Many Countries – Including Canada –Top U.S. In Road Safety, Study Says
Canada, which ranks 14th among the 28 countries, has stronger road safety policies overall than the U.S., where deaths in traffic crashes have been generally inching up since 2011 after a long period of decline, while in Canada they have continued to fall.
Those are the highlights of new research released on Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety(IIHS), a nonprofit financed by the insurance industry.
'The U.S. could learn a lot from our northern neighbor,' David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute, said in a statement. 'Our countries are culturally very similar, so there is reason to believe that many policies that work there could help the U.S. get back on the right track when it comes to road safety.'
Traffic deaths rose 33% between 2011 and 2021 nationwide, and in Canada, deaths declined 18% over a similar period. Stronger distracted driving and seat belt laws, as well as more widespread use of speed safety cameras are among the policies that have helped Canada save lives and reduce serious injuries.
The study, 'A comparison of recent crash fatality trends in Canada and the United States: Why do they differ?,' conducted by the Insurance Institute and Canada's Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), explored fatality trends and differences in policies between the two countries.
Many other countries have been more proactive with their safety policies in recent decades, particularly when it comes to factors like speed and alcohol, including Canada, whose per person fatality rate is less than half that of the U.S.
Embracing the Vision Zero or Safe System approach to road safety and design, according to the researchers, is considered a major factor for the progress. The initiative takes human error into account and was first put into effect in Sweden in the 1990s.
The goal is to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by creating multiple layers of protection, so if one fails, the others will create a safety net to lessen the impact of a crash. Improvements are designed to result in: safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and better post-crash care.
Canada's advances occurred even though its population, number of licensed drivers and miles driven all increased at a greater pace than in the U.S. during this time period, according to the report.
Interestingly, crash types that were linked with the biggest fatality increases in the U.S. were the same types that went down by large percentages in Canada. Both pedestrian and cyclist fatalities rose 64% in the U.S., but fell 17% in Canada, for example, and deaths involving large trucks increased 54% in the U.S. and decreased 24% in Canada.
Crash deaths involving young drivers fell by slightly more than 50% in Canada, but increased by 17% in the U.S. And deaths involving alcohol impairment and speed rose in the U.S. and went down in Canada.
Many U.S. states have strong laws on seat belts and distracted driving and laws allowing speed safety cameras, but in Canada, laws in those areas were more widespread, covering a larger share of the country's population than in the U.S. during the study period, researchers said.
Differences in laws around impaired driving were among the factors not included in the analysis, but may have also contributed to the diverging trends. For example, in most U.S. states, there are no penalties for most drivers if they are stopped with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) between 0.05% and 0.08%. In contrast, the study noted, 'all Canadian provinces except Quebec impose administrative penalties at low-BACs. In addition, Canadian police can demand a roadside breath test from any driver without suspicion of impairment as is required in the U.S.'
Refusing a test, the report noted, is a criminal offense in Canada.
Harkey, the Insurance Institute's president, will host a live conversation about what the U.S. can learn from Canada on Thursday, July 31, at 11:30 a.m. ET. on YouTube. The full recording will be available afterward.
For more information and to read the full report, click here and here.
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