What’s New: In brief (November 29, 2005)

Transport Canada is testing an electronic nagger in an attempt to gain control over speeding on Canada’s roadways and encourage drivers to slow down. A nagger uses GPS technology to make the accelerator hard to press when a driver exceeds a fixed percentage of a posted speed limit. The devices are loaded with a digital map of the speed limits. Recently Transport Canada fitted 10 Ottawa-area cars with the Swedish-made devices as well as another 10 volunteer cars. The commercially available device uses a blue warning light and a voice warning when drivers go too fast. Transport Canada began the testing partly in response to the fact that speeding is a factor in 25% of Canada’s fatal crashes. Additionally, Transport Canada reports that the nagger is environmentally friendly because cars use more gas per mile at higher speeds.

The Co-operators president and ceo Kathy Bardswick was recently elected Chair of the International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF). Bardswick was elected for a four-year term by the board of directors at ICMIF’s recent biennial conference in Singapore. “Kathy’s passion, acumen and commitment to co-operative principles have earned her great respect among ICMIF members,” ICMIF Chief Executive Shaun Tarbuck says. “I have no doubt that the Federation will benefit greatly from her leadership in the years ahead.” ICMIF members include more than 400 insurance companies from 67 countries, which operate on the basis of the principles common to the co-operative movement and democratic mutuality. Today ICMIF has members from every continent, ranging from the world’s third largest insurer to small firms. Collectively, they represent 7% of the world’s insurance premium income.