Our North American CORE Group representative Jennifer Heatley teamed up with Chair of the Canadian Road Safety Youth Committee, Sarah Blades to write about some of their experiences of road safety in Canada. Their article is candid and talks about the need for increased investment in young people’s participation in road safety. You can read their article here.
Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for young people in Canada. In 2009 alone, more than 500 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 were killed on Canada’s roads and almost 3000 experienced a serious injury. This age group makes up 23.4% of all driver fatalities in Canada yet are only approximately 13% of licensed drivers. They are highly over-represented in fatality data.
Like many other countries, Canada made rapid improvements in past decades with the introduction of legislation requiring the use of seatbelts and make impaired driving illegal. In past years though, we have seen a plateau rather than a decrease in fatalities and serious injuries. Impaired driving, speed, distraction and lack of seatbelt use continue to be the main contributing factors to fatal motor vehicle collisions. Youth continue to be over-represented in these statistics.
With some exceptions, the majority of road safety related legislation is sub-national meaning that is the responsibility of one of the 10 provinces or 3 territories that make up Canada. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does result in inconsistency with some provinces having stronger legislation than others. Canada’s Road Safety Strategy 2015 is a guide for provinces and territories with respect to policy and programming. Young drivers under the age of 25 are identified as a target population. Graduated drivers’ licensing (GDL) programs is one of the primary recommendations that is youth targeted. GDL allows for youth to learn to drive under the safest possible conditions such as during day time hours, with few passengers, and with zero blood alcohol. Several provinces currently have GDL programs although their strength and the components of the program vary. The Strategy does not require the provinces and territories to implement it or meet any of the targets. While this would be challenging, reducing death and injuries on Canada’s roads will require a strong political commitment to creating the conditions for safety.
Although there is programming and good work happening in the area of youth road safety, the lack of resources invested in the issue has been a challenge. One group that seeks to provide a youth voice into the structure and governance of the national layer of road safety, is the Canadian Road Safety Youth Committee, or the CRSYC. In recent months, the CRSYC has experienced a change in executive and an increase in interest for participation – however without sustained financial resources to operate, and attend national events across Canada’s more than 5000km span, staying engaged is challenging.
In the past, pockets of funding from the federal government had supported the CRSYC periodically; however with the recent erosion of spending programs for road safety education and information generally, federal funds are no longer an avenue for seeking support.
The good news is that several pre-existing national level committees have welcomed participation from the CRSYC, such as the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals, the Canadian Global Road Safety Committee, The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, and the planning committee of the Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference, or CMRSC. The high level at which youth input is welcomed and valued in the CMRSC planning committee speaks well for the desire of the road safety community in Canada to engage with youth and young professionals. The CRSYC hopes to continue to collaborate on Canada’s largest gathering of Road Safety professionals, and imbed further into organizations that would like to engage a youth perspective on this serious public health issue for Canadians.