Behind the wheel
December 26, 2009 by Tim Schewe
Filed under Community, Feature stories, Safety, Travel
Merry Christmas 2009.
If I could give all of you one gift this Christmas it would be a year’s worth of safe driving. For those of us here in British Columbia that would mean more than one driver a day would not die, 81 people would not be injured and 69 property damage collisions would not occur. Imagine that.
For those of you who think that they have not been affected by a collision in the past year, consider about 80 percent of what you paid to ICBC to insure your vehicle. This is the amount in your premium that ICBC used to pay for death, injury and damage. Wouldn’t an 80 percent reduction in vehicle insurance be a nice gift also?
If I could wish for one gift in return it would be that everyone take a moment and consider that they are not the only driver on the highway. Grant courtesy to other drivers, even when they don’t deserve it. If we were as courteous to other drivers as we are when face to face, I dare say that many of the situations that we find ourselves in while driving would not occur.
Thank you to all that publish and read this column and take the time to respond to it with comments both positive and negative. You provide the ideas and incentive that keeps me writing and learning. Please have a happy and safe holiday season.
The author is a retired constable with many years of traffic enforcement experience. To comment or learn more, please visit http://www.drivesmartbc.ca.
Tell me, why is it that we spend millions helping people learn good sanitation practices so they won’t catch the flu, but we spend relatively nothing in comparison teaching people how to drive safely — and yet motor vehicle accidents kill more people in a year than flu?
As a society, I think our priorities are all mixed up and common sense almost totally lacking.
The simple solution is awareness and education. Why is it not being done?
And about that other 20% of our insurance premiums … Who is lining whose pockets with that extra padding that is not being used for insurance costs?
Probably because most people consider themselves to be better than average drivers. (The next time you sit down for coffee with a group, ask them and see!)
I agree strongly with your comment about priorities. The number one cause of death for youth is in a motor vehicle collision.
I suspect that the other 20% pays for things like buildings, employee salaries, advertising campaigns, training materials, even L and N signs.