Gray Named ICBC Chair

Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Tuesday, 18 November 2014 11:07
Kelowna's outgoing mayor won't be out of action for long. The BC government has appointed Walter Gray as the new chair for ICBC's board of directors, starting the end of this month. Gray has served numerous terms as Kelowna's mayor, totaling 16 years, and before tat, he was the owner and operator of five radio stations in the Okanagan/Kootenay areas. He will be the first ICBC board chair from the Interior, and takes over for the interim chair Jatinder Rai. Gray calls the appointment an incredible honour. "I look forward to serving the citizens of B.C. in this capacity with the goal of keeping ICBC rates as low and as affordable as possible for all ICBC customers," says Gray. Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation says he's delighted with the new appointment. "Walter Gray brings experience, knowledge and commitment, and I know he is excited to roll up his sleeves and start in his new role," says Stone. Kelowna's new mayor, Colin Basran, officially starts his duties December 1.
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http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/11/new-chair-for-icbcs-board-of-directors.html

http://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/company-info/Documents/disclosure-directors-remuneration.pdf

ICBC wants to hike rates by 4.9%, blames soaring injury claims

Larry Pynn and Mike Hager, Vancouver Sun August 30, 2013 
Buffeted by escalating costs for bodily injury claims, ICBC announced Friday it is applying to the B.C. Utilities Commission for a 4.9-per-cent hike in basic insurance rates effective Nov. 1. The increase would be about $36 a year for an average driver with only basic insurance. However, for the roughly 80 per cent of motorists who purchase ICBC’s full vehicle insurance, the average increase would equate to about $11 a year, or less than $1 a month, according to the corporation’s interim president and CEO Mark Blucher. That’s because the increase is offset by a decrease of four per cent in the optional premium, due to a downturn in auto crime and the cutting of employee costs. ICBC eliminated more than 260 jobs late last year, most of them from a management group that ballooned almost 41 per cent from 2007 to 2011, according to a government audit last August. After the audit, then-CEO Jon Schubert — who earned $486,541 in pay and bonuses in 2011 — resigned. “No one likes an increase in costs,” Blucher said in an interview. “We’ve been very focused to keep the net increase as small as possible.” The basic insurance premium may increase because bodily injury costs hit $1.86 billion in 2012, up more than $165 million from the previous year and more than $400 million from five years ago, according to the corporation. (more)

Automobile thefts plunge dramatically in Vernon

By Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star Published: February 03, 2013 1:00 AM
The provincial government, RCMP and ICBC are trumpeting Auto Crime Enforcement Month by  announcing significant reductions in auto crime in B.C. in 2012. Since 2003, auto theft reported to ICBC has dropped by 73 per cent in B.C. and in 2012, there’s been a seven per cent decrease in auto theft compared to the previous year. However, in the last four months of 2012, there was a slight increase in theft from vehicles in B.C. compared to previous years. In Vernon, there were 70 per cent fewer ICBC-reported vehicle thefts and 81 per cent fewer break-ins in 2012 compared to 2003. In 2012, there were 18 per cent fewer vehicle thefts and 35 per cent fewer break-ins compared to 2011. Vernon RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk feels one of the main contributing factors to the reductions in crime has been the success of the bait car program, where thieves steal specifically modified vehicles and get caught. “Individuals are being caught because of the equipment inside (the bait car),” said Molendyk. “The bait car program has especially helped us apprehend some prolific offenders who steal vehicles or steal from vehicles. It’s one of the significant contributions to the reduction of theft from vehicles and theft of vehicles.” Vernon-North Okanagan statistics show there were 835 theft from vehicles reported to the local detachments in 2012, up slightly from 809 in 2011. Of those 835 thefts, 529 occurred in the City of Vernon. There were 242 theft of vehicles reported to police in 2012 in the region, which encompasses Lumby through to Falkland and Enderby. That’s down considerably from 328 reports in 2011. Of the 242 vehicles reported to police as stolen (and vehicles can include bicycles and ATVs), 130 were in the City of Vernon.

ICBC exec claimed $188K in 2010 expenses

CBC News  Posted:Dec 6, 2011 6:02 PM PT

An executive hired by the Insurance Corporation of B.C. to help cut costs received more than $188,000 for expenses claimed in 2010 — in addition to his $315,000 annual salary, CBC News has learned.  Art Kirkner, a U.S citizen, was hired as one of ICBC’s 15 vice-presidents in 2008, with responsibility for ICBC’s claims centres and other field services.  In the process, Kirkner was involved in laying off several managers in an attempt to cut costs.  In 2010, Kirkner’s salary and expenses $188,681 totalled $504,505, the second highest salary in the public corporation after CEO Jon Schubert, who pulled in $504,771, according to an ICBC financial statement.  ICBC declined interview requests about Kirkner, but a spokesman said much of the 2010 expense claim was for temporary accommodation and for relocation to Vancouver, although Kirkner had joined ICBC two years earlier. Kirkner left ICBC last summer.
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DOCUMENT: ICBC executive compensation - partial (PDF)

