpilot project needs drivers to explore how technology can make driving safer. Complete various driving challenges to increase your chance at up to $250 in gift card rewards. The safer your driving, the more rewards you can earn.
Qualifications include ... holding a valid class 7N or class 5 B.C. driver’s licence ...  less than four years of driving experience, excluding any time spent licensed as a Learner driver ... drive the vehicle a minimum of 1,000 kilometers over the one-year duration of the pilot ... and have a smartphone with a data plan

The BC government, police and ICBC conduct two distracted driving education and enhanced enforcement campaigns every year. The campaigns also include advertising and social media support.

All through this month, drivers will be hearing one message – take a break from your phone when you're behind the wheel. Research shows that taking your eyes off the road for as little as two seconds is strongly correlated with crashing.

Enhanced police enforcement of distracted driving will take place across BC, including a province-wide blitz on Friday September 6th, and community volunteers are setting up Cell Watch deployments to remind drivers to leave their phone alone when driving.


ICBC Techpilot project ... can telematics technology help make B.C. roads safer while improving driver behaviour? Techpilot aims to answer this question, with some help from newer drivers.

Drivers can do their part by avoiding distractions while driving and encouraging others to do the same.

Activate Apple's Do Not Disturb While Driving feature or what's similarly available on other devices.

Free 'not while driving' decals are available at ICBC driver licensing offices and participating Autoplan broker offices for drivers to support the campaign and encourage other road users to leave their phones alone.

As part of the commitment to make roads safer, ICBC is currently inviting eligible drivers to participate in a telematics pilot project. The goal is to determine whether using this technology can improve road safety and driving behaviour for inexperienced drivers in B.C.


View tips and statistics in an infographic at icbc.com
Register for the pilot project at icbc.com/techpilot.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nurses Take Job Action After Years of NDP Neglect

Image Credit:  BC Nurses Union BC nurses have reached a breaking point after years of unsafe conditions, rising violence in the workplace and a government that wouldn’t listen. Now they are on the picket line fighting to be heard. Last week, nurses began job action with a 72-hour strike notice, refusing non-essential overtime and stepping back from non-nursing duties. As of Tuesday, they have escalated to picket lines for the first time in decades. This moment was avoidable. It is the result of years of unanswered concerns from the frontline workers who keep our hospitals running. Nurses have been raising the same concerns for years: unsafe staffing levels, rising violence on the job, and a workload no single person should have to carry. None of it is new, and none of it should have taken a strike vote to get the government's attention. "Nurses are exercising their legal right to job action, but it shouldn’t have had to come to this," said Kiel Giddens, MLA for...

British Columbians Still Don’t Know Who’s Paying for NDP’s BC Hydro Deal

The NDP is making billion-dollar promises with BC Hydro, but British Columbians still don’t know who will pay the bill. Last week’s memorandum of understanding isn’t what the federal government and the NDP are making it out to be. It’s an admission that the NDP failed to make the long-term investments needed to keep B.C. powered. Now British Columbians have serious questions about the cost and whether BC Hydro ratepayers will end up paying the price. David L. Williams, MLA for Salmon Arm-Shuswap and Shadow Minister for BC Hydro and Electrical Energy Development , said British Columbians deserve clear answers about the full implications of the Canada–British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement. “British Columbians deserve the full truth,” said Mr. Williams. “This multi-billion-dollar announcement does not answer who pays for cost overruns, who pays for new generation, who carries the risk if industrial customers do not materialize, or whether ratepayers will be forced ...

NDP Government Blames Everyone but Themselves

The federal government has announced new measures to support British Columbia's forestry sector, including $65 million in funding for projects across the province. While any support is welcome, it falls far short of the level of assistance other provinces have secured for key industries. Conservative Forests Critic Ward Stamer says the NDP government needs to take responsibility for its mismanagement of B.C.’s forest industry instead of trying to pass on the blame. Despite promising to create more jobs in the forest sector, the NDP government has overseen the loss of thousands of forestry jobs and 21 mill closures which have devastated communities. “If Premier Eby spent more time addressing the regulatory issues impacting the forestry sector than he did complaining about the federal government, we would not be in the position we are now,” said Stamer. “And instead of trying to place the blame for mill closures on Donald Trump, Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar should t...

Labels

Show more