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President’s Perspective
Researchers and advocates often measure road safety progress in terms of deaths per population or kilometers driven.
Canada
’s road safety record continues to improve decade after decade. The average number of fatalities for the most recent ten-year period was 24 per cent lower than the 1986 – 1995 average. In 2005 (most recent statistics), there was a slight (0.4 per cent) increase in casualty collisions from 2004. There were 2,925 road user fatalities in 2005, a 7.3 per cent increase over the 2004 total of 2,725. Over the 1998 – 2005 period, fatalities fluctuated from a low of 2,725 in 2004 to a high of 2,985 in 1999. In 2005, there were 1,613 fewer road related injuries, a 0.8 per cent decrease.
The annual changes in these figures may be due in part to changes in vehicular traffic, such as the number of vehicle registrations (up 1.4 per cent in 2005) and vehicle/kilometers traveled (up 1.1 per cent). The casualty collision rate in 2005 was 48.2 per 100 million vehicle/kilometers traveled, down 0.4 points from the 2004 rate of 48.6. The longer-term downward trend in fatalities and total injuries –– 426 fewer fatalities and 31,325 fewer injuries in 2005 than in 1995 –– has helped reduce the estimated annual social cost to Canadians of up to $25 billion. While the rate of 1.5 fatalities per 10,000 motor vehicle registrations in 2005 was up 0.1 points over the 2004 rate (itself the lowest rate in the past 10 years and since the 1950s), it is still much lower than the 1.8 rate in 1996 and the 2.3 average for the 1986 – 1995 ten-year period.
Despite our 2010 Road Safety Vision and progress, collisions are still occurring in predictable ways. They are not random or inevitable, and we are not helpless to prevent them. Progress has happened because vehicles are made safer with new technologies. Legislation that is consistently enforced makes a difference. Highways designed to be more forgiving also contribute to motor vehicle collision reductions. We need to evaluate new emerging technologies in all of these areas. We need to learn and practice defensive driving techniques. We need to ensure that education on the dangers of distracted driving is at the forefront and clearly understood by the motoring public.
Since we know we can, we really should do all possible to prevent motor vehicle collisions and fatalities. Working together we can all make a difference and strive at making
Canada
's roads the safest in the world,
Until next time,
Safety, It’s an Attitude
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