Average of 49,000 hit and runs in BC every year: ICBC

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Have you ever come back to your car in a parking lot, only to see someone has badly scraped it and taken off?

ICBC says this province averages 49,000 hit and run claims every year, and that costs all drivers money.

Psychologist Dr. Alyson Jones says it’s part of a much larger societal problem.

“It is a statement of how we are trying to avoid responsibility and the fear of accountability,” she explains. “Even in something as horrible as a hit and run, when you stay and you make it right, you actually lift a burden off your own shoulders as opposed to running away from something and living in fear.”

John Dickinson with ICBC says the consequences if you do get caught can be much worse.

“You may think no one is looking but there are many instances where there was actually a witness,” he says.

He says it’s very frustrating for ICBC customers.

“Nobody likes a hit and run type of claim. You’re the victim and someone else has made a conscious decision to walk away and not take responsibility,” he adds.

Dickinson didn’t have information on how much it costs the corporation every year but says each person has to at least pay a deductible.

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