Alberta already has sky-high car insurance rates. Will 120 km/h speed limits send premiums higher?
CBC
Vehicle insurance companies are going to keep a close watch on whether the Alberta government keeps driving forward with a proposal to increase some highway speed limits to 120 km/h.
The province has launched an online survey about increasing the speed limit on upwards of 2,150 kilometres of divided highways in different parts of Alberta. The survey also asks which of the highways should be prioritized for faster speeds.
The government plans to begin a trial after the survey closes on Dec. 12.
The proposed speed limit change comes at a time when Alberta already has among the highest insurance premiums in the country.
In recent years, insurance providers have struggled with unprofitability, leading several companies to withdraw from the province.
There are many factors that contribute to the cost of insurance, including the amount and severity of collisions.
Increased speed limits won’t necessarily translate into higher insurance premiums, but speeding is a main factor in many crashes.
“If this was to have a direct correlation, I think then, yes, it could have an impact on increased premiums for consumers,” said Matt Dillon, an executive vice-president with Surex, an online insurance broker.
“If it's any factor that attributes to increased frequency of claims or severity of claims, it’s ultimately going to have a price adjustment passed on to the consumer."
Speed limits above 120 km/h exist in other parts of the world, including in the United States and Europe.
In Canada, there is only one stretch of roadway with a speed limit of 120 km/h — on the Coquihalla Highway between Kamloops and Hope, B.C.
In 2014, British Columbia initially raised the speed limit to 120 km/h on three major multi-lane highways, while also increasing the speed limit on 30 other sections of highway. Many of those changes were rolled back in 2018 after serious and fatal crashes.
The number of fatal crashes jumped by 118 per cent, injury claims with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) rose by 30 per cent, and total insurance claims went up by 43 per cent, according to research published by professors at the University of British Columbia in 2018.
The ICBC website describes speeding as the top contributing factor to vehicle crash fatalities in B.C.
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