B.C.'s public insurer is launching a pilot project that will monitor thousands of inexperienced drivers using telematics technology.
Starting next year, ICBC will be installing small devices inside participants' cars that monitor speeding, braking patterns and distraction levels then send the findings to an app on the driver's cellphone.
"The app will give them feedback on their driving," said Mark Milner, manager of ICBC's road safety program. "What we're hoping over the course of a year is that they will improve in terms of their driving behaviour and that they don't crash as frequently."
A previous telematics pilot project completed earlier this year found that more than 40 per cent of participants' driving improved by using the technology. Almost three-quarters recommended that ICBC explore telematics further.
This time, the insurer is inviting up to 7,000 drivers with less than five years' experience behind the wheel to take part.
Volunteers will have a chance to sign up in the spring, and will get an incentive for participating, though ICBC hasn't decided what that will look like yet.
The Crown corporation said it ultimately hopes to ease some of the pressure on insurance rates; new drivers are 5.6 times more likely to be involved in a crash and for the collisions to be severe than people with 20 years of driving experience, according to the insurer.
