WHEREAS vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury among people between the ages of one and 25 in BC today; AND WHEREAS road safety education can increase awareness among young people of the risks involved in being on the road and change their attitudes toward risk behaviour involving vehicles, making them less willing to engage in or support unnecessary risk-taking: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities petition the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General Responsible for ICBC to: - require successful completion of a road safety education program within the Graduated Licensing Program to obtain a Class 5 drivers licence; and - consider modification of existing ICBC road safety teaching guides and resources to deliver the road safety education outcomes.
MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND SOLICITOR GENERAL ICBC implemented the Graduated Licensing program in 1998, and as part of that introduced changes to the driver test that increased the knowledge drivers must have in order to pass the driver licensing test. At the same time, ICBC introduced two new, and comprehensive, education manuals, Road Sense for Drivers and Tuning It Up. These manuals are very comprehensive. It would be difficult to pass the current driving test without exposure to the existing educational materials.
INSURANCE CORPORATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA As you may know, British Columbias Graduated Licensing Program GLP was implemented in 1998 in response to the over-representation of new drivers in motor vehicle crashes. Prior to the introduction of the GLP, new drivers were twice as likely to be involved in a crash as more experienced drivers. Since the program was implemented, we have been actively monitoring the GLP, as well as best practices from other jurisdictions, in an effort to identify opportunities to improve the program and further reduce the number and severity of crashes involving new drivers. ICBCs evaluation of the first three years of the GLP program revealed that new drivers who took an approved driver education course and were eligible to have the Learner Stage reduced by three months, had a higher crash rate. In addition, Canadian and global traffic research has been inconclusive in attributing road safety benefits to driver training, especially when the successful completion of training results in early graduation from a GLP licensing stage. No other Canadian juridictions currently have a mandatory driver training requirement as part of their GLP. Based on the three year evaluation and our ongoing research, enhancements were made to the GLP in October 2003. Those enhancements included lengthening the minimum time requirement in both program stages and implementing a safe driving incentive and passenger restriction in the higher risk Novice Stage. ICBC is planning to meet with the driver training industry and road safety stakeholder representatives in December 2004 to discuss the future of the GLP approved driver eduation course and Learner Stage time incentive. We will also review the role of driver training in BCs driver licensing system at that time. Road safety research also suggests driving attitudes are an important contributing factor in new driver crashes. While driver training has proven to be effective in improving driving skills, its impact on fostering safe driving attitudes in new drivers has been more limited. In response to the UBCM recommendation that we modify our existing road safety teaching guides, ICBC is involved in a number of government and community partnerships aimed at addressing new driver safety and driver behaviour. For example, ICBC has prepared Career and Personal Planning curriculum packages for grades 8 through 12 that focus on issues such as personal and social responsibility, risk assessment and decision-making. This course material is designed to help teens understand that being a passenger or getting a drivers licence comes with serious responsiblities