Refraining from texting and driving could save your life. Soon, it might save you money, too.
According to a report by the Times Colonist, the new NDP government is currently researching a plan to give discounts to drivers who voluntarily disable their phones while driving.
To help limit the spread of distracted driving, Attorney General David Eby said he has directed ICBC to research potential insurance discounts for drivers who agree to technological phone prevention measures.
Similar To A Future Apple Update
The technology in question could be similar to that featured in a future Apple iOS update.
The new iOS update will detect when an iPhone user drives and then silence that person’s incoming notifications. However, that software will be subject to an optional manual override.
Portable in-vehicle dampening hardware also exists, which prevents smartphones from operating while a car is driven.
“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,” Eby told the Times Colonist.
“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.”
ICBC Premiums Could Rise Up To 30%
The research comes weeks after a report by Ernst & Young revealed that ICBC insurance premiums could increase up to 30 per cent by 2019.
Without large-scale changes such as caps on certain injury claims, the use of red-light intersection cameras to catch speeders, increased police enforcement to crack down on distracted driving, and other innovative solutions such as those currently being researched, those rate hikes could be inevitable.
Photo radar and no-fault insurance have both been ruled out, but Eby said he is researching the rest of the recommendations in the Ernst & Young report.
