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Transport Canada - Road Safety

RSV 2010 - 2001 Update
• Table of contents
• Background
• Overview
• Canada and the World
• Targets and Action Plan
   
   
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Canada and the World

International Comparisons

Why do some countries consistently rank at or near the top of all statistics used to make international comparisons of road safety? Certainly, diverse characteristics - country size, population density, economic conditions, road infrastructure, public transport usage, culture, travel patterns and climate - all contribute in varying degrees to the level of safety on a country’s roads. But the large majority of the world’s "safest" countries have developed national initiatives that focus on very similar road safety problems.

These national road safety plans, as well as the degree to which the general population embraces the range of strategies that support them, must also play an important role in determining why these countries consistently have better road safety records than others.
Demographic factors as well as the level of a nation’s commitment to make its roads safer are major determinants of a country’s international ranking.

Most countries with top-ranked road safety records have adopted ambitious
long-term targets to spearhead road safety intervention efforts.

Like most other highly developed countries, Canada dramatically improved its level of road safety from the early 1970s until the late 1990s. And although progress in Canada and the rest of the world’s safest countries has slowed somewhat in recent years, the Canadian public continues to travel on roads that are becoming increasingly safe. Twenty-five years ago, Canada’s traffic fatality rate (based on population) was 30% worse than the median fatality rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. Today the Canadian rate is slightly better than the OECD median figure.

Canadians are among the most mobile people in the world. More than seven of every ten driver-age citizens own a vehicle and more than eight of every ten persons of legal driving age possess a valid driver’s licence. This high level of mobility, combined with far-reaching boundaries and an extremely low population density, has made personal vehicle use in Canada among the highest in the world.

For this reason, comparing fatality rates per kilometre of travel is the most appropriate and valid measure available to compare Canada’s level of road safety with rates in the world’s other safest nations. In 2000, Canada ranked 5th among OECD member countries, with a death rate of 9.37 per billion kilometres travelled. This ranking represents a substantial improvement over 1999, when Canada ranked 7th. The Canadian road safety community is certainly moving in the right direction; but the world’s leading country, Great Britain, still has a fatality rate that is more than 20% lower than Canada’s. Continued efforts must be made to promote successful existing strategies and introduce targeted initiatives.
Although the pace of improvement has slowed somewhat in recent years, Canada’s level of road safety continues to compare favourably with the rest of the world.

In 2000, Canada's fatality rate was 5th lowest among OECD member countries.


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Tables and Graphs

Principal Road Safety Strategies/Initiatives Among
Leading OECD Member Countries

Strategy/Initiative

GB

S

FIN

NL

CDN

USA

AUS

N

CH

D

J

Road Safety Vision

 

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

 

National Road Safety Targets

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

X

Impaired driving Measures

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

Occupant Protection Initiatives

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

X

X

X

Traffic Calming Measures

X

X

X

X

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

Vulnerable Road User Initiatives

X

X

X

X

 

X

X

 

X

X

X

Speed-Related Measures

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

 

 

Community-Based Programs

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

 

 

 

Infrastructure Initiatives

X

X

X

X

 

X

X

X

X

X

X

Intelligent Transportation Systems

 

X

 

X

X

X

X

 

 

X

X

Safer Vehicle Design

X

X

 

 

X

X

X

 

 

X

X

Targeted Research Programs

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Encouragement of Alternatives to Motor Vehicle Use

X

 

X

X

 

X

X

 

X

 

 

Increased/Enhanced Enforcement

X

 

X

X

X

 

X

X

X

X

X

Driver Training/Testing

X

 

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Public Education Initiatives

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Note: GB = Great Britain; S = Sweden; FIN = Finland; NL = the Netherlands; CDN = Canada; USA = the United States; AUS = Australia; N = Norway; CH = Switzerland; D = Germany; and J = Japan
 

Traffic Fatality Rate Per 100,000 Population - Canada
Versus Other OECD Member Countries
Graph - Fatality Rate (per 100,000 population)
 

Road Users Killed Per Billion Vehicle Kilometres Travelled -
Selected OECD Member Countries, 2000
Graph - Killed/Billion Vehicle Kilometres Travelled


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Long-standing Obstacles to Safer Travel

Canada, like many advanced countries, has made precipitous gains in road safety during the past 30 years. These improvements were achieved as a result of initiatives that addressed the most obvious problem areas - non-use of seat belts or child restraints, drinking and driving, and other high-risk behaviour such as speeding and aggressive driving.
Drinking and driving, non-use of seat belts and excessive or unsafe speed - these continue to be the main factors that contribute to deaths and injuries on our roadways.

Notwithstanding the success of these initiatives, many of the problems that were present when Canada’s fatality rate was at or near its peak are still evident today. Although 90% of the population uses restraint systems, almost 40% of vehicle occupants killed in crashes are still unrestrained. Many of these same individuals had been drinking, as alcohol was cited as a contributing factor among one-third of all fatally injured drivers.

Excess or unsafe speeds continue to be cited as a contributing factor among more than 15% of fatally injured road users. Crashes at intersections, which involve a combination of factors - including a growing number of drivers who disobey traffic signals - contribute to 25% of fatalities annually. And while the large majority of Canada’s population lives in urban areas, approximately half of all fatalities still occur on undivided rural roads. Many of the factors cited above, as well as road design, higher posted speed limits and emergency medical response time, often contribute to serious casualties on rural roads.

The above-mentioned problem areas are the main reasons why more than 2,900 people died in crashes on Canadian roads in 2000. Until all forms of high-risk road user behaviour become unacceptable to Canadians, progress toward our Road Safety Vision 2010 objectives will be difficult.

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