Obviously, ICBC rates were heavily impacted by the Liberal decision to change the law in 2010 to let them divert hundreds of millions of dollars from ICBC premiums into general revenue. I call it a rip-off of my car insurance premiums although the Liberals insist it is nothing more than asking a Crown agency to pay dividends to the government so they can keep taxes down. Yeah, right. They did it to B.C. Hydro too, using the same rationale and with the same result on hydro rates as on ICBC premiums.
Since it is my pocket being picked, I have followed the resultant media foofaraw with interest. It amazes me that no one reporting on the issue has mentioned the fact that we have two sets of repair costs in B.C. One for insured claims and the other for non-insured claims. That’s why the first question you are asked when you show up for a windshield replacement or body work is “Is it an insurance claim?”
This is common knowledge amongst the general public yet has not, to my knowledge, ever been addressed by our media or by our government.
Neither have I seen mention (except for letters to the editor) made of the very poor reflective quality and lack of durability of the road paint used by the province and municipalities over the past few years. It is not nearly as helpful in poor driving conditions as the previously used paint was and surely must be a factor in accidents that occur on dark nights and during times when visibility is reduced due to rain, fog or snow. Yes, I know not everyone slows down as much as they should but even when you do, it can still be very difficult to make out the guidelines painted on the road with this poor product. Sometimes the lines are so faded or worn away that they are difficult to see on a sunny day.
Should it not be a no-brainer to use better paint? Would that not help make our roads safer and help reduce accidents?
When we used to have photo radar cameras at busy intersections and other accident-prone locales, accidents dropped noticeably but public outcries from stung drivers led to a political decision to drop them. It’s another factor that contributed to higher accident statistics and higher premium rates. I don’t know about you, but when I heard someone bitch about the photo radar cameras, I never felt much, if any, sympathy. They were caught fair and square on camera. It’s hard to argue with a speeding fine or running a traffic light or making an illegal turn when it is caught on a photo radar. Besides, getting these people to change their driving habits or lose their license if and when they amassed enough bad driving demerits was good, was it not?
What I am saying is that we can and should do better. We need political leadership with the right stuff and enough moral fiber to sort out the problems — inappropriate diversion of premiums into general revenues, patently unfair two tier repair rates, substandard road paint, reintroduction of photo radar cameras and, lord knows, maybe even holding some ICBC upper management feet to the fire.
Hopefully, our MLA reads this and raises it in caucus to get some remedial action started rather than just sticking it in his Stickle file.
I’m looking forward to casting my vote next May. 9. I hope you are too. Stuff like this should not be happening nor would it if our politics were not so polarized that elected officials become so politically correct and out of touch that they have difficulty finding their you know what with both hands and a flashlight.
Jim Bodkin
Vernon
