Beyond 2001

• Road Safety - Still a Critical Problem
• Road Safety Vision 2010: Canada's Successor Plan
• National Target and Sub-Targets
• The Decade Ahead

Road Safety: Still a Critical Problem in Canada

While considerable improvements in road safety have been made, the casualty figures are a grim reminder of the task before us:

Among the 2,969 road users that were killed and 17,500 that were seriously injured in traffic collisions during 1999:

• alcohol was a factor in more than 1,200 fatalities and more than 3,600 serious injuries;
• almost 900 deaths and more than 2,900 serious injuries were attributed to motorists who weren't wearing seat belts;
• approximately 800 road users died and almost 7,500 were seriously injured in collisions at intersections;
• excessive speed contributed to crashes that caused 500 deaths and 2,000 serious injuries; and
• approximately 1,500 motorists were killed and almost 7,400 seriously injured in crashes on rural roads.

It must be noted that crashes often result from a combination of factors. For example, non-use of seat belts and excessive speed are often cited as contributing factors in alcohol-related fatalities. As a result of this double counting, the sum of the above-mentioned figures exceeds the actual number of national fatalities and serious injuries.

Road Safety Vision 2010:  Canada's Successor Plan

In October 2000, the Council of Ministers responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety adopted an ambitious extension to the Road Safety Vision initiative. Road Safety Vision 2010 will retain the goal and the strategic priorities of the inaugural program but will also feature a national target for fatality and serious injury reductions as well as an increased number of sub-targets. It is hoped these targets will foster increased stakeholder commitment and new initiatives to help reduce fatalities and meet target objectives.

The National Target

The national target calls for a 30% decrease in the average number of road users killed and seriously injured during the 2008-2010 period (compared to 1996-2001).

Sub-Targets

The sub-targets focus on areas where the largest numbers of serious casualties occur and where the greatest potential for reductions exists. They include:

• minimum seat belt wearing rates of 95% and proper use of child restraints by all motor vehicle occupants. This enhanced target will now apply to all motor vehicle occupants rather than to passenger vehicle occupants alone (the original target of the National Occupant Restraint Program 2001 initiative).
   
• a 40% decrease in the number of unbelted fatally or seriously injured occupants. While annual seat belt use surveys suggest that nine of ten Canadians wear seat belts on a regular basis, almost 40% of occupants killed and 20% of those seriously injured had not buckled up.

• a 40% decrease in the percentage of road users fatally or seriously injured in crashes involving alcohol. Driving after drinking is no longer socially acceptable. Increased enforcement, stiffer penalties and focused awareness campaigns have had some success in deterring hard-core drinking drivers.

• a 20% reduction in the percentage of road users killed or seriously injured in speed- and intersection-related crashes. Approximately one in four road user fatalities occurs in an intersection-related crash. Practices such as excessive speed and running red lights are often cited as contributing factors.
   
• a 20% decrease in the percentage of drivers who commit three high-risk driving infractions (two if they are alcohol-related) within a two-year time frame. In an effort to curtail this behaviour, road safety stakeholders in all jurisdictions are introducing measures to identify drivers who drink and drive regularly, do not wear seat belts, speed, run red lights and commit other dangerous driving infractions. It is hoped that these high-risk driver profiles will facilitate the development and introduction of successful interventions.

a 20% decrease in the number of young drivers/riders (those aged 16-19 years) killed or seriously injured in crashes. Despite the introduction of graduated licensing schemes in many jurisdictions, young drivers are still over-represented in the statistics for serious crashes. Although they account for less than 5% of the licensed driver population, they represent almost 9% of drivers killed and more than 11% of those seriously injured.

• a 20% decrease in the number of road users killed or seriously injured in crashes involving commercial vehicles. The National Safety Code standards form the basis for commercial bus and truck safety in Canada. These standards, which address issues such as cargo securement, hours of service for drivers and carrier safety ratings, have served to offset the substantial increase in commercial truck activity over the past five years, so that fatalities and serious injuries involving these vehicles have remained relatively constant. Still, approximately 600 road users die and almost 1,800 are seriously injured every year in crashes involving commercial carriers. Most of these victims were in passenger vehicles, not in the commercial vehicles. Initiatives that focus on educating motorists on safe vehicle operation near commercial carriers are being considered.
   
