ROAD SAFETY

Road-related incidents are one of the leading causes of unintentional injury death across all ages in BC.1

Each year, over 270 people are killed on public roads in BC.2

OVERVIEW

Each day, more than 820 crashes occur in BC, and around 170 of them result in an injury or fatality.3 Most of the injuries resulting from collisions involve vehicle drivers and passengers; however, injury also occurs among vulnerable road users—pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Speeding, distracted driving (e.g., phone use and texting), and impaired driving (using alcohol, drugs, or medications) are the leading contributing factors for motor vehicle collisions.

Transport incidents cost British Columbians approximately $700 million dollars per year.4

Each year, more than 87,000 people are injured in motor vehicle crashes in BC.2

RESEARCH

BCIRPU supports road safety efforts at the policy, practice, and community levels. Road safety for all is one of the provincial priorities for injury prevention.

CHASE Study

The CHASE study (Child Active Transportation Safety and the Environment) is exploring how municipalities implement built environment changes in order to increase active transportation. Built environment changes, such as pedestrian-controlled lights at crosswalks, are used to reduce the risk of motor vehicle crashes and injury among pedestrians and cyclists, as well as motor vehicle occupants.

The goal of Objective 3 of the CHASE study is to identify implementation strategies for built environment change at the municipal level to encourage safe, active transportation. Key informant interviews are being conducted in Vancouver and the surrounding area with those who have worked on projects involving optimizing the built environment—such as urban planners, researchers, school board representatives, and provincial transportation authorities—in order to identify the facilitators and barriers for implementing built environment change at the municipal level.6

Injury Trends in Cyclists in BC

The objective of this study is to investigate temporal trends in serious injury rates in cyclists, with a focus on understanding changes in crash counterparts. This is a retrospective review of data from the BC Trauma Registry and the Discharge Abstract Database on hospitalized pedal cyclist patients injured in land transport events over the period of April 1, April 2012 to March 31, 2019.

PREVENTION

The safe systems approach to road safety looks to implement evidence-based measures for:7,8

  • Safe drivers
  • Safe speeds
  • Safe roads
  • Safe vehicles

RESOURCES

DATA

News

1.Provincial injury prevention priorities. (2017). BC Injury Prevention Committee. Available at: http://www.bccdc.ca/pop-public-health/Documents/bcipc-provincial-injury-prevention-priorities-2017.pdf

2. Traffic Accident System Tool, Injury Data Online Tool, BCIRPU. 

3. ICBC. Quick Statistics for the Media Manual: Crashes and Casualty Crashes. 5 year average from 2014-2018. Available from: https://www.icbc.com/about-icbc/newsroom/Documents/fatal-victims.pdf

4. Rajabali, F., Beaulieu, E., Smith, J., & Pike, I. (2018). The economic burden of injuries in British Columbia: Applying evidence to practice. British Columbia Medical Journal, 60(7), 358-364. [Cost converted to 2020 dollars with CPI].

5. ICBC RoadSafetyBC. Motor vehicle related crashes, injuries and fatalities. 10-year statistics for British Columbia, 2010-2019. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, 2020. Available at: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/driving-and-transportation/driving/roadsafetybc/data/motor_vehicle_related_crashes_injuries_and_fatalities_in_british_columbia_2010-2019.pdf­

6. Hagel, B. E., Macpherson, A., Howard, A., Fuselli, P., Cloutier, M. S., Winters, M., … & Hubka, T. (2019). The built environment and active transportation safety in children and youth: a study protocol. BMC public health, 19(1), 1-13.

7. Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators. Canada’s Road Safety Strategy; 2025: Towards Zero: the Safest Roads in the World (2016). Available at: https://roadsafetystrategy.ca/web/road-safety-strategy/files/public/docs/RSS-2025-Report-January-2016-with%20cover.pdf

8.  Government of BC. (2016). PHO’s Annual Report: Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reducing the Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes on Health and Well-Being in BC. Available from: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/reports-publications/annual-reports/reducing-motor-vehicle-crashes-bc.pdf