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Highway Safety

Doug Perras

Are highways and byways getting more and more dangerous?  Is each successive generation and more reckless on the roads?  Apparently not.  Statistics Canada shows an ongoing reduction in the overall number of traffic related injures and deaths over the past several decades.    The earliest statistics for Canada go back to 19851.  Statistics for 2004 showed 8.5 fatalities per 100,000 persons while in 20152 there were 5.2 fatalities per 100,000 persons.  Indeed, the number of fatalities per billion kilometers driven has been reduced from 8.8 in 2004 to 5.1 in 2015.  Statistics from the United States, which date much further back than in Canada show similar reductions from 19703 onward.

So, are we better drivers than our parents and grandparents?  Are our children — shudder — worse drivers than we are?  Maybe not!  The significant drop in motor vehicle accidents started around 1970.  Seatbelt legislation was introduced in the US in 1968.4  Since that time a plethora of safety devices and legislation — side impact protection 1973, rear seat belts 1987,  airbags 1984, blind spot warning 2004, child seat legislation 2006, automatic braking 20105 — have increased safety.  The speed limits since 1970 have remained about the same, but cars and road construction have improved significantly.  All in all, our children may be a little better at driving than their parents but also have a huge advantage due to all the technological advances.

To see a timeline of the introduction of safety features and legislation click HERE.

