The snow doesn’t make winter driving more dangerous, the driver does.
The first major snowfall across the region signals the media to issue the customary first major warning about poor winter driving conditions and the need for motorists of all ages to change their driving patterns. Newsrooms in the snow-zone dig for statistics and shovel out the research from motor vehicle associations, insurance companies, provincial road authorities, police and Stats Canada. Stopping distances, visibility issues … and other factors brought on by the onset of the flakes and freeze that most northeastern Alberta drivers – the ones with a few years of driving under the seat belts, at least – have experienced before.
But here’s the thing – winter is no more dangerous when it comes to driving statistics than most other times of the year.
Speed and distracted driving in any season kill more Canadian drivers than environmental factors – according to Statistics Canada figures.
In Alberta, 400 of every 100,000 licensed drivers were involved in an injury collision over the most recent reporting year. In that same timeframe, an average of eight Alberta drivers of every 100,000 were killed in crashes. According to some insurance and personal injury law firms, those numbers are on the rise since the end of the COVID 19 pandemic and worldwide lockdowns.
Through all of the varying statistics, the one that remains the same is the percentage of injury crashes that take place in the snow and ice – about 30 per cent. To hear that somewhere between a quarter and a third of all vehicle crashes take place in winter conditions sounds significant … until you start counting months. In the Lakeland area, the end of November to the end of March is generally the full winter season. From freezing rain to full-on blizzards to slush and slop – that’s winter, and that’s about four months – or about a third of the year. Taking the same statistics, it could be said that two-thirds to three-quarters of all crashes take place when it’s not winter driving conditions.
The weather is a constant factor when it comes to how Albertans drive . . . but so are Albertans.
No matter what season, if you drive properly – whether you believe the statistics or not – you’re less likely to become one.
R.M.
