ICBC Halves Annual Advertising Budget to Fund Police Law Enforcement

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is transferring funds from its advertising budget to the police.

ICBC says it will halve the annual advertising budget to cover the additional costs of policing.

"Drivers in British Columbia who insist on high-risk driving clearly do not follow ICBC's message about road safety advertising," said Attorney General David Eby. "Reallocating ICBC's advertising dollars to strengthen law enforcement will give police more opportunities to deliver a specific, personal advertising message directly to the more adventurous drivers by the side of the road. It's a good thing. "

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An additional $ 2.4 million will be allocated to better enforcement of traffic law across the province. Following the reallocation, ICBC's total annual investment in road safety control will be $ 24.8 million.

"ICBC is facing significant cost pressures from one place – collisions," said ICBC General Manager Nicolas Jimenez.

"With a record number of accidents in our province, we are committed to doing everything in our power to reduce the cost of claims and ease the pressure on insurance rates."

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According to ICBC, there was a provincial record of 350,000 accidents in British Columbia, about 960 a day last year.

ICBC will retain approximately $ 2.4 million of its advertising budget for the next fiscal year. The money will be spent educating British Columbians about changes to the BC auto insurance system over the next 12 months, as well as supporting road safety campaigns. .