Keyword
distracted driving
How this insurer detects distracted drivers
January 11, 2019 by Greg MeckbachCanada’s largest property and casualty insurer is checking to see whether some of its auto insurance clients are using their phone while driving. If your auto client is insured by Intact under its My Driving Discount program, Intact can detect…
Insurer reacts to new distracted driving penalties
January 7, 2019 by Greg MeckbachThe new licence suspensions and $500 minimum fines for distracted driving should remind Ontario motorists not to text and drive, a spokesperson for CAA South Central Ontario predicts. “We hope this is going to serve as a deterrent,” CAA SCO…
Cop cuts deal with driver over fake insurance offence
July 24, 2018 The Canadian PressVANCOUVER – A Delta, B.C., police officer who ticketed drivers for offences that didn’t happen has won a review of the suspension and demotion proposed by the province’s police complaint commissioner. Const. Byron Ritchie was seeking a public hearing after…
Novel concept of ‘impaired by distraction’ quashed by Supreme Court of Canada
July 4, 2018 by Greg MeckbachDriving while engrossed in a heated conversation may be a form of distraction, but is not a form of impairment, the Supreme Court of Canada suggested in a divided ruling released Friday. In May 2013, a toddler died after an…
Human driver distracted before fatal autonomous Uber crash
June 22, 2018 Tom Krisher and Jacques Billeaud - THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPHOENIX – The human backup driver in an autonomous Uber SUV was streaming the television show “The Voice” and looking downward just before fatally striking a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix, according to a police report. The 300-page report released Thursday…
Ontario Election 2018: Trailing Liberals promise auto insurance discounts
June 4, 2018 by Greg MeckbachPolls show the Ontario Liberals will not likely govern the province after the election this Thursday but, for what it’s worth, a vote for Liberal candidates is a vote for insurance discounts for motorists who use apps intended to discourage…
How long will it take before distracted driving campaigns take hold?
May 16, 2018 by Jason ContantSimilar to drunk driving campaigns that took years to take hold before people realized others were getting injured or killed and that it was unacceptable, distracted driving campaigns may also take a while to fully work, Aviva Canada’s chief underwriting…
Your client texts a driver who crashes. Is your client liable?
April 23, 2018 by David GambrillLook for Canadian case law to impose secondary liability on texters who distract drivers with their email messages, akin to social host liability, a senior claims executive at Travelers predicts. “If I text someone while driving, and they get into…
MPI reveals estimated insurance costs of distracted drivers
April 10, 2018 by Jason ContantThe direct insurance costs associated with distracted driving in Manitoba are estimated to be at least $70 million per year, the province’s government auto insurer reported recently. Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) spokesperson Brian Smiley told Canadian Underwriter that direct insurance costs…
Ontario MPP says roadside suspensions for distracted driving “might be reasonable”
March 21, 2018 by Greg MeckbachRoadside suspensions for motorists caught using wireless devices while driving “might be reasonable,” an Ontario government MPP told Canadian Underwriter Tuesday. Ontario already has “strong rules on the books” against distracted driving, Arthur Potts, parliamentary assistant to Ontario transportation minister…
What Ontario needs to do to reduce auto insurance costs
March 20, 2018 by Greg MeckbachIf Ontario motorists want lower insurance rates, the government will have to take a harder line on distracted driving, a former Ontario civil servant said Monday. Fraud in the collision repair industry and distracted driving are among the issues that…
Some provincial plans to crack down on distracted driving go too far: lawyer
March 20, 2018 Steve Lambert - THE CANADIAN PRESSWINNIPEG – A group that represents defence lawyers says some proposed laws aimed at cracking down on drivers distracted by hand-held electronic devices go too far. Manitoba and Ontario are two provinces planning to let police temporarily suspend the licences…