Why is Speed an Important Road Safety Issue?

Eric Howard of Australia, keynote speaker at Edmonton's International Conference on Urban Traffic Safety showed this picture of how far a vehicle travels when a driver sees a pedestrian and attempts to stop at 30 km/hr versus at 50 km/hr. The driver going 30 km/hr travels 13 meters and the pedestrian remains uninjured. At 50 km/hr the stopping distance is doubled. It is likely that the pedestrian will experience severe injuries and very possibly death.

Mr. Howard went on to say that extensive international research confirms that "small changes in mean speeds can be expected to result in measurable and significant changes in crash outcomes". Research shows that "small increases in speed = large increases in crash risk".

And according to another speaker at the conference Bruce Corben of Monash University's Accident Research Centre in Melbourne Australia, Canada has reason for concern. Looking at the graph to the right we see that when we compare our fatalities per 100,000 population with other countries in the developed world-- namely (from left to right on the graph) the Netherlands, UK, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Canada and the USA-- we are the second highest for fatalities due to vehicle crashes. Only the USA surpasses us.

There is a disturbing trend when we look more specifically at Edmonton pedestrian injuries due to collisions between 1994-2008. Data provided by the City of Edmonton's Transportation Dept. shows that over the 15 year period, the number of pedestrian collisions was never higher than in 2008. In 2008 there were 395 pedestrians injured-- an increase of 6.2% from the previous year. Of the 404 pedestrians injured or killed, 62.1% were in a pedestrian crossing and had the right of way while 18.1% were crossing the road without the right of way. The number of cyclists injured in 2008 was 234 -- a 29.3% increase from the previous year and the second highest year over the 15 year period. The year 1999 had the highest number of cyclists injured with 247. One might consider that these increases were due to an increase in population however between 2007 and 2008 the population of Edmonton only increased by 1.5% and the number of passenger vehicles only increased by 4.8%. The complete report can be found at http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/2008_Annual_Collision_Report_FINAL.pdf

Edmontonians have to get serious about making their streets safer for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. We must look at the evidence traffic safety experts are offering us -- slower speeds mean fewer injuries and fatalities. This is a fact that we must impress upon our elected officials. Write a letter to our city councilors today and let them know you favour lowering the speed limit to 30 km/hr in residential communities. Their mailing address is 2nd Floor City Hall, 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB, T5J 2R7. A complete list of our councilors is below in my previous blog.