Road safety measures making a positive difference in reducing collisions

Waterloo Region – Regional roads are getting safer thanks to investments in safety measures. The Region of Waterloo’s 2020 Collision Report summarizes traffic collisions that occurred between 2016 and 2020. In that report, it showed a 10-year trend (2011 to 2020) of annual total collisions and fatal collisions per capita continuing downward. During that same time, there was a significant reduction in pedestrian collisions.

“It’s great to see the number of collisions continue to decrease, but we can do more to keep our roads safe,” said Steve van De Keere, director of Transportation Services for the Region. “Over the years, the Region has implemented a number of educational and road safety programs like Roundabouts, Red Light Cameras, Pedestrian Countdown Signals, Signalized Intersection Offset Crosswalks, Rural All-Way Stops and High-visibility Ladder Crosswalks, all to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.”

Standing out in the 2020 assessment was the dramatic decrease in motor-vehicle volumes on Regional roads due to the provincial-wide public health safety measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, the overall traffic volumes were down by approximately 30 per cent, and as a result, collisions during this period decreased.

Each year, staff assess collisions to determine the locations with the largest number of pedestrian, cycling, and motor vehicle collisions, and implement road safety measures as needed. Through the assessment, staff ranked the top 20 pedestrian collision locations, top 20 cycling-collision locations, and the top100 motor-vehicle-collision locations, taking into consideration the number of injuries and fatalities from year to year.

The report also highlighted that collisions on Regional roads occur less often on a per capita basis compared to the rate at which they occur on all roads in Ontario. 

Visit regionofwaterloo.ca and search “traffic safety” for information on the Region’s road safety programs.

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