Call for Review of Graduated Licensing Program
Prince George, B.C.- The B.C. Coroners Service is calling for a review of the graduated licensing program.
That is one of three recommendations coming from a child death review panel report on deaths of young drivers in motor vehicle crashes.
An expert panel reviewed the deaths of 106 young drivers in crashes that occurred between 2004 and 2013.
Some key findings:
- Age and gender play a major role in who is involved in traffic fatality
- More than 90% were aged 17 or 18 years old
- ¾ of the fatalities were young men
- Speed noted in about 30% of the cases
- Impairment noted in about 40% of cases
- 30% of cases had the victims either not wearing or improperly wearing seatbelt
- Distracted driving was only noted in one case ( cell phone use) may be helpful to find more information on use of other electronics
- 33% driving contrary to license restrictions
- 33% had previous penalty points
- In more than 80% of instances, fatalities occurred on two lane undivided road way
- The majority of the fatalities took place on roadways in the Interior, while the Northern region ranked second for number of fatalities. The lower mainland had the lowest percentage
- Although most of the vehicles involved were cars, pick-up trucks, mini vans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), some drivers were operating motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). A much greater proportion of youth operating motorcycles died.
Michael Egilson, head of the Coroners Service Child Death Review Unit says there is some good news, in that since BC introduced the Graduated Licensing program, there has been a reduction in the number of young driver deaths, however, motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 18.
The three recommendations for change are:
1: Review of the Graduated Licencing Program .The review should include a consultation with young drivers and the parents and guardians that support young drivers.
2: Enhanced Data Collection: The BC Coroners Service contribute to the knowledge base of young driver fatalities by obtaining and utilizing driver abstracts in all fatal crashes of young drivers as part of the BCCS investigation process; and ICBC and its partner agencies contribute to the knowledge base of distracted driving of young drivers by reviewing and clarifying the criteria used to identify distracted driving in police attended crashes and publically reporting out on distracted driving
3: Reduce Speed Related Injury and Death: The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure ensure that road safety and injury prevention are the paramount criteria used in the course of monitoring and reviewing existing speed limits and setting new speed limits on BC’s provincial road system; and The Ministry of Justice conduct a pilot project of automated speed enforcement strategies such as “time and distance” and “speed on green” in areas identified as high risk for serious crashes.
The BC Coroners service was not consulted in the latest round of speed limit changes announced for some highways in B.C. says Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe “Bringing the Croners Service to the table to discuss these issues is always helpful” . She says the coroners Service is now collecting data on the specific roads and will pass that information along to the Ministry of Transportation.
Comments
One thing that should happen is have all accidents recorded your drivers license only. No ducking out of an accident an having it stuck on someone else’s vehicle. True driving patterns would then begin to surface.
Think they again missed the mark on starting young drivers off by requiring a defensive driver course, and, in the interior and north, a winter driving course. Too many young drivers are being taught by poor driver parents. I think ICBC and government should be engaging subsidized driver training in schools, to give the best basic driver training prior to them hitting the streets.
Knowing this government that we have now they will most likely be looking at making it harder for young drivers to get their licence and find a way to charge them more money to get it. This government has always tried every different way and reason to suck money out of you.
Honestly they need to really discourage parents from teaching driving. Maybe double insurance rates or double the length of time for a learners without a proper instructor? I followed one lady down the hart recently “training” her son with an L on the back of their little red SUV. They were in the left lane all the way, doing 80kmh, having a smoke with a little dog on her lap. I mean come on,what hope does that kid have of being a good driver?
interceptor–yes another proper instructor at what cost. Many parents are already strapped for money. Many young adults need their license to go to school, work etc. Time to quit looking for ways to charge them more for their license. If you want to get a class 1 license now look what it costs. Maybe they should think of making driver training free. If you can afford driver training I don’t have a problem with that.
Graduate program is already long and just full of money grabbing schemes.
I would like to see how the stats of accidents before the introduction of the L and N program compared to now. Does gouging teens really make a difference? Obviously students drive with more care during test scenarios. This is such a smoke and mirrors attempt at dealing with an issue.
