More than half of Canadians say that road safety should be among the top five priorities for government to address in their community, a new survey has revealed.
The national research was conducted by Ipsos for Parachute, a Canadian charity dedicated to injury prevention and repeated a similar survey carried out two years ago.
Since Parachute conducted the 2021 road safety study, fewer Canadians (39 vs 46 per cent) said they believe our roads are safe, with 22 per cent – up seven per cent from 2021 – rating them “not safe.” The remainder (39 per cent in each survey period) ranked our roads “somewhat safe,” with 54 per cent ranking road safety as a top five priority to be addressed in their community.
In the survey, 28 per agreed with the statement “speed limits are too high and should be lowered,” compared to 22 per cent in a similar survey carried out in 2021.
“It’s encouraging to see growing public support to address serious injury and deaths on our roads, as well as for reduced speed limits, as an effective way to prevent crashes and reduce the harm that occurs when a vehicle driver hits a vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian or cyclist,” said Pamela Fuselli, President and CEO of Parachute.
“While improved driver behaviour and law enforcement to curb dangerous behaviour are important, what’s critical and most effective is an approach that addresses how our vehicles, roads and communities are designed and built. For that to happen, we need governments at all levels to prioritize policies that support a Vision Zero approach of system-wide design and practices and fund the implementation of these policies, while ensuring equity for all neighbourhoods regardless of their socio-economic status, to lessen the severity of collisions and prevent serious injury and death.”
