Traffic-related fatalities hit historic low
Earlier this year, Transport Canada revealed some heartening findings that were almost 60 years in the making – traffic-related fatalities have reached their lowest ebb since the early 1950s.
Basing the numbers on 2008, the latest year for which data is available, the Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics report found there were 12 percent fewer deaths in 2008 than the previous year. This makes it likely that the Government will reach its goal of reducing traffic-related fatalities by 30 percent.
Chuck Strahl, former Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, was pleased with the study's findings, but said more could be done.
"The decline in deaths from road collisions is very encouraging, but the number of people affected is still too high," Strahl said. "Everyone has a role to play for improving road safety. Canadians can take simple actions and decisions to make our roads safer."
Thanks to the Government’s Road Safety Strategy and improved vehicle safety, Transport Canada believes traffic-related fatalities will decline further in the coming years.
Should the downward trend continue, group auto insurance rates may follow suit, as companies take accident victim rates into account when assessing premiums.