ICBC road safety campaign for young drivers to focus on distracted driving

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) has launched a new road safety speaking tour for young drivers, focusing especially on distracted driving, a leading cause of crashes among those between 16 and 21.

ICBC launched its road safety speaker program Wednesday at Panorama Ridge Secondary in Surrey with a new road safety speaker, Heidi Cave.

Heidi Cave will be speaking to high school students throughout the Lower Mainland this spring.

In 1998, Cave’s car was struck by a reckless driver going more than 100 km/hr. Her subsequent battle for her life involved two weeks in a coma, seven months in a hospital burn unit and five months in rehabilitation. She is now a wife, mother, motivational speaker and author of Fancy Feet: Turning My Tragedy Into Hope.

“Young drivers are less experienced, more likely to take risks and tend to be more easily distracted by passengers and electronic devices,” John Dickinson, ICBC’s director of road safety said in a press release.

“These are all factors in the high rate of youth crashes on our roads. Our speakers are able to connect with teens and help them realize the life-changing consequences of taking risks while driving and think twice about it.”

Although speed remains the main factor in fatal crashes among young drivers, in the last five years, 34% of young drivers involved in collisions causing injury or death were distracted, according to ICBC.

While young female drivers were less often involved in crashes related to distracted driving, speed or impairment compared with males, they were still distracted three times more than they sped and almost 10 times more than they drove impaired, according to the insurer’s figures.

“Distracted driving is a serious matter and is now the second leading cause of motor vehicle fatalities on B.C. highways as well as a top factor in youth crashes,” B.C. Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton noted in the press release.

“Don’t let your memory of high school involve a tragic accident – please put your phone away and focus on the road so that you can get to your destination safely.”

For the past 17 years, ICBC road safety speakers have been sharing their stories with more than 50,000 B.C. high school students every year.