The Insurance Corp. of B.C. and local police will launch a safety blitz Thursday to educate the public not to text, talk and drive, warning that you鈥檙e four times more likely to crash if you鈥檙e on the phone while driving.
Yet the Crown Corp. has no definitive data to show drivers using cellphones are most to blame for a rise in distracted driving crashes, saying those assumptions are based on the 鈥渂est data available鈥� from police officers, who attend 10 to 15 per cent of all serious crashes in B.C., those result in injury or death.
鈥淚t鈥檚 far from perfect but it鈥檚 the best data anyone has access to,鈥� ICBC spokesman Adam Grossman said.
ICBC maintains rear-end crashes resulting in injury have been rising faster than other types of crashes 鈥� by 14 per cent since 2009 鈥� which corresponds to the mass adoption of smartphones.
The top contributing factor in those crashes was distraction, which is defined as 鈥渢he diversion of attention from driving, as a result of the driver focusing on a non-driving object, activity, event or person.鈥�
Grossman said distracted driving is now the second leading cause of car crash fatalities in B.C., with an average of 88 people killed each year.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always been distracted as drivers, whether it鈥檚 kids in the back seat ... there are always new distractions,鈥� Grossman said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e never seen anything like the addiction to smartphones.鈥�
Grossman noted data from around the world suggests smartphones are contributing to rising incidents of crashes.
鈥淭here鈥檚 leading research around the world that shows cellphones are the leading form of distracted driving,鈥� he said.
The number of drivers has increased marginally from 2010 to 2013: from 2.8 million to 2.9 million in B.C. and 1.51 to 1.58 million in the Lower Mainland. ICBC has not released a regional breakdown on how many rear-enders are based on per capita population.
The number of tickets handed to B.C. drivers caught using a smartphone or electronic device on the road has more than doubled during the past four years. In 2010, 20,000 tickets were issued for using an electronic device while driving, compared with 48,000 tickets given out last year. And while 580 were caught texting or emailing four years ago, 1,130 were nabbed in 2013.
A rise in distracted driving injury claims has prompted ICBC to seek permission from the B.C. Utilities Commission to increase basic insurance rates for drivers by about 5.5 per cent as of Nov. 1. That includes a 0.3-per-cent increase that was deferred last year.
In addition, the provincial government said earlier this year it is reviewing the options for increased penalties for distracted driving as well as slapping drivers with penalty points if they talk on their phones behind the wheel.
A driver caught using a cellphone or other electronic device that is not hands-free already faces a fine of $167 and may be levied with penalty points if caught texting or emailing.
It鈥檚 not known if B.C. will follow the example of Alberta, which restricts drivers from not only using hand-held devices but also reading, writing or doing personal grooming while driving.
