Drivers and passengers at risk

Seventy-five percent of road user fatalities are occupants of motor vehicles. Drivers accounted for 52 percent and passengers 23 percent. The next largest road user class, in terms of fatalities, was pedestrians at 12 percent. Even though motor vehicle occupants make up the largest percentage of road fatalities, they are not the most vulnerable road users. Those road users not protected by a passenger compartment are most vulnerable - pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists.

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Two-thirds of Canada’s road victims are male

Although 53 percent of Canada’s licensed drivers were male in 2001, 69 percent of fatalities were male. The proportion of males and females injured was split evenly at 50/50 corresponding very closely with the percentage of male and female drivers.

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Patterns are shifting, but young drivers are still vulnerable.

Compared to the overall population of licensed drivers in each age group, drivers 34 and under (15-19, 20-24 and 25-34) were over-represented in collisions resulting in injury and death. Although licensed drivers in the 15-19 and 20-24 age groups accounted for 5.2 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively, of all licensed drivers, their involvement in fatal collisions represented 9.4 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively, of all drivers involved in fatal collisions, and 10.3 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, of all drivers involved in injury collisions. Drivers in the 25-34 age group were also over-represented, but to a much lesser degree.

As a measure of exposure to risk, drivers involved in fatal and injury collisions are shown in the table as an involvement rate per 100,000 licensed drivers. The table below demonstrates that younger drivers 24 and under, in particular, were involved in a disproportionately higher number of casualty collisions per 100,000 licensed drivers, than the rate for all age groups in total. Conversely, drivers 35 years of age and over were involved in a disproportionately lower number of casualty collisions than the rate for all age groups in total. The total licensed drivers excludes some 6,000 drivers for whom the age was not stated. 

The following table takes the involvement rates in fatal collisions and injury collisions per 100,000 licensed drivers (from the previous table) one step further and compares the 2001 involvement rates by age group to 1999 and 2000. The most noteworthy reduction in driver involvement rates per 100,000 licensed drivers was in the 15-19 age group in fatal collisions. The involvement rate decreased from 41.7 per 100,000 licensed drivers in 1999 to 36.8 in 2000 to 31.9 in 2001. This remarkable improvement in the 15-19 age group could be the result of the implementation of graduated licensing programs in at least seven of the twelve jurisdictions included in these tables. (Nunavut was excluded from the analysis, since their data has not been received.)

It would be natural to assume that this improvement occurred as a result of major improvements in both male and female drivers. On the contrary, the major reductions from 1999 to 2001 were mainly in female drivers involved in fatal collisions. Male drivers in the 15-19 year age group involved in fatal collisions decreased from 56.1 in 1999 to 47.3 per 100,000 licensed drivers in 2001. Female drivers in the same age group involved in fatal collisions decreased from 24.6 per 100,000 licensed drivers to 14.1 in 2001. A complete table of all age groups is available on request.

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Almost all Canadians, regardless of age group, were safer on the roads

Almost all Canadians, regardless of age group, were safer on the roads, but the 45-54 age group showed an increase in the number of fatalities of 10 percent over the 10-year period. The 45-54 age group also posted a strong increase in population as mentioned previously.

All age groups under 35 years of age showed strong double-digit decreases in injuries. Injuries in all age groups over 34 years of age increased from 1992 to 2001 and increases were most notable in the 45-54, 65 and over, and unknown age groups showed increases of 22 percent, 9 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

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Commercial vehicle collisions accounted for one in five deaths

In the National Safety Code for Motor Carriers, commercial vehicle is defined as a truck, tractor, tractor-trailer, or combination thereof exceeding a registered gross weight of 4 500 kilograms; or a bus designed, constructed and used for the transportation of passengers with a designated seating capacity of more than 10, including the driver, but excluding operation for personal use.

The National Safety Code currently contains 15 standards addressing factors necessary for the safe operation of all commercial vehicles. The federal government has jurisdiction under the Motor Vehicle Transport Act, 1987 to regulate truck and bus carriers that operate beyond the limits of a province. The Act creates a framework for shared responsibility between federal and provincial governments for the safe operation of motor carriers. The provinces and territories regulate the operations of carriers within their respective jurisdictions.

Over the period 1992 to 2001, fatalities resulting from commercial vehicle collisions decreased from 587 to 548.

Commercial vehicle crashes are often deadly, and are particularly dangerous to other users of the road. Although commercial vehicles, on average, accounted for approximately 8 percent of all vehicles involved in crashes, they accounted for an average of 19 percent of all road user fatalities or one in five road fatalities in Canada.

By far the majority of victims in commercial vehicle crashes were the occupants of the other vehicles involved. In 2001, for example, crashes involving commercial vehicles killed 548 people; 426 of whom were occupants of the other vehicles involved. A report on Heavy Truck Collisions 1994-1998 (TP 2436, Fact Sheet # RS 2001-05), determined that:

‘Drivers of automobiles, light trucks and minivans were recorded as having a driver condition “other than apparently normal” 4.25 times more frequently than the drivers of heavy trucks in these (fatal) collisions.’

The report also noted that:

‘In fatal crashes, drivers of automobiles, light trucks and minivans were recorded as having a driver action “other than driving properly” 2.74 times more frequently than the drivers of heavy trucks.’

The following chart shows the percentage distribution of fatalities in collisions involving commercial vehicles in 2001.

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School bus travel is very safe

From 1992 to 2001, seven school bus occupants died in collisions - one driver and six passengers. 

Of the 38 pedestrians who died in collisions involving school buses, 26 were school-age children (less than 19 years of age). Three of the eight bicyclists who died in these collisions were also school-age children. The following chart shows the percentage distribution of fatally injured victims of collisions involving school buses.

School buses are designed and manufactured to meet many safety standards to protect the occupants from serious injuries. Safety features include: high-backed, energy-absorbing seats; anchorage of the seats; brake systems; lighting; fuel system protection; emergency exits; tires; strength of body structure; stop arms; and special mirrors.