Canada’s insurers could face higher costs from distracted driving

Costs to Canadian insurance companies from accidents and injuries caused by distracted driving could reach $159 million by 2030, according to an analysis from financial products comparison site Hellosafe.ca.

The analysis explored two scenarios, an optimistic 2% annual increase in distracted driving-related collisions and a more pessimistic 5% increase.

The first predicts distracted driving will end up costing $122.3 million by 2030, a $20 million cost hike for car insurance companies compared with 2021. The second sees a jump to $158.7 million by 2030, or $55.7 million more than 2021.

Hellosafe noted 270 Canadian drivers die every year because of distracted driving and that of the 1,762 people who died on the roads in 2019, distracted driving accounted for 21%, or 370, of those deaths.

Among Canada’s four biggest provinces, British Columbia ranks highest with 27% of road fatalities attributable to distracted driving. Alberta is next with 24.9%, followed by 14.75% in Ontario and 13.8% in Quebec. All statistics are for 2019.

Feature image via iStock.com/Marc Dufresne