Motor vehicle deaths in U.S. by year

Year Deaths VMT- Vehicle miles traveled (billions) Fatalities per 100 million VMT Population Fatalities per 100,000 population Change (in percent)
1899 26[5]
1900 567 76,094,000 0.047 NA
1901 54 77,584,000 0.070 Negative increase47.12%
1902 79 79,163,000 0.100 Negative increase43.38%
1903 117 80,632,000 0.145 Negative increase45.40%
1904 172 82,166,000 0.209 Negative increase44.26%
1905 252 83,822,000 0.301 Negative increase43.62%
1906 338 85,450,000 0.396 Negative increase31.57%
1907 581 87,008,000 0.668 Negative increase68.82%
1908 751 88,710,000 0.847 Negative increase26.78%
1909 1,174 90,490,000 1.297 Negative increase53.25%
1910 1,599 92,407,000 1.730 Negative increase33.38%
1911 2,043 93,863,000 2.177 Negative increase25.79%
1912 2,968 95,335,000 3.113 Negative increase43.03%
1913 4,079 97,225,000 4.195 Negative increase34.76%
1914 4,468 99,111,000 4.508 Negative increase7.45%
1915 6,779 100,546,000 6.742 Negative increase49.56%
1916 7,766 101,961,000 7.617 Negative increase12.97%
1917 9,630 103,268,000 9.325 Negative increase22.43%
1918 10,390 103,208,000 10.067 Negative increase7.95%
1919 10,896 104,514,000 10.425 Negative increase3.56%
1920 12,155 106,461,000 11.417 Negative increase9.51%
1921 13,253 55.03 24.09 108,538,000 12.210 Negative increase6.95%
1922 14,859 67.70 21.95 110,049,000 13.502 Negative increase10.58%
1923 17,870 85.00 21.03 111,947,000 15.963 Negative increase18.22%
1924 18,400 104.84 17.55 114,109,000 16.125 Negative increase1.01%
1925 20,771 122.35 16.98 115,829,000 17.932 Negative increase11.21%
1926 22,194 140.74 15.77 117,397,000 18.905 Negative increase5.42%
1927 24,470 158.45 15.44 119,035,000 20.557 Negative increase8.74%
1928 26,557 172.86 15.36 120,509,000 22.037 Negative increase7.20%
1929 29,592 197.72 14.97 121,767,000 24.302 Negative increase10.28%
1930 31,204 206.32 15.12 123,076,741 25.353 Negative increase4.33%
1931 31,963 216.15 14.79 124,039,648 25.768 Negative increase1.64%
1932 27,979 200.52 13.95 124,840,471 22.412 Positive decrease-13.03%
1933 29,746 200.64 14.83 125,578,763 23.687 Negative increase5.69%
1934 34,240 215.56 15.88 126,373,773 27.094 Negative increase14.38%
1935 34,494 228.57 15.09 127,250,232 27.107 Negative increase0.05%
1936 36,126 252.13 14.33 128,053,180 28.212 Negative increase4.07%
1937 37,819 270.11 14.00 128,824,829 29.357 Negative increase4.06%
1938 31,083 271.18 11.46 129,824,939 23.942 Positive decrease-18.44%
1939 30,895 285.40 10.83 130,879,718 23.606 Positive decrease-1.41%
1940 32,914 302.19 10.89 132,122,446 24.912 Negative increase5.53%
1941 38,142 333.61 11.43 133,402,471 28.592 Negative increase14.77%
1942 27,007 268.22 10.07 134,859,553 20.026 Positive decrease-29.96%
1943 22,727 208.19 10.92 136,739,353 16.621 Positive decrease-17.00%
1944 23,165 212.71 10.89 138,397,345 16.738 Negative increase0.71%
1945 26,785 250.17 10.71 139,928,165 19.142 Negative increase14.36%
1946 31,874 340.88 9.35 141,388,566 22.544 Negative increase17.77%
1947 31,193 370.89 8.41 144,126,071 21.643 Positive decrease-4.00%
1948 30,775 397.96 7.73 146,631,302 20.988 Positive decrease-3.03%
1949 30,246 424.46 7.13 149,188,130 20.274 Positive decrease-3.40%
1950 33,186 458.25 7.24 152,271,417 21.794 Negative increase7.50%
1951 35,309 491.09 7.19 154,877,889 22.798 Negative increase4.61%
1952 36,088 513.58 7.03 157,552,740 22.905 Negative increase0.47%
1953 36,190 544.43 6.65 160,184,192 22.593 Positive decrease-1.36%
1954 33,890 561.96 6.03 163,025,854 20.788 Positive decrease-7.99%
1955 36,688 605.65 6.06 165,931,202 22.110 Negative increase6.36%
1956 37,965 627.84 6.05 168,903,031 22.477 Negative increase1.66%
1957 36,932 647.00 5.71 171,984,130 21.474 Positive decrease-4.46%
1958 35,331 664.65 5.32 174,881,904 20.203 Positive decrease-5.92%
1959 36,223 700.48 5.17 177,829,628 20.369 Negative increase0.83%
1960 36,399 718.76 5.06 180,671,158 20.147 Positive decrease-1.09%
1961 36,285 737.42 4.92 183,691,481 19.753 Positive decrease-1.95%
1962 38,980 766.73 5.08 186,537,737 20.897 Negative increase5.79%