CITIZENS ON PATROL NEW JACKETS REVEALED

File # 2011  2011-09-22 15:01 PDT RCMP

Prince George, BC – September 22, 2011 – Community Policing is pleased to advise the Citizens on Patrol group received patrol jackets, provided by ICBC. ICBC has provided the Citizens on Patrol group with patrol jackets that will be worn by each volunteer, while on patrol. “The jackets are a generous donation and will help the public identify us as Citizens Patrol volunteers, helping out in the community and assisting the RCMP in providing a safer community”, says Mike Burt, Citizens on Patrol, Volunteer Program Coordinator.  Diana Pozer, Regional Road Safety Coordinator, with ICBC says, “Citizens on Patrol have done a terrific job with over 5,300 plates checked and 97 patrol hours for the period April 2011 – June 2011. We wanted to thank and reward the volunteers for their hard work and the jackets are a great way to support them.”  “Citizens on Patrol volunteers serve as additional eyes and ears for our police, making a valuable contribution by identifying stolen vehicles, reporting erratic driving and raising awareness about how to prevent crime,” said Prince George Valemount MLA Shirley Bond. “As a resident of Prince George, I want to thank Citizens on Patrol for making our city a safer place.”

Proposed new ICBC rules mean one-third of drivers would face higher rates

Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun May 11, 2011
VICTORIA — Drivers who receive just one speeding ticket can expect to pay three years of higher insurance rates if a set of major changes being proposed by the Insurance Corp. of B.C. is approved. Scheduled to take effect by 2014, the proposed changes would mean close to 30 per cent of all B.C. drivers — those with at least one of a variety of traffic-related convictions on their recent record — would pay higher premiums for their basic insurance.  The new program would cover a three-year history of convictions, the corporation says, and will be retroactive if it’s approved. That means violations collected today could mean higher rates once the system is in place. But, ICBC says, the new system would also reward the estimated two-thirds of people in the province who have a clean, crash-free driving record by giving them cheaper rates.

Red Light Camera Coming Vernon Gets Just One

Betty Selin 1/12/2011 105.7 SUNFM:

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The province is spending 23-million dollars  putting in 140 red light cameras, but Vernon is only getting one.  ICBC Stats show between 2002 and 2008, the intersection of Hwy 97 and 43rd Avenue saw 27 accidents per year, with a total 74 people injured.  That is the only intersection in Vernon getting a new digital camera.  A ticket will cost you 167-dollars.

Is it time to require bicycle licences and insurance?

Vancouver Sun Don Cayo September 29, 2010
 Vancouver drivers’ biggest beef with cyclists seems to be that too many are scofflaws who are hardly ever held accountable for what they do or don’t do on the road. I take their point. Few statistics are kept, but anecdotal evidence abounds.

Cycling infractions — zooming onto a sidewalk, even a crowded one, or drifting through red lights or stop signs — seem to me to be roughly as common as car drivers who habitually speed. In other words, it may be unfair to blame them all, but I see plenty of bad eggs everywhere.  So, while I stand by my weekend analysis in The Vancouver Sun showing no credible case for charging cyclists more to ride the roads — or even for their new exclusive bike lanes — there may still be a case for licensing them. It could be a long overdue tool to hold offenders accountable. Steve Martin, the province’s superintendent of motor vehicles, has reservations about licensing cyclists. He questions whether it’s smart to put roadblocks in the way of a transportation mode that city governments are trying to foster. But it seems to me that, to the extent these efforts to foster cycling succeed, the problem will get worse, not better.
Vancouver city police did not have statistics, but Const. Greg Perry told me they do get called to periodic serious incidents — mostly bike-pavement or bike-car mishaps, but also bike-bike, Bike-pedestrian and even bike-building crashes.Police also get calls about such events but arrive to find that everyone — rider, driver and any witnesses — has left.

ICBC keeps stats only on bike collisions that also involve cars and are reported and investigated, but I found the numbers revealing. In 1,200 such accidents last year — down slightly from the five-year average — the car drivers were found solely responsible for just over half, not liable at all for 350, and partly liable for the rest. ICBC didn’t keep figures on the liability of the cyclists, but it’s reasonable to infer that, in most cases, the rider was generally responsible for the portion of any accident that wasn’t the driver’s fault. (more)
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So maybe it’s time to start requiring registration, with a unique licence number displayed prominently on the bike or on the rider’s helmet. And to require proof of homeowner’s or other insurance as well.

Most stolen vehicles targeted in local program

August 31, 2010 Kelowna Capital News:

A successful Lower Mainland auto crime prevention project is being expanded to the Okanagan and is targeting the most stolen vehicles in B.C.—Ford F-Series trucks. ICBC’s program offers a free electronic immobilizer, up to a value of $175 (including installation and tax), to owners of 1999 to 2007 F250 and F350 trucks in Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon.

“In addition to being the most stolen vehicle in our province, the average repair cost for a stolen Ford F-Series truck is more than twice that of the average stolen vehicle in B.C.,” said Nicolas Jimenez, ICBC’s director of road safety. “Immobilizers are the best protection against auto theft— making a vehicle virtually impossible to steal—and we’re confident this project will help continue the downward trend in auto theft.” For more information on anti-theft devices and optional insurance discounts, visit icbc.com.