Portrait of traffic and road safety - 2008

Road safety is one of the major priorities of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the 2007 Road Safety Year was carried over into 2008. Three years ago the SPVM adopted a five-year vision and action plan to improve road safety in Montréal. The positive results of the daily implementation of this plan continue to show. Here are a few of our findings for 2008.

 

Fatal collisions

The number of fatal collisions in Montréal dropped significantly in 2008, with 13.2% fewer deaths than in 2007.

In 2008, we noted a change in pedestrian behaviour, which has become more cautious. The number of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents dropped 25% in comparison to 2007. Nevertheless, the proportion of pedestrian victims is still 54.5% of all traffic deaths. November and December were particularly deadly, with nine fatal collisions resulting in six pedestrian deaths. For this reason, the SPVM plans to step up pedestrian safety efforts in 2009.

Overall, the results are encouraging. There is no doubt that the sustained police involvement in road safety has been a decisive factor in the improvement of the road safety record.

But even one traffic accident is one too many! Many people are profoundly affected by major accidents, so the SPVM will continue to pursue our efforts to make next year’s road safety report even better.

Fatal collisions	2005	2006	2007	2008*	Change (%) 2007-2008
Total fatal accidents	54	54	38	33	-13,2%
Victims – pedestrians	24	27	24	18	-25%
Victims – cyclists	4	5	4	2	-50%

 

 

 

Collisions with serious injuries

In 2008, the SPVM continued our efforts to encourage all users of the road system to change their behaviour in order to reduce the risk of being involved in a collision.

These operations had a clear impact, and since the beginning of the year we have reported a major reduction in the number of collisions resulting in both serious injuries (–29%) and minor injuries (–16.3%).

On the other hand, despite a drop in the number of deaths, we are sorry to report an increase of seven serious injuries among cyclists (+22.2%). Cyclists’ needs have changed, and their behaviour patterns are changing as well. There are more and more cyclists on the roads and cycling paths around the Ville de Montréal. The rising popularity of cycling, especially as a means of daily transit, probably played a role in the increase in injuries.

To take this new situation into account, the SPVM will have to focus more efforts on safety operations involving these users of the road network.

Collisions with serious injuries	2005	2006	2007	2008*	Change (%) 2007-2008
Collisions with serious injuries	406	430	307	218	-29%
Pedestrians with serious injuries	178	183	128	75	-41,4%
Cyclists with serious injuries	43	47	27	33	22,2%

 

 

 

Collisions with minor injuries

Collisions with minor injuries	2005	2006	2007	2008*	Change (%) 2007-2008
Total collisions with minor injuries	7017	6411	6021	5040	-16,3%
Pedestrians with minor injuries	1470	1324	1361	1219	-10,4%
Cyclists with minor injuries	735	698	766	663	-13,5%

 

 

 

Property damage only collisions and all collision categories

The difference between property damage only collisions and all categories of collision can be partly explained by the increased snowfall in 2008.

Collisions	2005	2006	2007	2008*	Change (%) 2007-2008
Property damage only	29829	28046	30465	29451	-3,3%
All collision categories confondues	37306	34941	36831	34742	-5,7%

 

 

 

Tickets issues by the SPVM

Enforcing the Highway Safety Code is a critical means of achieving the SPVM’s road safety objectives and reducing the number of victims on Montréal’s roads.

To help achieve these objectives, the total number of tickets issued by SPVM officers increased by 4.9% in 2008.

Tickets	2005	2006	2007	2008*	Change (%) 2007-2008
Moving vehicles	169784	276018	290485	315270	8,5%
Parked vehicles	108453	122911	127815	145803	14%
Speed	56212	143679	162950	148601	-8,8%
Total	334449	542608	581250	609674	4,9%
Parked vehicles (tickets issued by parking agents			1 134 344	1 045 516	-7,8%

Pedestrians

In 2008, pedestrians were the main road safety focus of the SPVM’s five-year strategic plan. It was a year was marked by increased enforcement. Since it has been demonstrated that enforcement is the most important component of the 3Es,* the number of tickets issued to pedestrians increased by 28.6%.

	2006	2007	2008*	Change (%) 2007-2008
Tickets issued to pedestrians	5104	9737	12521	28,6%
Tickets issued to drivers who failed to respect pedestrian right-of-way	43439	39746	42579	7,1%

* The 3E approach

• 1 : Education — education and prevention
• 2 : Engineering — road layout and signals
• 3 : Enforcement — police operations and enforcement

Tickets related to new regulations

• Tickets for high speed — April to December: 3504
• Tickets for cell phone use — July to December: 6161
• Tickets for driving without winter tires — since December 15: 62

* The 3E approach

The number of files handled by the Section des enquêtes collisions has remained stable since 2007.

Investigators also supported the neighbourhood officers at the scenes of 189 major collisions.

	2007	2008*	Change (%) 2007-2008
Files handled	20200	21344	5,6%
Files investigated	6559	6588	0,4%

* NOTE: The data for 2008 are preliminary and some may be subject to minor changes during the final verification process.

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