Rising traffic fatalities prompts P.E.I. highway safety division to take action

P.E.I. has had some bad years for traffic fatalities recently, with 2018 looking worse still, and that is prompting the provincial highway safety division to take action.

"We're off to a very poor start this year," said highway safety division director Graham Miner.

"We've had nine fatalities this calendar year. That number is quite large."

P.E.I. has averaged 12.9 fatalities on the road in this decade, 2011-17. But every year since 2015 that average has been hit or exceeded. That has sparked some worried discussions at highway safety.

"There is a sense of loss to all of us," Miner said. "P.E.I. is a small community and there are so many people that are affected by these tragedies."

Big decrease over decades

Looking back over decades, the Island has made a lot of progress in making highways safer.

In the 1980s, an average of 25.7 people a year died on the province's roads. That number has steadily declined, in spite of a 40 per cent increase in the number of licensed drivers.

The number of deaths recently, however, have raised concerns that trend is bottoming out.

Miner said his division is planning moves in two areas — education and enforcement — in an effort to get the trend moving downwards again.

"We're always pointing to distractions, to impairment, to speed, to seatbelt usage, to those types of items being some of the lead causative factors," said Miner of planned education sessions.

Highway safety will in particular be reaching out to newcomers, who may come from countries where there is no winter, and don't understand the need for winter tires and different winter driving habits.

On the enforcement side, Miner said Islanders can expect to see more police check stops this year.

"When we're doing those, keying in on motor vehicle inspections, maybe looking at the equipment the car has, whether it be its tires, its wipers," he said.

The quality of tires, Miner said, is a particular concern, especially on winter roads.

The goal, Miner said, is the road to zero: a year with no fatalities.

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