Vision 2001 at Work

Since Vision 2001 was adopted, a plethora of road safety initiatives ranging from the national to community level have been initiated. Most efforts have been directed toward major safety issues — the non-use of seat belts and drinking and driving — and, to a lesser extent, toward vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians.

Two of the major national Vision 2001 thrusts are the National Occupant Restraint Program 2001 (NORP 2001), with a goal to get 95 percent of motorists to wear seat belts and properly restrain their children by 2001; and the Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving 2001 (STRID 2001), which aims for 20 percent fewer road users to be killed or seriously injured in alcohol-related crashes in 2001, compared with the average 1990-1995 baseline period. These umbrella programs encompass some of the initiatives described on the following pages.

Other successful ongoing jurisdictional or community-based initiatives include those focusing on deterring speeding in designated community safety zones, school bus safety, winter driving, holiday congestion, cyclists, and pedestrians.

Some of the more noteworthy initiatives that were developed or adopted during 1999 in support of the four tenets of the Vision are outlined below.

1. Increasing public awareness of road safety issues

2. Improve communication, cooperation and collaboration

3. Toughen enforcement measures

4. Improve data collection and quality

Increasing public awareness of road safety issues

To generate road safety awareness at an early age, Transport Canada and its partners produced and distributed an engaging promotional video on the proper use of child restraints. Car Time 1-2-3-4 targets both parents and children aged 12 years or under, using stand-alone segments to explain the four stages of vehicle safety for children. The video shows how and when to use rear-facing infant seats, forward-facing child seats, booster seats, and seat belts to protect children during travel. A facilitator’s guide with information on how to install and use child restraint systems is also included.

Several provinces have adopted a program for novice drivers that enables them to acquire driving skills gradually in low-risk driving situations. Called a graduated licensing system, the program was first adopted in a single Canadian province in 1994. Six provinces, encompassing more than 80 percent of the nation’s population, now require novice drivers to participate in the program.

Although the program elements vary somewhat among jurisdictions, the scheme requires apprentice drivers to follow a two-tiered licensing schedule, with built-in driving restrictions and one or more driving tests, depending on the jurisdiction, before full driving privileges are granted. The program applies to all new drivers of passenger vehicles and motorcycles.

The first stage in a graduated licensing system usually lasts between six and 12 months. Licensing conditions may include operating only a passenger vehicle; being accompanied in the front seat by a fully licensed driver with a specified minimum driving experience; driving with a zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC); respecting a night-time driving curfew; and not driving on divided highways or urban expressways.

In the second stage of a graduated system, there are still driving limitations, though less restrictive than the first stage. Drivers may be limited to operating only passenger vehicles and maintaining a zero BAC. In order to receive full driving privileges, apprentice drivers may be required to pass their second-step driving test within a maximum time period, which can last up to five years. Otherwise, they have to restart the program from the beginning.

New drivers may also be required to maintain a safe driving record for the duration of the graduated licensing program or complete a defensive driving course.

Preliminary evaluation studies conducted in some provinces with graduated licensing have shown the program to be very effective. Collision rates among novice drivers fell between 19 and 31 percent. These rates included a 24 percent decrease for crashes involving fatalities or injuries in one province. In another, fatalities fell 28 percent and injuries by 10 percent among beginner drivers.

Versions of graduated licensing programs have been implemented in New Zealand and Australia. Switzerland is currently introducing the program for new drivers.

Almost half of unbelted drivers who died in crashes were ejected from their vehicles. During Operation Impact, front-line police officers help the public understand that seat belts save lives.

The 10 percent of motorists who refuse to buckle up account for 40 percent of all occupants killed and 21 percent of those seriously injured.

Operation Impact is a national one-day traffic safety initiative sponsored by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP). Begun in 1990, more than 220 police forces across the country now participate. During the 1999 Operation Impact, national, provincial and municipal police forces held a one-day blitz in which almost 350,000 motorists were stopped and checked for non-use of seat belts and, in some instances, tested for alcohol use.

The principal thrust of Operation Impact is to enable front line police officers to raise awareness of the risks of not wearing seat belts and of drinking and driving. In many jurisdictions, Operation Impact is also the start of more extensive education and enforcement campaigns targeting non-wearers of restraints. In preparation, police officers are provided with helpful risk-related information to deliver to motorists. This year, the key message focused on recent research showing that 40 percent of all fatally injured occupants were not wearing seat belts.

This year, the CACP also produced a nationally televised video called Behind the Badge, outlining the Operation Impact objectives and principal messages. The initiative received extensive national and local media coverage.

An on-line database spreads the word of winning traffic safety initiatives, all developed by police officers.

Transport Canada, in partnership with the CACP and other public agencies, has created an on-line Traffic Safety Best Practices Data Base. The database, housed on Transport Canada’s Road Safety web site (www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety), contains a broad range of outstanding community-based traffic safety strategies, all developed by police officers. These on-line strategies give Canada’s police community and other road safety stakeholders easy access to proven problem-solving techniques.

Improve communication, cooperation and collaboration

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), with the assistance of Transport Canada and in partnership with transport, health and regional agencies from the province of Alberta, are jointly involved in a pilot study called the Community Policing Project. The primary objective of this initiative is to develop, implement and evaluate a community policing protocol that will enhance the quality of traffic policing. If successful, this program will be used as a template in other jurisdictions.

