Story by Sharon Vanhouwe, MyCowichanValleyNow.com
VANCOUVER, B.C- ICBC is inviting eligible drivers to participate in a telematics pilot project starting this summer.
Eligibility is based on driving experience and will be open to all drivers entering the novice stage of the Graduated Licensing Program and for drivers who have held a full drivers license for less than five years.
ICBC’s Mark Milner, Road Safety Program Manager said they’ll be recruiting 7,000 new drivers to participate in the larger pilot program that will see a beacon installed on the vehicle that will communicate with the driver’s cell phone.
Milner said it will monitor if the driver is driving distracted, braking too hard, rapidly accellerating, cornering too hard and other things that are correlated with crashing.
The goal is to determine whether using the technology can improve road safety and driving behaviour for inexperienced drivers in B.C.
Milner said new drivers have been chosen for the project because they are 5 and a half times more likely to be involved in a crash that will be severe.
