Vehicle crashes in Red Deer have dropped by 23 per cent over the past four years, according to recent statistics released by Allstate Canada.
Between 2015 and 2017, the city had a per capita (per 100 vehicles) collision claim frequency of 6.15 per cent. That’s down by 23 per cent from 2013 to 105, when the rate was 6.85 per cent.
That drop brought Red Deer to 62nd in Canada, up from 85th, out of 93 communities in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.
The statistics come from an analysis of Allstate’s collision claims data and the percentage is a rate of vehicles involved in collisions insured by Allstate Canada that resulted in a claim.
Sgt. Kevin Halwa, with the Red Deer RCMP traffic section, said weather plays a major role in the collisions in the city. Especially in the winter.
“If we get freezing rain, we’ll get more collisions than we would get in the middle of July,” said Halwa.
Red Deer was the ninth of 10 Alberta communities on the list, only Edmonton had a higher rate of collision claims at 6.4 per cent.
“The easiest thing to do for all drivers is to just take more time,” said Halwa. “If it normally takes you 10 minutes to commute to work in good weather, come November when it’s snowing, leave five or seven minutes earlier. That five or seven minutes earlier will prevent you from needing to rush.
“Give yourself a little more time and a little more space between vehicles.”
According to a release from Allstate Canada, the most frequent cause of collisions in Alberta are with parked vehicles, followed by rear-end crashes. The day of the year with the most collision claims is Christmas Eve.
Spruce Grove was the Alberta community with the lowest frequency of collision claims at 3.79 per cent while Lethbridge and Medicine Hat were second and third, with rates of 3.86 per cent and 3.99 per cent respectively.
Hanmer, Ontario, which is near Sudbury, led the study with a 3.65 per cent claims rate. At the other end of the scale, Halifax had the highest rate of claims at 7.9 per cent.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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