含羞草研究社淭o be honest, it pisses me off含羞草研究社�.

Those are the words of a former client who continues to live with neck symptoms years after a 含羞草研究社渕inor含羞草研究社� rear-end collision.

Neck symptoms weren含羞草研究社檛 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: 含羞草研究社渋t wasn含羞草研究社檛 a big deal含羞草研究社�, and 含羞草研究社渆veryone is okay含羞草研究社� 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含羞草研究社檚 not until the next morning when you can barely move your neck.

Her friend含羞草研究社檚 focus was on how 含羞草研究社渟uper grateful含羞草研究社� 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 含羞草研究社淐laim-Rated Scale含羞草研究社� 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: 含羞草研究社淚t seems strange that our society is set up to make it easy on people to smash their cars into each other.含羞草研究社�

Indeed.

Her friend含羞草研究社檚 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 含羞草研究社渃rash含羞草研究社�.

The 含羞草研究社渁t fault含羞草研究社� driver is rarely injured. Spring loaded bumper technology helps soften the landing. That same technology causes added acceleration to the innocent victim含羞草研究社檚 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含羞草研究社檚 that for a powerful thought!

Your liability insurance would pay for your victim含羞草研究社檚 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含羞草研究社檙e going to be 含羞草研究社渙ut of pocket含羞草研究社� the thousands of dollars of repair expense?

It含羞草研究社檚 ideas like this that would have the benefit of reducing crashes while greatly easing the burden on ICBC.

Here含羞草研究社檚 another idea: get rid of 含羞草研究社渇ree crashes含羞草研究社�. 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 含羞草研究社渃rash-free含羞草研究社� drivers 含羞草研究社渇ree crashes含羞草研究社�.

The foundation for these ideas is that crashes are caused by inattention and other negligent driving. They don含羞草研究社檛 含羞草研究社渏ust happen含羞草研究社� except in the rarest of circumstances. In those rare circumstances, you wouldn含羞草研究社檛 be 含羞草研究社渁t fault含羞草研究社� and would be fully protected if either of these ideas were implemented.

Is ICBC listening?