City streets see fewer collisions, injuries: report

Fatal and serious injury collisions on Winnipeg roads have significantly decreased in recent years.

Data from the city shows the average number of fatalities and major injuries was 121 in 2023, below the city’s baseline of 176 for its road safety action plan.

The long-term strategy aims to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions by 20 per cent by the end of 2027. The baseline metrics are based on a five-year annual average between 2015 and 2019.

“Data from 2022 and 2023 illustrates that this reduction has not only already been met but has been exceeded,” the report said.

The report notes less road travel owing to the COVID-19 pandemic can be partially attributed to the decrease and the numbers are not exclusively due to road safety investments. Traffic kilometers travelled increased in 2023 compared to that during the pandemic, but the numbers are still approximately 10 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels.

The number of fatal and major road collisions in 2018 was 218 and 174 in 2019. In 2021 there was a nine-year low of 115 fatal and major injuries.

Data for 2024 was not published in the report.

The mode of transportation during the injuries and fatalities in 2023 was primarily passenger vehicles, followed by pedestrian, motorcycle, bicycle and various other forms.

The city announced the strategy in 2022 with the goal of preventing injury and death on roadways by mapping out infrastructure, enforcement and education.

Between 2012 and 2018, 98 people were killed and 1,113 people suffered serious injuries because of crashes on city roads.

The city identified five key areas to improve safety: signalized intersections, pedestrians, cyclists, speed and road safety culture. Those areas resulted in 67 actions, of which 65 per cent are in progress, the report states.

At the time of the plan’s announcement, the city said it would spend $30 million over the next six years for the action plan.

In March the city implemented “leading pedestrian intervals” which allow pedestrians a five-second head start at crosswalks before drivers are given the green light to travel in the same direction.

Other actions underway include working with the Winnipeg police on speed enforcement, piloting traffic calming curbs at 15 locations, hosting road safety events and workshops for the public and a new transportation data system to identify intersections with the greatest safety risk.

Last August, the city announced the new system would collect traffic counts and collision data. At the time, Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said the addition will provide better data to help the city identify where it needs to make changes and investments to improve the system.

The city said the system would aim to make better use of vehicle, cyclist and pedestrian counts, which are gathered through radar, intersection video cameras, pneumatic road tubes (tubes laid across the road to gather data) and other devices.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca