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Each year, the Alberta government collects statistics based on the police reports filed for collisions that involve damage over $1,000. In this activity, you will see what some of the information collected shows about traffic safety in Alberta.

Here are some Alberta traffic collision statistics from the Government of Alberta in 2014:

The number of traffic fatalities increased 3.1% over the previous year from 358 fatalities in 2013 to 369 in 2014.
The number of traffic injuries increased 0.5% over the previous year from 18,650 injuries in 2013 to 18,745 in 2014.
The number of traffic collisions increased 2.2% over the previous year from 141,638 collisions in 2013 to 144,740 in 2014.

The greatest number of fatal collisions occurred in July. The greatest number of injury collisions occurred in October.
Friday was the most collision-prone day of the week.
The most collision-prone time was the afternoon rush hour.
Casualty rates were highest for persons between the ages of 15 and 24.
Male drivers between the ages of 18 and 19 had the highest involvement rate of all drivers involved in casualty collisions.
Following too closely, running off the road, and left turn across path were the most frequently identified improper driver actions contributing to casualty collisions.

Fatal collisions occurred most frequently in rural areas, and injury and property damage collisions occurred more frequently in urban areas.
32.6% of pedestrians involved in fatal collisions had consumed alcohol prior to the collision compared to 10.1% of pedestrians in injury collisions.
15.9% of drivers involved in fatal collisions had consumed alcohol prior to the crash compared to 3.3% of drivers in injury collisions.
Users of restraints (seat belts and infant car seats) had a much lower injury rate (7%) than those not using restraints (30.6%).

Many traffic accidents occur daily in Alberta and almost all traffic accidents are preventable.

In the activities that follow, you will use some of your knowledge about the science of motion to learn about ways you can avoid traffic accidents.

Self-Check

Try This!

Try the questions below on your own first and then click on the tab to check your answers!

1. Did the number of traffic fatalities, injuries, and collisions increase or decrease from 2013 to 2014?

2. Which day of the week did the most collisions occur in 2014?

3. Which driver actions contributed to the most casualty collisions in 2014?

4. What percentage of drivers involved in fatal collisions had consumed alcohol prior to the crash?

Check your answers here!

1. Fatalities, injuries, and collisions all increased from 2013 to 2014.

2. Friday was the most collision-prone day of the week in 2014.

3. Following too closely, running off the road, and left turn across path were the most frequently identified improper driver actions contributing to casualty collisions.

4. 15.9% of drivers involved in fatal collisions had consumed alcohol prior to the crash.

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