Did you know that the Alberta government publishes data on traffic collisions in the province?
The annual report provides an overview of current and 5-year patterns and trends in traffic collisions in Alberta. It covers all traffic collisions but pays particular attention to casualty collisions.
The latest report was published in June of last year and covers data from 2023.
I thought I would take a look at how the number of collisions have changed over the last 10 years, specifically the number of fatal collisions.
For the first 7 years in this reporting period, the number of fatal collisions had been declining, dropping 37% from 331 in 2013 to 207 in 2020. The trend has reversed since 2020, rising 31% over just 3 years to reach 272 fatal collisions in 2023.
| 2023 | 272.0 |
| 2022 | 251.0 |
| 2021 | 233.0 |
| 2020 | 207.0 |
| 2019 | 215.0 |
| 2018 | 246.0 |
| 2017 | 259.0 |
| 2016 | 273.0 |
| 2015 | 288.0 |
| 2014 | 328.0 |
| 2013 | 331.0 |
We see a similar trajectory when we look at the total number of fatalities, not jut the collisions that led to those fatalities.
This time, however, the downward trend bottomed out a year earlier.
Fatalities rose from 358 in 2013 to 369 in 2014, then they declined every year since until bottoming out at 233 fatalities in 2019 and increasing in every one of the following 4 years before maxing out at just under 300 fatalities in 2023.
| 2023 | 297.0 |
| 2022 | 268.0 |
| 2021 | 254.0 |
| 2020 | 235.0 |
| 2019 | 233.0 |
| 2018 | 289.0 |
| 2017 | 290.0 |
| 2016 | 299.0 |
| 2015 | 330.0 |
| 2014 | 369.0 |
| 2013 | 358.0 |
Since we have seen an increase in population during the same period, it is important to consider per capita increases, as well. That being said, the population also increased between 2013 and 2019, even though fatalities decreased.
But even then, here is the number of fatalities over the last decade relation to population, registered drivers, and licensed vehicles.
| Per 10,000 pop | Per 10,000 drivers | Per 10,000 vehicles | |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| 2022 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| 2021 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| 2020 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| 2019 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| 2018 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| 2017 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| 2016 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| 2015 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| 2014 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 |
| 2013 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
And here they are in graph form.
In all 3 cases, the numbers were declining until 2019 or 2020, then they reversed and have since bottomed out.
The final stat I want to show you is the number of fatalities per 1 billion kilometres travelled.
The number of fatalities per billion kilometres travelled declined by 42% between 2013 and 2019, dropping from 6.4 to 3.7. Since then, it increased 32% to 4.9.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ON | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.7 |
| Canada | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.6 |
| NS | 4.6 | 5.9 | 7.4 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 5 | 7.6 |
| MB | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 7.3 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 6.4 |
| QC | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 5.6 |
| AB | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 6.4 |
| SK | 5.9 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 4.6 | 8.6 | 6.8 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 9.5 | 10.6 |
| BC | 6.2 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.5 |
| NB | 8.1 | 5.7 | 8.5 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 6.3 |
| NL | 8.3 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 11.8 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| PEI | 8.4 | 10.8 | 12.0 | 10.6 | 9.4 | 9.6 | 9.1 | 7.3 | 12.3 | 3.5 | 9.7 |
Alberta went from having the 6th lowest rate in 2013 to the lowest rate in 2019, and were up to the 4th lowest rate in 2023.
