Traffic Safety

The safety of Canadian motorists has always been a top priority for CAA. With 2,889 fatalities and nearly 200,000 injuries on Canadian roads in 2006 (the most recent statistics available), this only underscores the need to provide information on safe driving for drivers and their families.

Listed below are some of CAA’s key traffic safety interests:

Senior Drivers
Distracted Driving
ESC – Electronic Stability Control
Winter Driving

Senior Drivers

As Canada’s population ages, the challenges that older drivers face will touch the lives of more and more Canadians and the need to address these challenges will become more urgent.

In 10 years, one in four Canadians will be a senior driver. However, rather than limiting the mobility of aging drivers, we need to find solutions that meet the needs of all drivers to ensure our roads are safe for everyone involved.

CAA supports strategies that take into account our aging population, including:

  • Developing an ability-based licensing program, rather than one based solely on age;
  • Improving road and highway design in such a manner that it generates more forgiving roads; and,
  • Making changes in vehicle design that provide allowances for the needs of aging drivers.

To further explore how road and highway design can be improved for senior drivers, CAA released Senior Drivers and Highway Design, which explores the benefits of upgrades and improvements to intersections, street signs, and road delineation.

Education on driver and road safety for aging drivers and their family members to help identify diminished driving competence before road crashes occur is also very important in a balanced approach to traffic safety.

To help educate aging drivers, their friends, and families, CAA has created a web site called Helping Aging Drivers. This new site features online tools and resources to help drivers to identify diminished driving capacity and help motorists stay behind the wheel as long as is safely possible.

Distracted Driving

Driver distraction is one of the most common contributors to traffic crashes, and something that affects all road users.

Distracted driving is not just an issue of drivers using cellular phones and handheld mobile devices, distractions from driving come in all forms; including managing children, personal grooming, changing the radio station in the car, eating and drinking, admiring the landscape, and even talking to a passenger.

Distractions cause drivers to react more slowly to traffic conditions or events, such as a making a left turn or pulling out from a side road. Distracted drivers have an increased tendency to not recognize potential hazards, including pedestrians, bicycles, or debris in the road. They also decrease their margin of safety, leading them to take risks they might not otherwise take.

All drivers should be educated on the effect of multi-tasking while driving, and the resulting cumulative cognitive and physical distractions. Driver education that addresses the full range of distractions leading to crashes, as well as measures to manage those distractions effectively and safely is a priority.

CAA is challenging motorists, passengers, employers, vehicle manufacturers, and technology developers to identify, understand, and reduce or eliminate distractions from the driving experience through education, awareness, policies, and modified behaviours.

To help educate road users on driver distraction, its causes, implications, and how to become a safer driver, CAA has created a new web site entitled, Driven to Distraction.

International Conference on Distracted Driving

To determine the most appropriate solutions to combat distracted driving, CAA co-hosted the first International Conference on Distracted Driving from October 2 – 5, 2005 in Toronto. To read more about presenters, conference results, and the conference proceedings, please go to www.distracteddriving.ca.

ESC – Electronic Stability Control

ESC, also known as electronic stability control is anti-skidding vehicle technology that monitors the direction a vehicle is traveling and in the event of wheel spin or skidding, can activate the vehicle's brakes to stop the skid and maintain road traction.

According to Transport Canada, ESC could prevent approximately 30% of the injuries and fatalities that result from collisions involving loss of control on Canadian roads. As a result, Transport Canada is currently looking at regulations to make ESC standard equipment on all light vehicles by 2011.

CAA is a strong proponent of ESC technology and has been busy promoting ESC to its members and Canadian drivers. To learn more about our ESC campaign, please click here.

Winter Driving

Winter weather conditions pose unique challenges and safety risks for most Canadian drivers. To help Canadians prepare for winter driving, CAA partnered with Transport Canada and released a brochure listing the top 10 winter driving safety tips drivers need to know. The goal is to help Canadian motorists prevent problems before they occur. The brochure, called You, Your Vehicle and Winter Driving, is a handy guide that includes information about how Canadians can make their vehicles winter-ready, how to prepare for and drive in bad weather, and what to pack in a winter survival kit. Download your copy of the brochure click here.