In late November, Allstate Insurance Company of Canada released its latest Safe Driving Study, an in-depth analysis of company collision claims data covering 93 regions over the 24-month period from July 2015 to June 2017. The study revealed improved safety in certain regions, but an overall 2.5 per cent increase in accident frequency nationwide. The findings are cause for concern for Ontario personal injury lawyers.
“While it’s encouraging to see that a number of regions across Canada are showing a decrease in collision frequency, we find it troubling that our 2017 Safe Driving Study is showing an overall increase in collisions, especially as the most severe collisions are involving cyclists and pedestrians,” said David MacInnis, Vice President, Product Operations at Allstate. “These results show there is still a lot of work to be done to help reduce collisions, especially as we head into what is typically the most dangerous driving season of the year.”
The Province of Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) performed particularly badly. Though Halifax, Nova Scotia, recorded the worst collision frequency of the 93 regions covered, GTA cities like Ajax, North York, Scarborough, Caledon, Brampton, Concord, and the City of Toronto all appeared in the bottom ten. Oakville fared considerably better as the 53rd safest region, but Ontario was the only province to see an overall collision frequency increase.
Ontario personal injury lawyers will be concerned, but likely unsurprised, to discover that collisions involving vulnerable road users were considered the most severe.
“It’s clear that in many communities across Canada, collisions involving those walking or cycling happen far too often,” MacInnis said. “Our study reinforces the need to talk about what can be done to help reduce these collisions to improve the safety of everyone using our roads, whether they’re in a vehicle, on a bike or on foot.”
As if to brutally emphasize this point, two GTA pedestrians, one in Etobicoke and one in Mississauga, were killed in separate collisions just days after Allstate’s release. As of late December 2017, 34 pedestrians and three cyclists had been killed in the City of Toronto alone, with many more seriously injured. Across the region, and indeed across Canada, drivers must better adhere to safe driving principles in order to limit serious injuries and fatalities as much as possible.
If you or a member of your family has been injured in an automotive accident in Oakville or the wider GTA, contact Will Davidson LLP’s team of Ontario personal injury lawyers to learn how we can help.