1963 41,723 805.25 5.18 189,241,798 22.047 Negative increase5.51%
1964 45,645 846.30 5.39 191,888,791 23.787 Negative increase7.89%
1965 47,089 887.81 5.30 194,302,963 24.235 Negative increase1.88%
1966 50,894 925.90 5.50 196,560,338 25.892 Negative increase6.84%
1967 50,724 964.01 5.26 198,712,056 25.526 Positive decrease-1.41%
1968 52,725 1,015.87 5.19 200,706,052 26.270 Negative increase2.91%
1969 53,543 1,061.79 5.04 202,676,946 26.418 Negative increase0.56%
1970 52,627 1,109.72 4.74 205,052,174 25.665 Positive decrease-2.85%
1971 52,542 1,178.81 4.46 207,660,677 25.302 Positive decrease-1.42%
1972 54,589 1,259.79 4.33 209,896,021 26.008 Negative increase2.79%
1973 54,052 1,313.11 4.12 211,908,788 25.507 Positive decrease-1.92%
1974 45,196 1,280.54 3.53 213,853,928 21.134 Positive decrease-17.14%
1975 44,525 1,327.66 3.35 215,973,199 20.616 Positive decrease-2.45%
1976 45,523 1,402.38 3.25 218,035,164 20.879 Negative increase1.27%
1977 47,878 1,467.03 3.26 220,239,425 21.739 Negative increase4.12%
1978 50,331 1,544.70 3.26 222,584,545 22.612 Negative increase4.02%
1979 51,093 1,529.13 3.34 225,055,487 22.702 Negative increase0.40%
1980 51,091 1,527.30 3.35 227,224,681 22.485 Positive decrease-0.96%
1981 49,301 1,552.80 3.18 229,465,714 21.485 Positive decrease-4.45%
1982 43,945 1,595.01 2.76 231,664,458 18.969 Positive decrease-11.71%
1983 42,589 1,652.79 2.58 233,791,994 18.217 Positive decrease-3.97%
1984 44,257 1,720.27 2.57 235,824,902 18.767 Negative increase3.02%
1985 43,825 1,774.18 2.47 237,923,795 18.420 Positive decrease-1.85%
1986 46,087 1,834.87 2.51 240,132,887 19.192 Negative increase4.19%
1987 46,390 1,921.20 2.42 242,288,918 19.147 Positive decrease-0.24%
1988 47,087 2,025.96 2.32 244,498,982 19.259 Negative increase0.58%
1989 45,582 2,096.46 2.17 246,819,230 18.468 Positive decrease-4.11%
1990 44,599 2,144.36 2.08 249,464,396 17.878 Positive decrease-3.19%
1991 41,508 2,172.05 1.91 252,153,092 16.461 Positive decrease-7.92%
1992 39,250 2,247.15 1.75 255,029,699 15.390 Positive decrease-6.51%
1993 40,150 2,296.38 1.75 257,782,608 15.575 Negative increase1.20%
1994 40,716 2,358 1.73 260,327,021 15.6403 Negative increase0.42%
1995 41,817 2,423 1.73 262,803,276 15.9119 Negative increase1.74%
1996 42,065 2,486 1.69 265,228,572 15.8599 Positive decrease-0.33%
1997 42,013 2,562 1.64 267,783,607 15.6892 Positive decrease-1.08%
1998 41,501 2,632 1.58 270,248,003 15.3566 Positive decrease-2.12%
1999 41,717 2,691 1.55 272,690,813 15.2983 Positive decrease-0.38%
2000 41,945 2,747 1.53 282,216,952 14.8627 Positive decrease-2.85%
2001[2] 42,196 2,797 1.51 285,226,284 14.794 Positive decrease-0.46%
2002 43,005 2,856 1.51 288,125,973 14.926 Negative increase0.89%
2003 42,884 2,890 1.48 290,796,023 14.747 Positive decrease-1.75%
2004 42,836 2,965 1.44 293,638,158 14.588 Positive decrease-0.52%
2005 43,510 2,989 1.46 296,507,061 14.674 Negative increase0.44%
2006 42,708 3,014 1.42 299,398,484 14.265 Positive decrease-2.79%
2007 41,259 3,031 1.36 301,139,947 13.701 Positive decrease-3.85%
2008 37,423 2,977 1.26 303,824,640 12.317 Positive decrease-11.0%
2009 33,883 2,957 1.15 306,700,000 11.048 Positive decrease-9.7%
2010[2] 32,999 2,967 1.11 309,326,000 10.668 Positive decrease-3.5%
2011[6] 32,479 2,950 1.10 311,588,000 10.42 Positive decrease-2.3%
2012[7] 33,782 2,969 1.14 313,914,000 10.75 Negative increase2.6%
2013 32,893 2,988 1.10 316,129,000 10.40 Positive decrease-3.3%
2014 32,744 3,026 1.08 318,860,000 10.28 Positive decrease-0.9%
2015 35,485 3,095 1.15 321,370,000 11.06 Negative increase10.5%
2016 37,461 3,221 1.18 323,121,000 11.59 Negative increase5.6%

 

 

  1. https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/tp-tp3322-2004-menu-691.htm#wb1
  2. https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/tp-tp3322-2015-1487.html
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_States
  5. https://www.motoringassist.com/motoring-advice/history-of-automobile-safety/

 

2021-05-07T17:21:18+00:00October 16, 2018|Personal Injury|
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