In 1998, as a preamble to this project, the RCMP established a new mission statement - to "improve public safety on our highways." Front-line officers involved in the study have been educated about the nature and consequences of high-risk driving behavior, and the utility of traffic collision data in problem-solving and in measuring performance.

A rural seat belt use survey was carried out as part of the pilot project. Both the RCMP and community volunteers participated to establish baseline data necessary to plan effective programs to increase seat belt use.

The Community Policing Project has the potential to change the way police in communities do their work - the data collection process is being revised; focus groups involving front-line police officers and other road safety stakeholders are being established; resources are being realigned to provide more focused enforcement; and training modules and performance measures are being developed. It is anticipated this project will enable police forces and road safety stakeholders to work as partners, identifying and resolving road safety problems consistent with community priorities.

Provinces and territories use the 15 standards of the National Safety Code(NSC) as the national template for regulating truck and bus safety.

It is anticipated that the safety performance of commercial vehicle transportation will be further strengthened by recent and proposed changes to several National Safety Code standards:

• A new North American cargo-securement standard that aims to reduce the incidence of shifting or falling loads.

• Proposed revisions to the basic elements of the commercial vehicle drivers hours of service regime. Upon final approval of the revised NSC standard, changes to the federal and provincial/territorial regulations will be considered.

• Amendments to the Motor Vehicle Transport Act that include safety fitness provisions founded on the new NSC standard — safety ratings. This standard ascribes a safety performance rating to every commercial bus and truck carrier. Also under revision is the companion NSC standard pertaining to facility audits — the examination of motor carriers’ safety practices and record keeping.

Toughen enforcement measures

Some noteworthy initiatives introduced or enhanced in various jurisdictions during 1999 include administrative driver license suspensions. These suspensions are used for drivers who are charged with, but not yet convicted of, driving over the legal blood alcohol limit. Effective suspension dates range from immediately at the roadside to three months, depending on the jurisdiction.

Other counter-impairment initiatives include:

• A program of immediate vehicle impoundment for suspended drivers caught driving; and

• A drug recognition program that involves specialized training for police officers to enable them to recognize drivers who are drug impaired.

Some jurisdictions have also introduced cameras at busy intersections to deter drivers from running red lights. Others discourage speeding by using photo radar and increasing police visibility in urban community safety zones or on roads where high numbers of serious collisions occur.

In 1999, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights held public hearings across Canada and issued a report outlining several recommendations aimed at further deterring drivers from drinking and driving. Many of the principal recommendations of the report were subsequently passed into law. These included increasing penalties and sentencing options in the Criminal Code and raising the maximum penalty for impaired driving causing death to life imprisonment.

Improve data collection and quality

In 1999, Statistics Canada conducted the first Canadian Vehicle Use Survey on behalf of Transport Canada to obtain annual estimates of the amount of road travel in this country. The survey, which will be undertaken annually, includes data on the annual number of kilometres driven by all major vehicle types; age and gender of drivers; number of passengers carried; time of day and season; types of road travelled; and volume and types of goods that commercial vehicles transport.

The survey information will be used to monitor vehicle-use changes over time, as well as to monitor how vehicle use affects safety, fuel consumption and the environment. Survey results will also provide risk management indicators to help develop more informed safety initiatives and policies. More accurate interprovincial and international road safety comparisons will also be possible from previously unavailable national vehicle kilometrage data.

In partnership with selected provincial governments, public insurance companies and police agencies, Transport Canada is conducting a feasibility study of a computer- and communications-based system called the System for Technological Applications in Road Safety (STARS). This multifaceted technological platform has many potential uses, including the automated on-site collection of all traffic collision data; access to licence, registration and insurance files; ticketing and on-site collection of fines using bank credit cards; and scheduling court appearances.

Researchers are continually attempting to make motor vehicles safer by developing new, or revising existing, safety regulations.
  

Canadian and U.S. standards have resulted in most newer vehicles being equipped with redesigned front seat air bags that have a lower inflation force. Transport Canada researchers are also working with American and European officials to develop a side-impact testing procedure that would use an instrumented dummy that is accepted worldwide.

The rapidly changing composition of Canada's motor vehicle fleet, which now includes a large number of sport utility vehicles, has spawned research to ascertain the crash compatibility of these larger vehicles with smaller cars.

Road infrastructure improvements form an integral part of the road safety equation. In 1999, the Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads was revised to incorporate safety considerations into road design, placement of new traffic signs and pavement markings.

The current focus of the newly created Road Safety Sub-Committee, which operates within the framework of the Transportation Association of Canada, is with the creation of national guidelines for road safety audits and for continuous road-shoulder rumble strips - two economical infrastructure safety measures.

Road safety audits involve the application of safety principles to the design of new or modified roads to reduce the likelihood of collisions or to decrease their severity when they do occur. Safety audit procedures have been successfully used in Great Britain, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand for several years. Pending an approval process, the national template for routine application of safety audit procedures should be available in Canada in the near future.

Rumble strips are raised or grooved patterns on the road shoulder that provide both an audible warning and physical vibration alerting drivers that they are leaving the road. Rumble strips, which have been installed on selected roadways in Canada, have proven to be inexpensive and highly effective in reducing run-off-road crashes in the United States.