The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is moving money out of its advertising budget and into police traffic enforcement.
ICBC says it will be cutting the annual advertising budget in half to cover the additional policing costs.
“Drivers in British Columbia who insist on high-risk driving are clearly not following ICBC’s general road safety advertising messages,” Attorney General David Eby said. “Redirecting ICBC advertising dollars to increase enforcement will give police officers more opportunity to deliver a specific and personal advertising message directly to more reckless drivers at the side of the road. That’s a good thing.”
An additional $2.4 million will be moved to enhanced traffic enforcement throughout the province. After the reallocation ICBC’s total annual investment in road safety traffic enforcement will be $24.8 million.
“ICBC is facing significant cost pressures that really start from one place — crashes,” ICBC CEO Nicolas Jimenez said.
“With crashes at an all-time high in our province, we’re committed to doing what we can to reduce claims costs and relieve the pressure on insurance rates.”
According to ICBC, there were a provincial record 350,000 crashes in B.C., or about 960 per day, last year.
ICBC will retain approximately $2.4 million in its advertising budget for the next fiscal year. The money will be spent educating British Columbians on the changes taking place to B.C.’s auto insurance system over the next 12 months, along with support for road safety enforcement campaigns.
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