ICBC

Ouch! My ICBC insurance rates are going up as much as 42% over the next five years according to an article in the Province newspaper. I already paid $630 this year for the privilege of having my fellow British Columbians help me pay for collision liability if I make a mistake and crash my pickup. I’m not looking forward to paying $895 in 2021, but when you consider how much you could be on the hook for if you didn’t have insurance, even that doesn’t look too bad.

It has often puzzled me that we undergo rigorous testing to get a driver’s license around the age of 16 or 17, and yet are not required to take a driving test again until some time in our 80s.  In some cases, that is 60 or more years of driving without re-testing.

I noticed that Transport Canada reports serious injuries and the trend, as with fatal injuries, is down ward for the past 2 decades This is good news, if the numbers are accurate.

Traffic fatalities in BC had been trending down ward to 2013, but the number of casualty injuries has been increasing.

The number of casualty injuries in BC is many time higher than the serious injuries reported for all of Canada.

It’s very interesting that some new drivers to BC can easily obtain a driver license with no written test on BC traffic laws and no road test to demonstrate competency .

Road safety should not be based on political agreements.

While many of the 12 Countries that are exempt from testing, have lower vehicle Fatality rates, Some countries have triple the Canadian average fatality rates.

ICBC is the provincial agency responsible for driver licensing. The corporation maintains related information and if you need a driving record for your employer or to serve as a volunteer you can download the driving record from ICBC's website for free.

A common question asked by visitors to this web site is "Am I at fault?" Usually this is asked in relation to a collision that they have been involved in and don't think that ICBC's apportioning of blame is fair to their circumstances.

Somebody stole my wallet last May, including my driver's licence. I reported it to both ICBC and the RCMP, received a police file number and a new license.

The basis of this story comes from an inquiry posed by a young man who moved from BC to Alberta for work and was convicted for drinking and driving. He lost his job and was forced to move back home.

We own a small ranch in BC. Our hay fields stretch out along a small public road that runs through our ranch. We have just purchased a large truck which is now insured with farm plates to haul our hay bales off of the fields. We have been told that the hay trailer being pulled by this truck needs to be liscenced.

Question: We have heard that there is a new law about winter tires. Tires now need to have the snow flake symbol on them or insurance will not cover us for a crash. Is this true?