The number of motor vehicle accidents in a region is a measure of how safe or unsafe residents are on the roads in an area.
The Regional Niagara Road Safety Committee (RNRSC) was formed in 2003, after a community forum to address community concerns over the high number of serious and fatal motor vehicle collisions. The Think and Drive public relations and social marketing road safety campaign was launched in October of 2007. For the past 5 years, the NRPS has engaged in a dedicated effort to reduce serious traffic injury and fatalities. Through greater traffic violation enforcement initiatives, the region has seen a significant decrease in this area.
Table 6.3
|
Fatal and Life-Threatening Injury Collisions 2005-2010 Niagara Regional Police Service Data |
||||||
|
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
|
| Fatal Collisions |
28 |
32 |
32 |
27 |
25 |
14 |
| Life-Threatening Collisions |
39 |
40 |
36 |
32 |
35 |
34 |
| Total Major Collisions |
67 |
72 |
68 |
59 |
60 |
48 |
| # of Deceased |
30 |
32 |
33 |
29 |
27 |
14 |
Table 6.4 Motor vehicle Collisions, Fatalities and Injuries / Number of Motor Vehicle Registrations
2005 and 2008
| Place of Collision | Total Collisions2005 | Total Collisions 2008 | Persons Killed 2005 | Persons Killed 2008 | Persons Injured 2005 | Persons Injured 2008 |
| Niagara | 7,810 | 7,104 | 26 | 29 | 2,267 | 1,697 |
| Ottawa | 14,801 | 15,593 | 28 | 31 | 4,209 | 4,098 |
| Sudbury | 3,234 | 3,884 | 14 | 16 | 1,269 | 1,132 |
| Toronto | 53,480 | 56,273 | 72 | 64 | 19,264 | 17,136 |
| ONTARIO | 230,258 | 229,196 | 766 | 631 | 71,850 | 62,743 |
| Source: Ontario Safety Report | ||||||
In 2005, Niagara had a lower overall rate of accidents per vehicle registration than that of Ontario and an overall reduction in accident rates: 12% between 2002 and 2008. Niagara has experienced a 47.7% reduction in injuries sustained as a result of motor vehicle collisions which is continuing into 2011.
Source: Niagara Police Service Report.
Motor vehicle collisions and fatalities:
- In Niagara, motor vehicle collisions are one of the main causes of preventable injury. In Niagara, falls are the number one cause of injury for those ages 0-14 and over 60, while motor vehicle collisions was highest for 15-59 year olds. Source: Think and Drive Niagara Region.
According to a Report on Injuries in Niagara (2009):
- All age groups, except 15-19 year olds report falls as one of the top 5 priorities
- Injury from car crashes – 4 of 5 age groups reported it as the top 5 (15-19 year olds and 20-59 year olds report it as the number 1 priority).
- Violence, hurt by object, poisoning and self-harm are other areas identified by all age groups.
- 5-14 year olds report injury from off-road vehicles as one of the top 5 injury priority areas.
In a study conducted by NRPS on perceptions of the public, the percent of drivers in each age group who thought Niagara had a higher serious crash rate than other regions were as follows:
Source: Niagara Regional Police Service
