ICBC is launching a one-year pilot project for less experienced drivers and is looking for 7,000 drivers to see if its technology can improve their driving and make B.C. roads safer.
Participants will use a small smart tag that communicates with an app installed on their smartphone. The app records driving behaviours like speeding, braking patterns, level of distracted driving and then provides an overall score.
As an incentive, participants will receive rewards in the form of gift cards to popular retailers and restaurants.
Drivers can sign-up to join the pilot which starts in November.
Drivers who have less than four years driving experience, either in the novice stage of the Graduated Licensing Program or with their full licence are eligible to join.
The results of the score will not impact the participants’ insurance premiums.
New drivers in B.C. are 3.5 times more at risk of getting into a crash than experienced drivers. And when they do, those crashes are much more likely to be serious. This risk gradually decreases as new drivers gain more experience.
Starting September 2019, inexperienced drivers will be paying more to better reflect the risk as part of the recent changes to the way ICBC sets insurance premiums.
The pilot is an opportunity to assess if telematics can measurably improve driver behaviour and help offset that impact in the future by decreasing the risk of inexperienced drivers being in a crash.
Octo, a global telematics company, was selected as the vendor after a procurement process earlier this year. The pilot results will help determine how ICBC might use telematics in the future.
Bowinn Ma, MLA and Parliamentary Secretary for Translink, said the province is looking for ways to improve auto insurance in B.C.
“This pilot is just one of the many actions governments and ICBC are taking to do that. This pilot will help us reward the kind of good driving behaviour that is critical to making B.C. roads safer for all users.”
