sa国际传媒淭o be honest, it pisses me offsa国际传媒�.

Those are the words of a former client who continues to live with neck symptoms years after a sa国际传媒渕inorsa国际传媒� rear-end collision.

Neck symptoms werensa国际传媒檛 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: sa国际传媒渋t wasnsa国际传媒檛 a big dealsa国际传媒�, and sa国际传媒渆veryone is okaysa国际传媒� 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. Itsa国际传媒檚 not until the next morning when you can barely move your neck.

Her friendsa国际传媒檚 focus was on how sa国际传媒渟uper gratefulsa国际传媒� 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 sa国际传媒淐laim-Rated Scalesa国际传媒� 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: sa国际传媒淚t seems strange that our society is set up to make it easy on people to smash their cars into each other.sa国际传媒�

Indeed.

Her friendsa国际传媒檚 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 sa国际传媒渃rashsa国际传媒�.

The sa国际传媒渁t faultsa国际传媒� driver is rarely injured. Spring loaded bumper technology helps soften the landing. That same technology causes added acceleration to the innocent victimsa国际传媒檚 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. Howsa国际传媒檚 that for a powerful thought!

Your liability insurance would pay for your victimsa国际传媒檚 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 yousa国际传媒檙e going to be sa国际传媒渙ut of pocketsa国际传媒� the thousands of dollars of repair expense?

Itsa国际传媒檚 ideas like this that would have the benefit of reducing crashes while greatly easing the burden on ICBC.

Heresa国际传媒檚 another idea: get rid of sa国际传媒渇ree crashessa国际传媒�. 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 sa国际传媒渃rash-freesa国际传媒� drivers sa国际传媒渇ree crashessa国际传媒�.

The foundation for these ideas is that crashes are caused by inattention and other negligent driving. They donsa国际传媒檛 sa国际传媒渏ust happensa国际传媒� except in the rarest of circumstances. In those rare circumstances, you wouldnsa国际传媒檛 be sa国际传媒渁t faultsa国际传媒� and would be fully protected if either of these ideas were implemented.

Is ICBC listening?