Editor: After 1.25 million people were killed in vehicle crashes worldwide in 2018 (according to the Association For Safe International Road Travel), it may be time to ask the question – how many more people have to be killed in vehicle crashes before something changes?
Each one of those 1.25 million lives meant something to someone, somewhere, yet with each passing death the reaction that this is just part of the risk we take when we drive seems like an excuse to allow the situation to continue unabated.
Just a few days after the news broke that a driver died in a fiery crash near St. Paul last week, yet another person died in a head-on collision near Princeton, B.C.
Each year, nearly 2,000 people are killed in vehicle accidents in Canada, with another 10,000 seriously injured, according to the Government of Canada. We shouldn’t just chalk it up as part of every day life and ignore it.
Just imagine if 2,000 people drowned in the Bow River over the course of the summer – the outcry would be enormous and for good reason.
In a society where we try to limit risk, it’s shocking that 2,000 deaths in a year seems to be brushed aside as if it is just part of every day life.
This type of attitude not only discounts those who have lost their lives this year, it also sets a dangerous precedent that dying in a vehicle crash is an acceptable risk – which it is not.
Instead of accepting what has happened as par for the course, we should seize this moment to try and learn from our mistakes and find solutions that work for everyone – solutions that improve safety and save lives.
Whether that’s more rigorous data collection about the number of people driving, better funding for emergency services, or dare we say it, some sort of permit system to limit the number of cars on the road, something needs to change.
Many drivers, of course, will resist a more rigorous system, and argue they are well aware of the risks they take and do so with eyes wide open.
While that might be true, when it comes to public safety, it isn’t about any one person’s awareness or skill set.
If it’s true that more and more people believe putting their life at risk is an acceptable way to travel, then it’s clear we’re entering a new phase in our culture, one that is only likely to lead to more tragedy.
Instead of accepting this sitting down, we should see the tragic events of the past week as a wake up call to re-evaluate what we value in life and look at how we manage risk on the roads because there’s a lot more to life than driving.
Doug Fulford,
Canmore
