Motor vehicle collisions are one of the leading causes of unintentional injury death across all ages in BC. The cost per crash in BC was estimated as $8.4 billion in 2018.1 The total health care cost of transport incidents was $370 million in 2010.2
The majority of collisions involve injury to occupants but injury also occurs among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists resulting in approximately 175 crashes per day in BC that result in almost 1 fatality and 10 acute hospitalizations per day.3 4 Speeding, distracted driving (ex. mobile phone use) and impaired driving (alcohol, drugs or medications) are the leading contributing factors for motor vehicle collisions.
Quick Facts & Stats ▼ | Prevention ▼ | Information & Resources ▼
Quick Facts & Stats
Speeding was the most common contributing factor for fatalities among individuals aged 16-25 years, followed by distraction and impairment. Speeding followed by impairment were the most common contributing factors for fatalities among individuals aged 26-45 years. Distraction was a key contributing factor for fatalities among individuals aged 66 years and over.
Injuries from cycling were the most common cause of hospitalizations among ages 0-14 years, while motor vehicle occupant injuries were the most common cause among all other age groups. Pedestrian injury hospitalizations rates were highest among the older adults aged 75 and over.
Fatalities among pedestrians occurred more in speed zones of 30-50 km/hr. Distraction and failing to yield right of way were the common contributing factors for the pedestrian fatalities that occurred at this speed zone.5
Approximately 19% of all motor vehicle occupant fatalities occurred in speed zone of 30-50 km/hr. Speeding and distraction were the common contributing factors for the occupant fatalities that occurred at this speed zone.6
About 40% of time-loss claims to WorkSafe BC for motor vehicle incidents were from the transportation and warehousing industry.
Prevention
Best Evidence Crash Prevention Strategies by Road User
Information & Resources
Cochrane Systematic Reviews on Transport Related Topics
Prevention of Traffic Crashes
- Alcohol and drug screening of occupational drivers for preventing injury
- Alcohol ignition interlock programmes for reducing drink driving recidivism
- Area-wide traffic calming for preventing traffic related injuries
- Graduated driver licensing for reducing motor vehicle crashes among young drivers
- Increased police patrols for preventing alcohol-impaired driving
- Organisational travel plans for improving health
- Post-licence driver education for the prevention of road traffic crashes
- Red-light cameras for the prevention of road traffic crashes
- School-based driver education for the prevention of traffic crashes
- Speed cameras for the prevention of road traffic injuries and deaths
- Street lighting for preventing road traffic injuries
Prevention of injuries to motor vehicle occupants
- Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reducing the Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes on Health and Well-being in BC
- Interventions for promoting booster seat use in four to eight year olds travelling in motor vehicles
Prevention of motorcycle-related injuries
- Helmets for preventing injury in motorcycle riders
- Motorcycle rider training for the prevention of road traffic crashes
Other Transport-Related Systematic Review
- What are the most effective ways of improving population health through transport interventions? Evidence from systematic reviews
- Effectiveness of primary enforcement safety belt laws and enhanced enforcement of safety belt laws: A summary of the Guide to Community Preventive Services systematic reviews
- The role of driver sleepiness in car crashes: a systematic review of epidemiological studies
- Injury and risk-taking behavior-a systematic review
How to Find Evidence-Based Materials Related to Transport-Related Research
DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects)
- Contain summaries of systematic reviews which have met strict quality criteria. Each summary also provides a critical commentary on the quality of the review.
DARE is available free of charge: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/CRDWeb/
Cochrane Library
- Is an electronic publication which consists of a collection of evidence-based medicine databases, including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) are available free of charge: http://www.cochrane.org
TRIP (Turning Research into Practice)
- This database is available free of charge: http://www.tripdatabase.com
Transportation Research Board
- This transport specific database is available free of charge: http://www.trb.org/Main/Home.aspx
Campbell Collaboration Reviews of Interventions and Policy Evaluation
Community Guide Systematic Reviews of Motor Vehicle Crash Prevention
Resources: British Columbia
- BCAA – Road Safety
- DriveSmartBC
- Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) – Road Safety
- BC RCMP Traffic Services – Integrated Road Safety Unit (IRSU)
Resources: Canada
- Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP)
- Transport Canada – Road and Motor Vehicle Safety
Resources: International
- AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (USA)
- Adelaide University Centre for Automotive Safety Research
- Australian Transport Safety Bureau
- Austroads
- CDC Global Road Safety
- CROW Information and Technology Centres for Transport and Infrastructure (Netherlands)
- DVR DeutscherVerkenrssichereitsrat Road Safety Institute (Germany)
- ITE Institute of Traffic Engineers (USA)
- International Transport Forum
- LET Laboratoire d’economie des transports (France)
- Monash University Accident Research Centre
- NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (USA)
- SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research (Netherlands)
- TOI Institute for Transport Economics (Norway)
- TRB Transportation Research Board
- TRL Transport Research Laboratory
- US Department of Transport – Federal Highway Administration (USA)
- VTI Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute
- VTT Finland
- Default Values for Benefit Cost Analysis in BC (2018). Prepared for the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Planning and Programming Branch by Apex Engineering Limited: British Columbia. ↩
- Rajabali F, Ibrahimova A, Barnett B, Pike I. (2015). Economic Burden of Injury in British Columbia. BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit: Vancouver, BC. ↩
- See footnote 1; Quick Statistics (2017). ICBC: BC. ↩
- Discharge Abstract Database, Ministry of Health, 2018. ↩
- Data Source: Business Information Warehouse – Traffic Accident System, Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. Retrieved from Injury Data Online Tool (iDOT), BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit, 2017. ↩
- See Footnote 5. ↩