乌鸦传媒淭o be honest, it pisses me off乌鸦传媒�.

Those are the words of a former client who continues to live with neck symptoms years after a 乌鸦传媒渕inor乌鸦传媒� rear-end collision.

Neck symptoms weren乌鸦传媒檛 the piss-off, though. It was the attitude of a friend who had just rear-ended someone.

Her friend, clueless about how whiplash injuries work, said things like: 乌鸦传媒渋t wasn乌鸦传媒檛 a big deal乌鸦传媒�, and 乌鸦传媒渆veryone is okay乌鸦传媒� when describing the collision.

Whiplash is rarely apparent at the scene of a crash. It usually takes hours before the damaged tissues start tightening up. It乌鸦传媒檚 not until the next morning when you can barely move your neck.

Her friend乌鸦传媒檚 focus was on how 乌鸦传媒渟uper grateful乌鸦传媒� she was that she had purchased a premium insurance package. She will simply wait a couple of days for vehicle repairs. With the nice loaner vehicles provided by collision repair shops, that might even be a treat.

Depending on her 乌鸦传媒淐laim-Rated Scale乌鸦传媒� with ICBC, she might well have zero or perhaps as little as a 5 or 10 per cent increase in her insurance premiums.

Nothing has changed in her life, except that she pays a deductible and will never hesitate to purchase collision insurance.

My former client puzzled: 乌鸦传媒淚t seems strange that our society is set up to make it easy on people to smash their cars into each other.乌鸦传媒�

Indeed.

Her friend乌鸦传媒檚 level of driving care was so grossly lacking that she managed to crash her vehicle into the back of another. It is a type of crash that absolutely dominates my practice. Again and again and again, drivers somehow fail to notice that traffic ahead of them has come to a complete stop, and 乌鸦传媒渃rash乌鸦传媒�.

The 乌鸦传媒渁t fault乌鸦传媒� driver is rarely injured. Spring loaded bumper technology helps soften the landing. That same technology causes added acceleration to the innocent victim乌鸦传媒檚 completely stopped vehicle, increasing the forces on the occupant.

Combined benefits of collision and liability insurance completely protect the negligent driver who is completely clueless about the possibility of having caused a life-long injury.

What is the incentive to be a super-vigilant driver if there are no consequences to being careless?

My former client suggested that collision insurance (insurance to pay for damage to your own vehicle if you cause the crash) should not be allowed if you, yourself, cause a crash. How乌鸦传媒檚 that for a powerful thought!

Your liability insurance would pay for your victim乌鸦传媒檚 vehicle damage but you would foot the bill for your own.

Imagine yourself behind the wheel of your car with zero collision insurance protection if you cause a crash. Might your level of care increase knowing that you乌鸦传媒檙e going to be 乌鸦传媒渙ut of pocket乌鸦传媒� the thousands of dollars of repair expense?

It乌鸦传媒檚 ideas like this that would have the benefit of reducing crashes while greatly easing the burden on ICBC.

Here乌鸦传媒檚 another idea: get rid of 乌鸦传媒渇ree crashes乌鸦传媒�. How about requiring drivers who cause crashes to pay higher (much higher) premiums, no matter how many years of crash-free driving they have under their belt.

Those years of crash free driving are part of the problem. The more years of crash-free driving, the more complacent we become. We actively encourage that complacency with our current system that gives 乌鸦传媒渃rash-free乌鸦传媒� drivers 乌鸦传媒渇ree crashes乌鸦传媒�.

The foundation for these ideas is that crashes are caused by inattention and other negligent driving. They don乌鸦传媒檛 乌鸦传媒渏ust happen乌鸦传媒� except in the rarest of circumstances. In those rare circumstances, you wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 be 乌鸦传媒渁t fault乌鸦传媒� and would be fully protected if either of these ideas were implemented.

Is ICBC listening?