We need to make it much, much harder to get and to keep a license. Mandatory driver’s education (including a section on motorcycles please and thank you!) for anyone getting a license for the first time in this province (and that includes people moving here from other jurisdictions) plus mandatory and periodic retesting would work for starters. The number of years in the period would decrease as the driver’s age increases.
And yeah, no subsidies for the schools. Charge what the market will bear.
Why not change the legal driving age to 20?
“”More than 90% were aged 17 or 18 years old””
Apparently the 90% in that age group that are dying were not mature enough to be driving.
Change the legal driving age to 20yrs old.
Another thought maybe the government is looking to privatize licensing so someone can fill their pockets setting up manditory training schools.
I think getting your license through this graduated system is fine. The problem is you only have to pass the test once. After that you are free to drive how you want, fines and tickets up to you.. Retest every 10 yrs. make everything cheaper.
$20 per test..liscense lasts 10 years. Make the test in a simulator, if you pass then fine.. Come back in 10 . If you fail then must do driving test. Will make the roads much safer.
I don’t agree with charging young people more money to drive “what a retarded statement”. Young people have it tough enough. Like “pgjonh” stated “I would like to see how the stats of accidents before the introduction of the L and N program compared to now”. Young drivers should be taught how to regain control of a vehicle which has lost control. I think with the technology available now days the government could devise a simulator to help young drivers realize the severity of a vehicle which has lost control. I see a lot of mature drivers which shouldn’t be driving at all, traveling at speeds in excess of what the vehicle and weather conditions would allow, I am amazed there isn’t more accidents.
Instead of the useless crap they teach in grade 11 and 12, they should bring back drivers training to the high schools. They had it when I was a kid and it was a great learning experience. For those who are already out of school, there are the private instructors and driving schools to choose from. The province (ICBC) takes the money out of the kids pockets for insurance, so they should put it back by offering training to everyone regardless of the need for a license or not. Make them safe by teaching them right!
Oldman – free driver training?!? Sure, let’s throw in free cars and free fuel too, why not?
You seem to be thinking that driving is some devine right, not a privledge…
Professional, that’s exactly what I meant in my earlier post. Oldman is right, training costs a lot, the cost saving borne by ICBC and the province teaching this in schools, on claims, I believe would be a huge reduction down the road.
intercepter–You seem to be thinking that driving is some devine right, not a privledge
No- I would say it is a necessity.
The biggest thing with young drivers is learning patience. They have a propensity to take risk when held up and don’t realize any time saving is often negligible for the risk involved. With that some of the worst drivers are middle aged men with no hurry to get anywhere and a don’t care attitude about blocking traffic flow.
I had a friend help me pick up a bed set the other day from Sears and it was down right scary. He has been driving 20+years. Straddled the lane divider the whole way down Ospika with a line of cars in both lanes held up.said he didn’t care because in winter one can’t see the road lines anyways. I was embarrassed to be a passenger. I see it al the time though on the highway… Older middle aged guy driving slow with no purpose and straddling the middle of the road and then a hot shot taking risks to get around them.
I agree with the driver training for youth, but also think it could be required by those that can’t drive for all ages. More could be done to target those that hold up traffic by doing things like straddling both lanes going under the posted speed limit and not moving over for traffic flow.
Pretty shady data. What were the road conditions, weather conditions and time of year?
More enforcement for everybody.After a certain number of penalty points you lose your license until you have taken driver training. Simple.
Standby for another Liberal money grab!
Axeman says “for anyone getting a license for the first time in this province (and that includes people moving here from other jurisdictions)”
Interesting, so a person from outside the province should maybe get a BC license before driving in BC, even if just visiting.
FYI. You have to pass TWO driving tests. One to get your N and one to get rid of your N two years later. If you get two tickets with an N you will lose your license and then when you get it back your N period starts over again.
Start them driving at 14 like Albert. 3 years with a L, more supervised driving. Get them before they think they know it all.
“Interesting, so a person from outside the province should maybe get a BC license before driving in BC, even if just visiting.”
Anyone planning on getting a license in BC should have to go through the testing process.
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