Decrease in vehicle crashes called good sign
Although collisions in Red Deer decreased six per cent in 2010, from 2009, the city still averaged more than 10 collisions per day.
The recently released 2010 traffic collision report showed there were 3,897 reported motor vehicle collisions on public streets and in public parking lots in the city.
This is down from the reported 4,142 in 2009.
City traffic engineer Micky Szeto said the decrease in collisions is a good sign.
“Most traffic collision are preventable and it is important that our citizens understand the role we all play in traffic safety,” said Szeto.
The most common type of collision was of the rear-end variety, which accounted for 23 per cent of collisions.
The second most commonly reported collision was backing into another vehicle, at 20 per cent.
“Now we know what areas we need to focus more attention on to reduce collisions and keep our roads safe,” said Szeto.
One area there was an increase in 2010 was in fatalities. In 2009, there were no fatalities while in 2010 there were four. In 2008, there were five reported fatalities as a result of a motor vehicle collision.
The city’s traffic safety action plan aims to reduce fatal and injury collision frequency. It has eight safety areas of emphasis, including aggressive driving, impaired driving, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, pedestrians/bicyclists, snow-related, intersection and restraint usage.
Based on the recent report, there have been not been reductions in restraint usage and pedestrians/bicyclists, but there have been reductions in other types of collisions.
The city and the RCMP are setting up a traffic safety working committee with the Engineering Services Department, with a goal of further reducing traffic collisions through enforcement, education and engineering principles.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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