Thousands of crashes in the province are the direct result of motorists driving too fast on ice/snow-covered roads, according to Manitoba Public Insurance.
Nearly 10,000 collision claims have been opened with Manitoba Public Insurance during the first two weeks of January. Several thousand of these claims are due to vehicles losing control on ice, or unable to stop due to excessive speed due to weather-related conditions.
Manitoba’s police agencies are also concerned with speed-related collisions in the province and are currently conducting dedicated speed-enforcement initiatives during the month of January. It’s important to note that police agencies have the authority to issue a ticket to motorists who are found to be travelling too fast for road conditions.
“Driving too fast for road conditions is clearly a problem on Manitoba roads,” said Ted Hlynsky, Claims Control & Safety Operations, Manitoba Public Insurance.
“Speeding is a driver behavior which can easily be eliminated. The majority of the speed related collisions that take place are collisions where a driver was driving too fast for the weather or road conditions.”
Speeding accounted for 28 per cent of all people killed in a collision in 2009 and 14 per cent of all serious injuries sustained in collisions in 2009, according to Manitoba Public Insurance data.
Quick Facts
• In 2009 there were 1,453 drivers involved in speed-related collisions resulting in 24 people killed and 646 people injured, including 53 with serious injuries.
• The majority of speed related collisions occur between the months of November through to March. Over the 2003-2009 period 20% of these occurred in the month of January.
• In 2009, drivers aged 16-24 are involved in speed-related collisions at a rate that is more than four times that of drivers aged 25 and older. The rate at which drivers are involved in a speed-related collision decreases with age with the youngest group (16-24) having an involvement rate more than eight times that of drivers over the age of 65.
“Manitoba Public Insurance and police agencies are committed to reducing the number of speed-related collisions in the province,” said Hlynsky.
“That’s why Manitoba Public Insurance and the Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police have partnered on a traffic safety calendar which will see greater alignment of education, awareness, and enforcement activities each month.
“The goal of this partnership is to make Manitoba’s roads safer for all,” said Hlynsky.
