The number of vehicle crashes on Vancouver Island has increased by 21 per cent over the past four years, ICBC statistics show.
There were 46,000 crashes on the Island in 2017, up from 44,000 the previous year and 38,000 in 2013.
The rise mirrors a provincewide trend that saw crashes reach an all-time high of 350,000 last year — about 960 crashes a day.
Total cost of the claims was $4.8 billion.
ICBC released the “alarming” statistics Tuesday at the launch of its new Drive Smart Refresher Test — a free online tool designed to reduce crashes by helping older drivers bone up on the rules of the road.
“The focus of the Drive Smart campaign is basically to improve not so much the young people that are going through the road tests and knowledge tests, but the older people that have been on the road for 20, 30, 40 years and they haven’t done anything since then but they’re driving every day,” said Jerry Boal, a supervisor at ICBC’s driver licensing office in Burnaby.
The Crown corporation has long offered online tests to people preparing to apply for a driver’s licence, but the new multiple-choice refresher quiz is shorter, funnier and aimed specifically at older drivers, Boal said.
“It’s got the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s themes to it, it’s meant to be a little more fun to interact with it, and it’s got some funny comments at the end of it,” he said. “It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to complete.”
The test, which can be found online at icbcdrivesmart.ca, begins with the line: “If you remember cruising to Led Zeppelin, pumping gas in neon spandex or rocking frosted tips, it might have been a while since you tested your driving knowledge.”
It then proceeds to ask questions about who has the right of way at four-way stops, what you should do on a one-way street when an ambulance is approaching from behind, or how you should adjust your driving when being tail-gated by another vehicle.
ICBC hopes the test will alert people to the fact that they’ve likely forgotten a few rules over the years and might be doing some things wrong, such as speeding through school zones or changing lanes incorrectly.
“That would, hopefully, improve their overall knowledge and their overall habits to decrease crashes,” Boal said.
Insights West, which conducted a survey for the Drive Smart program, found that 60 per cent of respondents believe drivers are worse today.
They cited distracted driving as their top complaint, followed by a lack of respect for driving rules, speeding and aggressive driving.
In addition, 75 per cent of respondents admitted to having bad driving habits of their own and two-fifths said that they’ve likely forgotten some of the driving rules.
