Collision rates on York Region roads decline to 10-year low
T-bone crashes drop by 48% at intersections with red light cameras

YorkRegion.com
June 26, 2015
Chris Traber

Collision rates on York Region roads reached a 10-year low, stated the 2015 Traffic Safety Status Report

The study, which documents road safety trends, was received by York Regional Council Thursday. York Region chairperson and CEO Wayne Emmerson said the report reflects motor vehicle collision data on regional roads collected and reviewed by the region in partnership with York Regional Police.

On average, there were more than 3.26 million daily vehicle trips made each day between 2012 and 2014, the document said.

“York Region has seen a decrease in the total number of collisions over the past five years and our goal is to further reduce these numbers,” Emmerson said. “Continuously working towards improving traffic safety is vital to providing residents and visitors with safer ways to move in and across regional roads.”

Highlights in the report include:

• Collision rates in 2014 reached a 10-year low;
• 70 per cent of all collisions were a direct cause of someone’s improper driving; 36 per cent were due to acts of aggressive driving;
• Collisions most frequently occur on Fridays from the months of October to January, and during the evening rush hour;
• The number of collisions is closely related to traffic volumes; as volumes increase, so do collisions;
• 44 per cent of all collisions were rear-end collisions;
• Most collisions, for all modes of travel, occur at signalized intersections;
• 91 per cent of pedestrian involved collisions resulted in injury;
• 70 per cent of all collisions occurred during dry road surface conditions;
• Since implementing red light cameras in 2013, the number of right angle collisions has reduced by 48 per cent at red light camera locations.

It’s important to have programs and measures in place to ensure the safety of people travelling throughout the region, Richmond Hill Regional Councillor Vito Spatafora, chairperson of York’s transportation services, said. “In addition to implementing programs, it is necessary to review the results and assess their effectiveness.”

While there are a number of factors that contribute to the decrease in collisions, safety programs play an important role. Some of the programs York Region has put in place include revising speed limits on Regional roads, installing red light cameras at 20 intersections and implementing safety campaigns to enhance awareness for issues affecting pedestrian safety.