Manitoba’s roadways were safer this year

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This article was published 17/01/2015 (4214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s highways and rural roads were significantly safer in 2014, with a drop in the number of people killed in vehicle collisions. There were 68 fatal collisions with 73 people killed in 2014, compared with 81 crashes and 95 deaths in 2013. Cpl. Mark Hume, who’s an officer at RCMP’s West District Traffic Services and a forensic collision reconstructionist, says he thinks the “message is starting to get across.”

Road deaths down 23 per cent

“There’s still a long way to go. We still had 68 crashes and 73 deaths, which is far too high, but it’s definitely an improvement,” Hume said.

Summer months are usually the deadliest for drivers, with 34 per cent of deaths in 2014 happening in June, July and August. However, half of all 2013 deaths happened in those months.

Hume said he couldn’t pinpoint any specific reason for that drop, but he attributed the safer summer to MPI and RCMP road safety campaigns aimed around holidays and long weekends, and against drinking and driving. Summer would also have fewer weather-related crashes, unlike winter where drivers have to deal with adverse road conditions.

 

 

Multi-fatality crashes down 60 per cent

There were fewer crashes with more than one death in 2014, something that jumped out for Hume. He attributed it to seatbelt use.

“We’re seeing seatbelt numbers increasing, fewer deaths of people unbuckled,” he said. “Most rollovers are survivable as long as you’re buckled in.”

The positive influence of responsible passengers could also be having an effect inside cars.

“I’ve heard from a lot of adults that their children are getting the message to them about seatbelts and that kind of stuff,” Hume said. “Lot of young kids, it’s drilled into them in school and they’ll tell their parents to make sure they buckle up, high school kids telling their parents not to drink and drive.”

 

Deadliest roads

Highway 1, which is the Manitoba section of the busy Trans-Canada Highway, predictably had a high share of road deaths in 2014, with five. This was significantly down from 2013, when 14 deaths occurred. Highway 10 in western Manitoba also had five deaths in 2014, while highways 59 and 12 in eastern Manitoba had three each. The rural municipality of St. Andrews, northeast of Winnipeg, had the most rural road deaths, with six.

Highway deaths in Manitoba from 2012 to 2014

 

If you see a dangerous driver?

Hume says you should only follow a driver if it is safe to do so, but never go over the speed limit yourself.

“Definitely get out of the way and be safe, but if it’s safe to follow… if there’s someone who’s possibly an impaired driver and swerving on the road, but they’re going a normal speed and if they’re able to follow safely, definitely following is fine and get in contact with us,” Hume said.