What’s new: In brief (January 19, 2005)

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says if police in all U.S. states were allowed to stop drivers not wearing a seatbelt, 700 lives per year would probably be saved. Currently only 21 states and the District of Columbia have so-called “primary stop” laws, while in other states police can only issue a seatbelt ticket after stopping a vehicle for another infraction. The IIHS says in states with primary stop laws, driver deaths are reduce 7%, and seatbelt use increases.

B.C.-based technology provider MacDonald, Dettweiler & Assoc. (MDA) has created online brush and forest fire hazard identification solutions for p&c insurers writing cover in California and the Western U.S. The underwriting program includes structure information as well as information about land slope, roads and vegetation taken from satellite imagery.

The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) has announced its course/workshop offerings for the first half of 2005. Along with several U.S. programs, two workshops will be held in Canada: “Enterprise Risk Management” in Regina, SK, March 7-8; and “Disaster Planning/Business Continuity Planning and Management” in Toronto, ON, March 21-22. For more information on the courses, visit www.rims.org/education.