• a 30% decrease in the number of vulnerable road users (pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists) killed or seriously injured. Although vulnerable road users annually account for more than 600 fatalities and 3,500 seriously injured road users, national initiatives aimed at making travel safer for these road users do not currently exist.
   
• a 40% decrease in the number of road users fatally or seriously injured on rural roadways. Almost half of all fatalities and approximately 40% of all serious injuries occur on rural roadways with posted speed limits of 80-90 km/h. Increased education and awareness of rural road safety issues, improvements in road and vehicle design, enhancements to emergency medical services as well as targeted enforcement will all figure prominently in reducing casualties on rural roadways.

In addition to the introduction of the new quantitative targets, the successor plan also recommends the adoption of graduated licensing schemes, innovative community policing protocols, and public education campaigns to promote safe cycling. The plan also calls for improvements in the capture and linkage of data on crashes and exposure.

While the targets focus primarily on road users, improving Canada's overall level of road safety will also require improvements to vehicles and to road networks. Efforts by vehicle and road safety experts will have a strong impact on the degree of success achieved by Road Safety Vision 2010.

Current efforts by Transport Canada to improve motor vehicle safety regulations focus on frontal-crash and lateral-impact protection, commercial trailer rear underride safety, new child seat attachment requirements and bus occupant protection.

Technological advancements that improve the safety of motor vehicle operation and help motorists avoid collisions are also beginning to enter the marketplace. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) that make use of on-board computers can activate brakes, steering and throttle without driver input. Advanced systems such as adaptive cruise control and night vision are currently offered on some new models. The next generation of systems will include adaptive lane-departure warning and control and obstacle avoidance devices. All these developments have the potential to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes in the future.

Recent revisions to the Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads, which incorporates explicit safety considerations into road design, will make roads safer to travel on.

Within the framework of the Transportation Association of Canada, national guidelines are currently being developed for road safety audits, a management process that ensures that all safety issues are addressed during the design phase. Guidelines are also being developed for continuous rumble strips - grooved patterns stamped into the edge of the asphalt - which alert drivers that  Guidelines on road resurfacing, they are about to leave the roadway. rehabilitation, restoration and reconstruction (3R/4R) are also being developed to enhance the safety of existing roads. Future efforts to make roads safer will exploit advanced technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to incorporate more precise crash site information into the design process.

The Decade Ahead

Canadian road safety stakeholders face a significant challenge in meeting these targets, though recent trends offer encouragement. Fatalities fell by 29% between 1987-1989 and 1997-1999. The establishment of targets has proven effective in many countries, most notably Australia and Great Britain. These countries, which have recently established new goals, have seen the benefits that often flow from targets: enhanced collaboration, broader public acceptance, increased political commitment, more effective programs and, ultimately, substantially reduced fatalities and serious injuries.

Initiatives carried out in support of the four strategic priorities of Road Safety Vision 2001 not only resulted in reductions in the number of fatalities and injuries, but also served to heighten awareness of key road safety issues among stakeholders as well as the general public. Making Canada's roads the safest in the world is an ambitious but well justified goal, given the enormous societal costs that road crashes impose on Canadians. The targets supporting Road Safety Vision 2010, although equally ambitious, can be achieved through the enhancement of successful existing programs and the development and implementation of new measures which focus on the areas of greatest concern.

A new time frame has been established for the Vision. The targets have been set. Now is the time for all road safety stakeholders to renew our efforts to make Canada's roads the safest in the world.

To find out more about national road safety programs and initiatives, call Transport Canada toll free at 1-800-333-0371 or (613) 998-8616 if you are calling from the Ottawa area, or e-mail comments or questions to roadsafetywebmail@tc.gc.ca.