ICBC is looking for up to 5,000 new drivers to participate in a telemetrics research project aimed at making B.C. roads safer.
The program will last one year and is open to any ages as long as you have less than four years of driving experience either in the novice stage of the graduated licensing program or with a full licence. The programs aim to to see if technology can improve driving habits.
Using a small tag placed under your rear view mirror and syncing it with your smartphone, the Techpilot app will record driving habits such as speeding, braking patterns and level of distracted driving for each trip taken. An overall score will be given and participants will receive rewards in the form of gift cards to popular retailers and restaurants.
The program results will help determine how ICBC might use telemetrics in the future.
“What we want to do is conduct an extensive pilot with over 5,000 participants with lots of data that will give us a real sense of whether this technology actually changes people’s driving behaviour and reduces crashes on our roads in British Columbia," said ICBC president and CEO Nicolas Jimenez.
The results will not impact participants' insurance premiums. The project will begin in November and is expected to cost between $3 million and $3.5 million. Drivers can sign up on the ICBC website.
